Training Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Residents at the Uniformed Services University

Abstract

Objective: To develop an actionable plan to sustain and improve the quality of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Residency Program.

Methods: Program metrics were collected and analyzed to assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).

Results: Program strengths are stable funding, full-time faculty and large class size. Weaknesses are limited toxicology curriculum, and the lack of complex clinical cases. Opportunities include establishing an OEM referral clinic, collaborating with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) toxicology programs, aligning OEM research priorities in DoD, and including DoD Civilian physicians in OEM residency training. Threats are Military Health System reorganization, budget, and personnel cuts.

Conclusions: The USU OEM Residency is strong but must be flexible to adjust to personnel, fiscal, and organizational changes. Aggregating the SWOT analyses for all the OEM residency programs may help identify strategies to sustain OEM training in the United States.