What is OEM like in the military?

As OEM tends to be more well-known in the military than in the civilian medical world, many young military medical officers may develop an interest in OEM. This page is dedicated to providing information about OEM training and practice that is specific to the military.

OEM Training in the Military

  • Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the home of the military’s Tri-Service OEM residency program.  The MPH is earned through the Uniformed Services University, which is co-located with Walter Reed aboard Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Maryland. 
  • While some civilian residency programs may have funding constraints which limit external rotation opportunities, the Walter Reed program is well-funded with diverse opportunities for resident rotations across the country and across the globe. 
  • For those that desire to pursue out-service (civilian) residency training in OEM, doing so through the military is a great way to go.  You must of course obtain approval from your service for out-service training, which isn’t guaranteed and can be competitive.  If granted, however, then military trainees tend to be highly desirable among civilian OEM programs.  This is both because military physicians tend to be well-rounded and because military trainees come fully funded.  Since the civilian program doesn’t have to pay the salary of a military resident, programs will practically jump at the chance to take them.  Essentially, a good military candidate can write their ticket to wherever they would like to go. 
  • Be aware that because military physicians often become aware of and familiar with OEM at higher rates compared to civilian counterparts, this can mean that competition is much stronger for OEM residency positions within the military.  It is variable year-to-year and between services.
  • For those non-OEM providers that do some OEM work, there are training options available to help familiarize you with the basics of OEM practice. An example of this would be the OEM Fundamentals Course offered by the Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command.

OEM Practice in the Military

  • Military OEM offers a diverse range of practice opportunities for OEM physicians.  Medical Center Occupational Health (MCOH) opportunities abound at military hospitals, but there are also jobs in policy and high-level program management, public health, industrial medicine, global health, operational medicine, and limited academic positions.  The operational roles tend to share many similarities with corporate medical officer roles in the civilian world.  Some military OEM roles include oversight and technical management of multiple OEM clinics. 
  • In particular, military OEM offers the opportunity to oversee occupational medical policy and practice at heavy industrial sites such as the Anniston Army Depot (depot-level maintenance, repair, and refurbishment of heavy vehicles), the four Naval Shipyards, and the three USAF depot-level aircraft maintenance facilities.  These types of sites, with an abundance of workplace hazards and occupational health programs, are bread and butter OEM roles in which you can gain a wealth of experience that you can build on throughout your OEM career. 
  • Operational medical experience builds many skill sets that are highly valued and translate very well into civilian OEM jobs.  One of the benefits of senior operational medical leadership, such as a Wing Surgeon, Division/Brigade Surgeon, or Fleet Surgeon role, is that these jobs are well-suited for OEM specialists and the array of skill sets that OEM physicians possess. 
    • Operational medicine builds on your OEM skills because operational medicine is essentially OEM with a workforce population of warfighters.  It pushes you to get comfortable translating medical terms and communicating health risk in ways that non-medical leadership can understand and act upon.  It also drives understanding of the tradeoffs between health/wellness and other organizational priorities, an understanding that is more more difficult to attain when working in healthcare facilities. 
    • Unlike many other medical specialties, OEM practice is completely within the scope of an operational medical leader.  Operational jobs won’t take you completely outside of your specialty’s scope like it might for a pediatrician or radiologist, or risk atrophy of your technical skills like it might if you are a surgical specialist.
  • There is plenty of opportunity for additional unique training.  Common opportunities that military OEM physicians will get include leadership training/courses, chemical and biological weapons medical management and response, radiation health/treatment of ionizing radiation injury and contamination, and public health emergency management and response, but there are others based on your job role.  FMCSA medical training is essential for both active duty and DoD civilian OEM specialists.
  • Military medicine offers plenty of opportunities to develop leadership abilities, whether in the hospital/clinic setting or in the operational setting. Roles many include department head, division chief, director, chief of medical staff/chief medical officer, officer-in-charge, unit commander, etc.
  • OEM is unique in that unlike most medical specialties, which are focused on treatment of illness/injury of the individual patient after they have become sick, OEM physicians focus on prevention and health/wellbeing of entire populations of workers.  Nowhere is this more important than in the the military, where Force Health Protection is a critical element in military readiness and combat effectiveness.  This is similarly important for the civilian defense workforce.  The bottom line here is that OEM is highly valued by the military.  You will not need to expend effort demonstrating the value and importance of OEM to the organization’s mission.  This is already well-understood in the military. 
  • Due to the robust organizational structure within the military, there is a good network of OEM, public health, and operational resources available to you.  It is easy to find backup for a second opinion, challenging situation, or technical question.  With a wealth of expertise at the Defense Centers for Public Health, there is always solid reach-back support available.  There is typically well-developed and longstanding OEM and public health policy and technical guides/resources, such as the Navy’s medical matrix, that make the military a great place to learn and grow in OEM. 
  • In addition to clinical OEM, the military offers ample opportunity to develop the full range of OEM competencies.  Whether conducting a risk communication talk, overseeing multiple satellite OEM clinics, managing a large number of OEM programs, leading a global health initiative overseas, collaborating closely with other occupational health professionals, managing public health emergencies, or advising non-medical leadership on how to most effectively maintain the health and effectiveness of their population/workforce, the military setting is one that will push an OEM physician to develop a diverse range of valuable skills and experience.

Post-Military Transition to Civilian OEM Practice

  • OEM physicians in the military typically find that they are set up very well for a thriving civilian career once they retire or separate from active duty.
  • Because of the diverse range of skills and experience working in different environments and collaborating with non-medical leaders to optimize population health, military OEM physicians are often highly sought after in their post-military civilian OEM career.
  • Operational military leadership experience tends to look really good on your CV and make you more desirable for civilian OEM leadership roles.  Spending two or three years out of the hospital as a Wing Surgeon may not look great to a potential civilian employer if you are a urologist, but it is likely to be viewed very favorably in the OEM world.     

Visit the Profiles in OEM page to see examples of practicing military OEM physicians and the diverse roles that they play.