What You'll Do

  • Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.
  • Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
  • Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.
  • Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.
  • Deliver presentations to lay or professional audiences.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.
  • Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.
  • Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.
  • Direct public health education programs dealing with topics such as preventable diseases, injuries, nutrition, food service sanitation, water supply safety, sewage and waste disposal, insect control, and immunizations.
  • Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.

Essential Skills

Reading Comprehension 4.38/5
Active Listening 4.25/5
Speaking 4.25/5
Critical Thinking 4.25/5
Complex Problem Solving 4.25/5
Judgment and Decision Making 4.25/5
Writing 4.12/5
Monitoring 4.12/5
Active Learning 4.0/5
Social Perceptiveness 4.0/5
Coordination 4.0/5
Science 3.75/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Helper: Supporting people and making a difference matters to you.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.

Common styles

Attention to Detail, Intellectual Curiosity, Dependability, Integrity, Leadership Orientation

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Expression 4.38/5
Deductive Reasoning 4.38/5
Inductive Reasoning 4.38/5
Oral Comprehension 4.25/5
Written Comprehension 4.12/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.12/5
Speech Clarity 4.12/5
Written Expression 4.0/5

Technologies & Tools

Biostatistical software Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info Database software Email software Epidemiological software Insightful S-PLUS Medical surveillance software Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office software Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Word NCSS NCSS Power Analysis and Sample Size PASS NetEpi OpenEpi Patient electronic medical record EMR software R SAS SAS JMP

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.78/5)
  • Intellectual Curiosity (High importance: 4.75/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.71/5)
  • Integrity (High importance: 4.65/5)
  • Leadership Orientation (High importance: 4.62/5)

Want to see how YOUR strengths align with this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

This career requires extensive preparation, typically including a graduate degree (Master's or Doctoral) and several years of experience. Most professionals in this field have invested significant time in education and training.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Aerospace Medicine Physician Environmental Health Physician Occupational Health Physician (OHP) Occupational Medicine Officer Occupational Medicine Physician Occupational Physician Physician Preventive Medicine Officer Preventive Medicine Physician Preventive Medicine Specialist Primary Clinician Public Health Officer Public Health Physician

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.