LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
- PDF / 305,019 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4) Page_size
- 44 Downloads / 231 Views
Bas Sorgdrager It took a while, but this issue contains the publication that generated a lot of noise in the media: the study at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam of the work perception of occupational physicians. The Readers’ Forum contains critical comments from a privately practicing occupational physician, with a reaction by the NVAB chairman. What is the essence? With a view to the quality of service and the attractiveness of the profession of occupational physician, clarity about the way in which professional integrity can be guaranteed in a commercial environment is of the highest importance. Though the work perception shows rather a difference between the occupational physicians in private practice and those in an occupational health service, there are clearly distinctions to be made and the article deserves careful reading. An occupational physician with an occupational health service feels commercial pressures, but there are agreeable contacts with colleagues. An occupational physician in private practice has management decision options, but might regularly be contracted by absence management agencies, as a remote employee. And the occupational physician in private practice often has few contacts with colleagues. More than once the risks for the contract occupational physicians have been discussed in TBV. And, as Plomp and colleagues clearly show in table 6, the occupational physicians with the occupational health services would like to have room for personal development, for example in a clinic, in science or education. An example, even though a rarity, we find by means of the thesis discussed by Teake Pal in this issue. Clinical occupational medicine as an attractive perspective for occupational physicians. Han Anema demonstrates in his inaugural lecture the added value of a form of clinical occupational medicine. Multidisciplinary teams incorporating a clinical specialist, coordinated by an occupational physician. This integrated care leads to a more efficient approach than when all disciplines function independently. The sections ‘Clinical occupational medicine’ and ‘News from the NCvB’ regularly feature case studies; in this issue for instance ‘alopecia areata’ as an occupational disorder. Former editor Fons Vernooy looks back at 50 years of professional training of occupational physicians. The curriculum of the Nijmegen University social medicine training institute SGBO has traditionally featured the classical
90
occupational medicine subjects, such as industrial toxicology, work physiology and work psychology. These themes form the basis for the occupational physician’s rationale. It is logical that nowadays social security dynamics and legal frameworks have become part of the curriculum, but they should not take away too much of the original situation. How diverse can the profession be before it cannot be mastered anymore by a single person? The editorial staff is pleased with the addition in the person of contributor Pascal Willems, lawyer and publicist of informative articles about our professi
Data Loading...
