TBV IN OUTLINE
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André Weel Dear reader, were you able, without too many starting problems/hiccups, to pick up the threads of your work in the new year? Then you are privileged, because you perform socially relevant work, and you are paid for it as well. Social medicine is gaining stature because of the discussion about lasting availability and retirement age. This applies especially to occupational health physicians and insurance physicians. But there is a serious catch: our professions themselves are ageing fast. For years the influx has been nearly zero, while the outflow for the next five to ten years will be considerable. Quite a lot will have to be done in order to persuade young colleagues to join our profession. In this issue Marc Soethout sketches a sombre picture of what we can expect of the current generation of medical students. The students have a negative impression of the professions of insurance physician and occupational health physician. They consider these professions as anything but cool. That is a vicious circle: unknown means unloved and vice versa. Students prefer to perform diagnostics and see results, and consider knowledge of pathology mighty interesting. They are afraid they will miss all that when they become occupational health physicians or insurance physicians. We know better, but still… how do we make our professions more attractive? Which trump cards can we play, apart from the fact that as an occupational health physician or insurance physician you will easily be able to work part-time and will not have to do shifts? Perform more private research and expertises? Pay more attention to occupational diseases? Perhaps present a more distinct profile of clinical occupational health? We have just started our column on clinical occupational medicine: see the December issue. More medical specialists will read TBV and might perhaps pass on something to their students and housemen. Will you provide the case histories? Exercise is healthy, but employers are not happy with employees that practice sports intensively. A sports injury is apt to cause prolonged absence. Erwin Gorissen et al. analysed sports injuries that were recorded by a large occupational health and safety service. Football causes most injuries and provides the largest contribution to sickness absence. Winter sports injuries last longest (absence on average 90 days). What preventive steps can we take in support of our clients? And
T BV 18 / nr 1 / januari 2010
how about our own sports activities? The grey winter skies occasionally open up for a sunny spell and the editorial team gratefully received and accepted the article by Arnold Schriemer et al. Together an occupational health physician and an occupational hygienist carried out practical research which yielded new knowledge. We already knew about hazardous noise in swimming pools, day-care centres and pig farms, and now, for the first time, auditory damage caused by live noise has been proven. An article with a clear signal for practice and policymakers. And a challenge for researchers to
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