Image Credit: Getty Images / Philip Hoeppli

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When I took on the role of executive director at the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC), I had big dreams. Founded in 1987, AOEC has a tremendous legacy of providing care to people with work-related injuries and illnesses. I was excited to be working with longtime friends, colleagues, mentors, and heroes. And then, on April 1, everything in our beloved OEHS-related field seemed to change with the news that most NIOSH staff were being let go. Although some of these layoffs have since been reversed, the uncertainty remains.

Adopt an OccDoc

Being new to the role, I reached out immediately to Larry Sloan for advice. We commiserated, and he, along with SynergistNOW staff, invited me to do this blog. The idea was that I would write about and introduce a program called “Adopt an OccDoc.”

The thought was this: most occupational and environmental practice clinics do not have access to an industrial hygienist to consult with clinical teams on worker/patient symptoms, work history, exposure investigation, interpretation of IH survey results, preventive measures, and more. But to be an AOEC member clinic, we require a direct relationship with an industrial hygienist.

The program I had in mind was, and still could be, a way for industrial hygienists to work alongside an occupational medicine physician, explore the field, try something new, and hone their skills and experiences.

In my early days in this office, I came across one of our member clinics’ IHs. She is fabulous and has the coolest job—part of it is helping worker/patient clinical teams. These include doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and professionals in audiology, pulmonology, immunology, ergonomics, and toxicology. She helps them address patients’ concerns about exposures from work or even home, identify the hazards, diagnose and treat health effects, create return-to-work or modified work programs, and partner with the employer or institution to abate.

AOEC is unique in that our member clinics’ patients are mostly workers. These patients visit clinics because they have been injured or ill on the job and need specialists for diagnoses and treatment, to get them back to work safely, and to work with them and their employers to prevent future injuries and illnesses. If they are being placed in a job that requires a physical exam for pre- or continued employment, they come to our clinics to get the care and assessments they need, such as eye exams, audiology tests, blood pressure medications, color distinction tests, and so much more.

But as I sat down to write about what an Adopt an OccDoc program would look like for current and future IHs, I found myself musing instead on the state of OEHS.

Federal OEHS Funding

We all keep up with the news. We are all fighting for NIOSH, OSHA, CDC, EPA, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Department of Energy to stay put, to reinstate funding, to take accountability and, in turn, to advocate for us and continue funding our critical OEHS professional infrastructure and student pipeline.

With these federal funds, OEHS specialists are trained, certified, and licensed, usually by the previous generation of professionals, who also likely received federal funds. It was a great system, but systems break down without constant attention, maintenance, review, evaluation, and, yes, funds. And as systems do, they run on autopilot—until they don’t.

Imagine that being a pediatrician is your lifelong dream, but when it’s time to explore advanced academic programs, internships, and residencies, there are no programs to house or train you.

Or imagine that your dream is to be a mechanical engineer, but you can’t obtain professional certifications or licenses because the accrediting bodies, mentors, and academic programs disappeared.

Or imagine that your dream is to be an accountant, financial analyst, investor, bookkeeper, or banker, but you have no access to classes, scholarships, internships, or fellowships that allow you to learn how money works, how to invest safely, and how to survive the ups and downs of markets.

That’s what’s happening in our field.

The Enormous Reach of Our Work

I’ve always said that occupational health is the largest field in public health. These days, people start working in their teens and continue to the end of their lives, which means that of the 340-plus million people in the United States, approximately 75 percent are of working age. Nearly 250-plus million people need us to help keep them safe, well, and thriving.

The federal government has funded our up-and-coming IHs, safety professionals, physicians, nurses, injury and infection preventionists, ergonomists, toxicologists, engineers, OEHS leaders, and more. When they are trained and accredited, the institutions they go to work for—major manufacturers, healthcare institutions, unions, consultants—benefit from expertise developed with tax dollars and a lot of elbow grease.

Federal programs pay for Education and Research Centers (ERCs), training program grants, worker training programs, pilot projects, internships, externships, fellowships, and scholarships. The recipients emerge highly trained and well equipped to fight for and protect our workers. (I was a NIOSH ERC DrPH trainee at the University of Texas School of Public Health, and I am so grateful!)

How Do We Right the Ship?

I’m asking questions of myself and my colleagues. Why did we rely too firmly, and sometimes only, on a single, large funding source? How do we break free? Not how do we reinstate what was already shaky, but how do we gain more independence as a professional specialty? Become less desperate? Create more means for each other now and for future generations of OEHS professionals?

Perhaps we continue to explore sources of support and funding in the private sector, academia (because funding must be a two-way street), global organizations, law firms, non-public health agencies, and the military. Maybe we need to get creative, keep our own passions ignited, build out unique partnerships, celebrate unexpected heroes, and find public health disruptors.

None of us knows about sources of future federal or state funding. Should we wait? Can’t we build back our own future?

In lieu of federal funds, here are some ideas for free to low-cost quick wins with big payoffs, especially for AIHA members:

• Help a student find and get into an OEHS-related academic program. There are so many great ones out there that are not NIOSH-funded.
• Offer a no- to low-cost internship, externship, or fellowship program or project to a student or academic advisor in need. You can help them get class credit or fulfill their thesis, practicum, capstone, or dissertation.
• Become a BS, BA, MPH, DrPH, or PhD practicum site.
• Offer tutoring for the Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional exams.
• Ask a colleague if you can become an adjunct faculty member to assist with workload and build your resume.
• Sign on to the many letters of support to get NIOSH, NIEHS, and OSHA back on track.
• Work with AOEC and AIHA to create web-based content, such as webinars, one-pagers, and infographics, to offer at no cost.
• Put yourself on the AIHA Consultants Listing so that people in need of IH and OEHS services, consultations, and referrals can find you.
• Consider becoming an individual member of AOEC ($50–$100) so that our OEM specialty clinics and their affiliates can find you, if they too are required to have IH services.
• Informally, adopt an OccDoc in your area. Reach out to local OEHS clinics and let them know you are ready to assist when needed, especially during disasters.
• Share your events, educational offerings, meetings, and job opportunities with AIHA and AOEC so we can help you build your audience and advocates.
• Check in with former classmates and colleagues. You never know where revisiting relationships can lead or how you can help each other.
• Stay optimistic. It’s 100 percent free.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. Thanks so much to AIHA for always being the nonpareil partner. We are mighty and can do this together. Let’s get to work.