Practical Occupational Medicine in "Practice"

Abstract

In Denmark, the practice of occupational medicine tends to be carried out by specialists in occupational medicine and less so by family physicians. The provision of health service to workers is therefore limited. This constraint may also apply in other developed countries and even more in countries with few occupational health resources. This Editorial argues that family physicians are indeed in a position where they can make a major positive difference for their working patients and for the enterprises where they work. Without specialist knowledge in occupational medicine, the family physician’s empiric knowledge in combination with a narrative approach to the patient permits the contribution from family medicine not only with regard to diagnosis and treatment, but also relating to actions targeted to optimize the patient’s future accommodation at work as well as to protect other similarly exposed workers. Such involvement would expand the coverage of occupational health service to patients/workers on a global scale.