Occupational medicine. An overview for physician assistants.

Occupational medicine encompasses the delivery of physical, mental, and emotional health care in the workplace. Involvement of PAs in occupational medicine escalated in 1978, as industry responded to cost-containment pressures; PAs performed annual employee physical examinations, exercise stress testing, occupational health education, and treatment of work-related injuries. Work settings initially focused on underserved areas; today they include plant sites, private industrial-medicine clinics, and corporate medical administration. Utilization continues to expand. The American Academy of Physician Assistants in Occupational Medicine--founded in 1981--develops continuing medical education programs and educates industry and the public about PAs in occupational medicine. The future of PA utilization in occupational medicine lies in cost containment.