Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42581702›Full record

ArticleAnnals of occupational and environmental medicine2026

Current status and demand projections for occupational and environmental medicine specialists: focus on special health examinations and outsourced occupational health management services.

Hye-Eun Lee, Hee-Tae Kang, Mo-Yeol Kang, Chungwon Kang, Kyong Sok Shin, Hyeon-Taek Heo, Yong Lim Won, Jungwon Kim

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Article in Annals of occupational and environmental medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Hye-Eun LeeDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea. heunlee@hallym.ac.kr.
Hee-Tae KangDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea.
Mo-Yeol KangDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Chungwon KangDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanil General Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Kyong Sok ShinSojunghan Industrial Health Institute Corp., Seoul, Korea.
Hyeon-Taek HeoHealth Examination Bureau, Korean Industrial Health Association, Daejeon, Korea.
Yong Lim WonQuality Assurance and Analysis Department, Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Ulsan, Korea.
Jungwon KimDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

Funding

Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental MedicineKorea Occupational Safety and Health AgencyOccupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2025-OSHRI-1923
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOccupational and environmental medicine (OEM) specialists are key personnel within the occupational health system. Recent developments, such as the introduction of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the expansion of occupational health policies targeting vulnerable workers, have highlighted the need to broaden the role of OEM specialists. This study analyzed the current workload of OEM specialists and projected their medium- to long-term demand.

methodsThe demand for OEM specialists was defined as the actual observed service utilization volume under the current legal, institutional, and policy environment. Key work areas were categorized as special health examinations and outsourced occupational health management services. Data sources included administrative records from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MoEL), statistics on worker health examination results, and evaluation data from specialized agencies for occupational health management. Demand through 2035 was projected by applying the observed historical growth trend in service utilization. The required number of specialists was calculated by applying the average workload per specialist in the base year.

resultsAs of 2025, 577 OEM specialists were working at 255 special health examination institutions. Among the 153 occupational health management agencies, 265 physicians were employed, including 133 OEM specialists. The number of workers requiring services from OEM specialists is predicted to continue growing. Applying the current average workload per physician, an additional 132 special health examination physicians and 92 occupational health management agency physicians will be needed by 2035.

conclusionsActual workforce demand may differ from the projections presented in this study depending on changes in policies, industrial structure, service delivery models, and work efficiency. Future studies should incorporate need-based estimates that reflect the diverse roles of OEM specialists and use integrated workforce data to provide more refined projections.

Indexed as

Health services needs and demandHealth workforceOccupational health servicesOccupational medicine

Identifiers

PMID42581702
PMCPMC13648133

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.