Current status and demand projections for occupational and environmental medicine specialists: focus on…

StudyAnnals of occupational and environmental medicine· Aug 2026

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 … Jungwon Kim

Occupational & Environmental MedicineStudyClinical practiceQ2IF 2.7

An additional 132 special health examination physicians will be needed by 2035.

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 … Jungwon Kim

Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · Aug 2026 · Q2 in Public Health

Background

Occupational and environmental medicine (occupational and environmental medicine) specialists are key personnel within the occupational health system.

Methods

The demand for occupational and environmental medicine specialists was defined as the actual observed service utilization volume under the current legal, institutional, and policy environment.

n = 577 OEM specialists

Results

more will be needed to keep up with rising demand

Special health examina

132physic

Occupational health ma

92physic

More results

As of 2025, 577 occupational and environmental medicine specialists were working at 255 special health examination institutions.

Among the 153 occupational health management agencies, 265 physicians were employed, including 133 occupational and environmental medicine specialists.

More results

The number of workers requiring services from occupational and environmental medicine specialists is predicted to continue growing.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Actual workforce demand may differ from the projections presented in this study depending on changes in policies, industrial structure, service delivery models, and work efficiency.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Future studies should incorporate need-based estimates that reflect the diverse roles of occupational and environmental medicine specialists and use integrated workforce data to provide more refined projections.

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

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

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