Occupational Health Programs for House Staff Physicians

Excerpt

THE ROUTINE preplacement examination serves several purposes. First, it identifies illness or disability that might prevent performance of an assigned job function. Second, it provides baseline medical information that can be used as a standard in the event of subsequent injury or illness. Third, it identifies for the individual previously unrecognized or inadequately managed health problems. Although the preplacement examination may be relatively standard from industry to industry, the type of work and the particular work environment will alter the emphasis of the examination.

The preplacement examination for hospital workers must pay special attention to the presence of or susceptibility to communicable diseases. Hospitalized patients, particularly those who are immunosuppressed, need to be protected from certain infectious diseases. Hospital workers themselves are subject to a relatively high risk of occupational exposure to infectious disease. A review of 3,599 prospective hospital workers disclosed that most significant observations in the preplacement examination