What does a Preventive Medicine Physician do?

Apply knowledge of general preventive medicine and public health issues to promote health care to groups or individuals, and aid in the prevention or reduction of risk of disease, injury, disability, or death. Day to day that includes work like direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine and Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.

What skills should a Preventive Medicine Physician put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Preventive Medicine Physician list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Biostatistical software, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info, Database software, Email software, and Epidemiological software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Preventive Medicine Physician work?

O*NET records 13 titles for this occupation, including Occupational Medicine Physician, Physician, Public Health Officer, and Public Health Physician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Preventive Medicine Physician need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 74% reported their level of education as "Post-Doctoral Training". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Preventive Medicine Physician role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Preventive Medicine Physician resume example

A resume for a Preventive Medicine Physician needs to show the work itself: apply knowledge of general preventive medicine and public health issues to promote health care to groups or individuals, and aid in the prevention or reduction of risk of disease, injury, disability, or death. Day to day that means work like this: direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine; document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Occupational Medicine Physician
Physician
Public Health Officer
Public Health Physician
Occupational Physician
Primary Clinician
OHP
Aerospace Medicine Physician
Environmental Health Physician
Occupational Health Physician
Occupational Medicine Officer
Preventive Medicine Officer
Preventive Medicine Specialist

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.
Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.
Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.
Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.
Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.
Direct public health education programs dealing with topics such as preventable diseases, injuries, nutrition, food service sanitation, water supply safety, sewage and waste disposal, insect control, and immunizations.
Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.
Provide information about potential health hazards and possible interventions to the media, the public, other health care professionals, or local, state, and federal health authorities.
Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.
Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.
Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Biostatistical software
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
Database software
Email software
Epidemiological software
Insightful S-PLUS
Medical surveillance software
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
NCSS
NCSS Power Analysis and Sample Size PASS

29 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Automated blood pressure cuffs
Automated external defibrillators AED
Breathing protection equipment
Desktop computers
Digital medical thermometers
Dosimetry badges
Emergency eye wash stations
Emergency shower stations
Evacuated blood collection tubes
Hearing test equipment
Hyperbaric oxygen chambers
Hypodermic syringes

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Active Listening
03Complex Problem Solving
04Critical Thinking
05Judgment and Decision Making
06Speaking
07Monitoring
08Writing
09Active Learning
10Coordination

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Medicine and Dentistry
Biology
English Language
Education and Training
Public Safety and Security
Psychology
Law and Government
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

74%Post-Doctoral Training
26%Doctoral Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Preventive Medicine Physician do?: Apply knowledge of general preventive medicine and public health issues to promote health care to groups or individuals, and aid in the prevention or reduction of risk of disease, injury, disability, or death. Day to day that includes work like direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine and Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.
What skills should a Preventive Medicine Physician put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Judgment and Decision Making among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Preventive Medicine Physician list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Biostatistical software, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info, Database software, Email software, and Epidemiological software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Preventive Medicine Physician work?: O*NET records 13 titles for this occupation, including Occupational Medicine Physician, Physician, Public Health Officer, and Public Health Physician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Preventive Medicine Physician need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 74% reported their level of education as "Post-Doctoral Training". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Preventive Medicine Physician role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.