Dr. Shaadi Khademi Discusses Occupational Medicine in This Week’s Walk with a Doc
October 17, 2019
Dr. Shaadi Khademi, an occupational and environmental medicine physician, is scheduled to lead Thursday’s Walk With a Doc.
The topic will be “Occupational Medicine.”
Khademi joined the faculty of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler in July 2017 as an assistant professor after completing her training in the Occupational Medicine Residency Program at UT Health Science Cneter at Tyler, where she served as the chief resident.
She has a background in internal medicine and clinical research in dermatology. Her special interests in medicine include occupational skin diseases, preventive medicine and patient education. She also is fluent in Spanish and Persian. Khademi said she enjoys resident teaching and is committed to ensuring the health of employees and their work environments.
Walk With a Doc, a project of the Smith County Medical Society, took place. on Thursday, October 17, at Rose Rudman Recreational Trail’s Copeland Road trailhead, followed by walking.
Q: What is occupational medicine?
A: According to American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM), “Occupational medicine focuses on the health of workers, including the ability to perform work; the physical, chemical, biological and social environments of the workplace; and the health outcomes of environmental exposures. Practitioners in this field address the promotion of health in the workplace, and the prevention and management of occupational and environmental injury, illness and disability.”
Q: What kinds of exams do occupational medicine physicians do?
A: Examinations can include: fitness for duty evaluations, management of work-related injuries, surveillance exams for workers who may encounter potentially hazardous chemicals in the workplace, medical exams for commercial motor vehicle operators and many other exams.
Q: Where do you find occupational medicine physicians?
A: Occupational medicine physicians can work in a variety of sectors. You can find them in academia, hospital-based clinics, corporate environments, private practices and other settings.
Q: Why is the health of workers important?
A: For those of us in the workforce, we spend a large portion of our lives at work. What takes place at work can affect our home lives and vice versa. Also, there are many aspects to our health to consider, such as our physical, mental or emotional health, all of which can greatly affect our productivity in the workplace.
Q: How does occupational medicine help promote safe work environments?
A: Our goal as occupational health physicians is to protect the health of workers so they can effectively perform their jobs without significant adverse effects. We often refer to the hierarchy of control, which is a way that we can prevent or minimize harmful exposures. We can either attempt to eliminate or substitute the exposure in question, implement engineering controls (such as ventilation), administrative measures (which includes worker training or modification of the duration of exposure) and personal protective equipment (such as respirators or earplugs).
Original article by the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Visit the Tyler Morning Telegraph online to view the story.