Occupational Medicine
Helping You Get Back to Work
A work-related injury or illness can keep you out of work for days, weeks or months. Occupational medicine is focused on preventing and treating these incidents and keeping workers healthy and productive.
At University of Vermont Health, our occupational medicine team treats people who have been injured at work and supports employers to keep their employees healthy. No matter your occupational health needs, we’re here to help.
Why Choose UVM Health?
As a leading occupational medicine program in the region, we offer:
- Coordinated care: After diagnosing your illness or injury, we work with specialists from across our health system to help you get back to work.
- Comprehensive employer services: We offer screenings and physical exams to ensure prospective employees can complete essential job duties, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Work hardening: We have the only multidisciplinary outpatient rehab clinic in the region. This intensive program helps you restore work-related function and return to work at full capacity.
Services for Workers
When you’re injured on the job, your goal is to regain function so you can return to your daily life. But workplace injuries can be difficult to manage. You may need to see multiple specialists and will have to navigate the workers’ compensation process.
At UVM Health, we want to help you focus on recovery. Our occupational medicine team coordinates your care, ensuring you receive the treatment you need. We’ll also help you navigate the workers’ compensation process.
An occupational medicine specialist will examine your injury. Based on your diagnosis, they will develop a treatment plan and an assessment of your work capacity. Your treatment plan may include a referral to other services across our health system, such as:
- Physical therapy: Helps you improve movement and reduce pain
- Occupational therapy: Supports you in regaining independence and building skills after injury
- Behavioral therapy (talk therapy): Helps you manage mental health conditions and develop skills for coping with your injury or illness
- Surgical consultations: Determine whether you need surgical treatments or procedures
If you need to see multiple specialists or have several phases of treatment (such as surgery followed by physical therapy), we’ll oversee your care to make sure you’re following the right steps to restore function.
Work Hardening is an intensive, multi-disciplinary occupational rehabilitation program for patients who have been injured on the job and are not able to work at full capacity. The program is designed to help you improve your work-related function and get back to work.
The Work Hardening team — including occupational medicine specialists, physical therapists, clinical psychologists and a nurse care coordinator — will help you identify your work goals and create a customized, whole-body fitness program that addresses both your injury and the rest of your body. You’ll participate in simulated work activities to help you regain your strength and confidence.
The program also involves counseling to build coping skills and address emotional, behavioral and social factors that can help you successfully return to work. Pain management and wellness groups are also available to program participants.
This customized 20-day Work Hardening program progresses over time depending on your needs, from two hours a day, three days a week up to four hours a day, five days a week.
Our staff will provide regular updates to your worker's compensation adjuster. At the end of the program, your referring physician will evaluate your capacity to return to work.
Services for Employers
We’re here to help you keep your employees healthy and safe on the job. We offer a range of pre-employment screenings, including:
- Asbestos and lead medical surveillance
- Breath alcohol testing
- Federal and non-federal urine drug testing
- Fitness for duty exams
- Firefighter fit testing
- DOT – commercial medical driver exams
- FAA – pilot exams
- Independent medical and permanency exams
- Onsite vaccination clinics
- Occupational hearing screening
- OSHA compliance
- Physical exams
- Pre-employment physical capacity assessments
- Pulmonary function tests (spirometry)
- Respirator fit testing and medical clearance
- Urine drug testing
- Vision testing
When injuries or illness do occur, our goal is to help the affected employee recover and return to work. We manage the patient’s care to make sure they’re getting the treatment they need.
We also help them navigate the workers’ compensation process. We’ll communicate with you on your employee’s behalf, so you’re kept up to date on the employee’s status.
