OCCUPATIONAL-MEDICINE .1.

THE clinical discipline of occupational medicine, largely unstudied, untaught, and unpracticed in major medical centers as recently as a decade ago, underwent unprecedented rejuvenation in the 1980s. Spurred by national regulatory programs and requirements, widespread litigation concerning toxic injury, and an altered public perception of environmental risks, the demand for the services of occupational medicine has risen sharply, especially outside the workplace.1 An outgrowth of this increase in demand has been an explosion of new investigations and new information as the field rejoins the mainstream of medicine, as well as new academic faculties, journals, and training programs. © 1990, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.