OccTok: Season 4, Episode 1 – Dominic Dabrowski, Naval Nuclear
Choose Your Own Adventure: Dr. Dominik Dabrowski on the Many Paths Within Occupational Medicine
In this episode of OccTok, host Jeff Donnell talks with Dr. Dominic Dabrowski, medical director at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory and an ACOEM Ambassador Program member, about the meandering journey that led him from an anatomical and clinical pathology residency to occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). Facing burnout partway through his pathology training, Dominic found an unexpected mentor and a specialty that let him bring his full range of interests and skills along with him.
The conversation covers a lot of ground: why OEM is, in Dominic's words, a "choose your own adventure" field open to clinicians from any background; how physicians and nurses considering leaving medicine entirely might find new purpose in OEM instead; and how his triple board certification in occupational and environmental medicine, lifestyle medicine, and addiction medicine intersect around a common thread of health and human performance. He also discusses the workplace's growing potential as an early detection system for addiction and mental health struggles, the coming regulatory shifts around cannabis and emerging substances that will reshape MRO and DOT work, and why total worker health may represent OEM circling back to its preventive medicine roots.
Whether you're a medical student exploring specialty options, a physician considering a career pivot, or an occupational medicine professional curious where the field is headed, this episode offers a grounded, first-hand perspective on what makes OEM distinct.
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OccTok is a podcast produced by Enterprise Health to support the mission of ACOEM's Ambassador Program, an initiative to increase awareness of occupational and environmental medicine among medical and APP students and residents and provide opportunities for real-world experiences for interested trainees.
The Ambassador Program is led by a group of occupational health professionals who recruit others in the specialty to volunteer as ambassadors and present at lunch and learns at medical and physician assistant schools throughout the U.S. The presentations introduce attendees to the specialty and its benefits which include high satisfaction and low burnout rates, and provide information on common work environments including hospitals and health systems, colleges and universities, the public sector, sports and entertainment, and a wide variety of corporate and manufacturing settings.