Skip to content
STRATUSWORKFORCE SCAN
Menu

Preventive Medicine Physicians

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. May practice population-based medicine or diagnose and treat patients in the context of clinical health promotion and disease prevention.

$265,930 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).

now
3%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 61%
  • 39%
  • 0%
3%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
April 2028

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 61% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.

How far this has come

With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 3%.

0%5%10%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 0% within reacho3, April 2025: 0% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 0% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 1% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 1% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 1% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 1% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 3% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 3% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.

The tasks

Sorted by . 15 tasks from .

TaskKind
Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.Done daily by most who do it. 14%6.7 h1.7 h to 4.2 work daysStays with people
Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.Done daily by most who do it. 14%1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days2%Half by Feb 2028
Design, implement, or evaluate health service delivery systems to improve the health of targeted populations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. 14%4.2 work days1 work day to 3.3 work weeks0%Half by Feb 2029
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.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 13%1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work daysStays with people
Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.Done more than monthly by most who do it. 10%2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks0%Half by Jun 2028
Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.Done daily by most who do it. 10%1.7 h25 min to 3.3 hStays with people
Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. 5%1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days4%Half by Dec 2027
Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 5%1.7 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days1%Half by Nov 2027
Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 4%6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days9%Half by Aug 2027
Develop or implement interventions to address behavioral causes of diseases.Done more than yearly by most who do it. 3%2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks0%Half by Jun 2028
Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.Done more than yearly by most who do it. 3%6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days8%Half by Sep 2027
Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.Done daily by most who do it. 2%2.5 h50 min to 6.7 hStays with people

Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.

Jobs that share skills with this one

From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

Where this job works

The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.