Dr. Pamela Krahl was selected as an Occupational and Environmental Medicine representative on ABPM’s Board of Directors and began her term in August 2024.

Dr. Krahl works as the Associate Director for Occupational Health Services at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, having retired in September 2024 from the US Navy following 33 years of service. She has also served since 2021 on ABPM’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine exam subcommittee.

What led you to a career in medicine and, specifically, the specialty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine?

My first career in the Navy was as a meteorology and oceanography officer. It was a fantastic first job. I worked with wonderful people in some challenging environments, including on a ship doing coastal surveys in the Middle East and later in Antarctica doing weather forecasting. As my initial commitment to the Navy was winding down, I considered whether to go to graduate school and continue in meteorology and oceanography, or to try a new adventure and apply for medical school. I ended up going to medical school on a Navy scholarship and learned about Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) while I was at Emory. It just clicked with me as the perfect specialty to support my Navy shipmates when I eventually returned to active service. I also appreciated the wide variety within OEM to provide continued challenges and opportunities for growth. As you might have guessed from my description of my previous career, that was one of my most important considerations in picking a specialty.

What is the value of board certification for you?

Board certification establishes professional credibility and opens doors. It demonstrates an ongoing commitment to professionalism and quality. Oh yeah, and you get paid extra by the military, too 😊.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term on the ABPM’s Board of Directors?

My biggest goal is to contribute to raising the visibility of preventive medicine specialties amongst medical students, our fellow physicians, and employers.

For many specialties, board certification is a key qualification for medical staff privileges to practice in that specialty. Although board certification is equally relevant to ensuring competence in our specialties, it often isn’t required for those who are hired to provide preventive medicine services. Employers, including those outside of traditional health care settings, need to understand that board certification in our specialties exists and should be a key qualification, just as it is in other more well-known medical specialties.

Given the small size of our field, I believe that our specialty societies are critical to addressing our visibility challenges and must work together to be successful. We need to highlight the overlap of our specialties in a collaborative rather than competitive way, and messaging should center around why government, corporate, and other employers with the need for preventive medicine services should prioritize board certification. I hope that through the ABPM’s Board, we may be able to help catalyze these partnerships to advance us all.

What hobbies or other activities do you enjoy outside of work?

I always stay busy. I enjoy triathlons (and each of the component sports), indoor and outdoor household DIY projects, and genealogy. We recently built a new home on the Magothy River and look forward to boating next summer!

Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself with the ABPM community?

I’m very honored to be representing OEM on the Board. I welcome anyone to reach out with questions, concerns, comments, or ideas!

Dr. Michele Soltis is one of ABPM’s new Directors, having started her term in August 2024. Based in Falls Church, Virginia, she serves as the Chief Consultant to The Army Surgeon General. Dr. Soltis has supported ABPM’s work since 2018 as a productive member of its Public Health and General Preventive Medicine exam subcommittee.

What led you to a career in medicine and, specifically, the specialty of Public Health and General Preventive Medicine?

I recall first wanting to pursue a career in medicine after meeting my former pediatrician, Dr. Suzie. Dr. Suzie’s extraordinary competence and remarkable kindness both inspired her patients (especially this one!) and impressed their parents. At a time when there were very few female physicians practicing in my hometown, Dr. Suzie proved one could attend to patients, serve the community, and nurture a family with equal measure. I always wanted to try to be just like Dr. Suzie – and even forty-some years later, I think of her and strive to emulate the compassion and care she shared.

While I did consider pathways in pediatrics, obstetrics, and child psychiatry, it was the tremendous scope of Public Health and General Preventive Medicine that ensnared me – hook, line, and sinker! While completing a medical school rotation in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine at Madigan Army Medical Center, I fell in love with the “choose your own adventure” nature of the specialty. I came to understand and appreciate that there are few (if any) other medical specialties which train and encourage its practitioners to not only engage in direct patient care, but to also participate in important research, development, and other academic endeavors, as well as to manage programs, inform policies and lead health systems to protect and promote the safety and well-being of populations. Every day I am excited to learn new ways in which Public Health and General Preventive Medicine physicians employ interdisciplinary approaches to proactively impact the health of individuals and their communities.

What is the value of board certification for you?

Board certification irrefutably demonstrates the physician has met and mastered the established knowledge, skill, and ability standards for the specialty. To me, board certification unequivocally showcases competence, undeniably communicates credibility, and ultimately instills confidence in patients, peers, and potential employers alike. Just as the MasterCard commercials noted, I believe the value of board certification is truly “priceless.”

What do you hope to accomplish during your term on the ABPM’s Board of Directors?

I look forward to working with the Board to assist with the continued implementation and evolution of the ABPM’s Continuing Certification Program, to include the Public Health and General Preventive Medicine specialty and Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management subspecialty Longitudinal Assessment Programs. I am eager to assist with routinely assessing and potentially revising these important educational and evaluative measures to ensure they purposefully enhance the professional performance of Diplomates.

What hobbies or other activities do you enjoy outside of work?

I really enjoy learning more about different wines, love all things Halloween, collect Fiestaware dishes, and make it a personal goal to watch every movie nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award each year. I am also on quests with my husband and son to visit as many National Parks as possible and to ride the ten tallest roller coasters in the country.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself with the ABPM community?

I am so proud to be a member of our ABPM community and excited to advocate for our incredible Public Health specialties and subspecialties!

Happy New Year! All of us at ABPM wish you all the best in the coming year.

ABPM is looking forward to an exciting year in 2025. You’ll get a preview of some of the big things happening in this issue; we’ll keep you up to date on our website, by email, and on LinkedIn, too.

Something we are very excited about this year is the expansion of the Longitudinal Assessment Program (LAP) pilot to all current, time-limited ABPM diplomates. When developing ABPM’s LAP, our primary goal was to ensure that the LAP is an effective and efficient way for physicians to stay up to date in their specialty or subspecialty. We wanted to create a program that physicians will want – not just be required – to participate in and we’re excited to unveil it to you on January 7!

Another focus this year at ABPM will be improving the visibility of preventive medicine specialties and subspecialties. In an era of increasing burnout among healthcare professionals, preventive medicine is consistently rated among the best medical specialties in terms of work-life balance. It’s time to share with others what we already know – that preventive medicine careers are rewarding and offer a variety of opportunities.

To that end, we’re excited to deploy our newly minted Council of Strategic Advisors, a group of former Directors of the Board whose terms ended within the previous five years. This group of leaders will share their experiences as preventive medicine physicians with medical students, mid-career physicians, and others to support ongoing efforts of advocating for our specialties and subspecialties.

Stay tuned for more from ABPM on its efforts to promote preventive medicine. In the meantime, let us know about your experiences as a preventive medicine specialist or subspecialist. We love to feature diplomates in this newsletter and other communications. Drop us a line at [email protected].

Thank you for reading this issue of ABPM’s newsletter, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!

Yours in good health,
Heather O’Hara, MD, MSPH, FACOEM, FACPM