“Throughout my career as a psychiatrist for working people who have suffered physical injury and emotional trauma on the job, I have been blessed. The challenges these fellow citizens have confronted often have been daunting. My job is to assist those in need to receive the care they are due. It is also to encourage them to not give up, to persevere. If I do my job as observer and coach, then these brothers and sisters may see opportunity where they previously saw no future.”

He notes that:

“Thankfully the career of a physician allows one to give back over and over, provided the work is taken seriously. Doctors are competitive professionals. They often have big egos. When at their best, their complete focus is on the person they are listening to and touching during the examination, and for whom they are providing advocacy. In occupational psychiatry, our patients run a gamut from having no prior contact with a mental health practitioner to having had years of psychotherapy. They are immigrants and also Americans whose relatives fought in our Civil War. Some are illiterate, while others have advanced degrees. To be a successful occupational psychiatrist, one must find common ground with the individual who seeks relief from emotional distress. Walk a mile in that brother’s moccasins.”

Larsen’s book is a worthwhile read, providing insight on a QME’s journey through the system.