A case report of occupational post-traumatic stress disorder in an emergency physician resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The precision pathway from diagnosis to management in the contest of occupational medicine

The subject of the case report is a front-line physician who developed post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after treating a patient who contracted COVID-19 and subsequently died. Authors believe that occupational PTSD is likely underestimated due to misdiagnosis as adjustment disorder or burnout, hindering effective prevention, organizational changes, and treatment. This case describes and analyzes the physician’s clinical history and occupational medicine interventions from symptom onset (2020) to correct PTSD diagnosis (2023). Occupational PTSD diagnosis authorized the physician’s permanent work relocation to internal medicine, facilitating recovery and safeguarding her professional competence. The analysis of this case was an opportunity to more deeply study workplace PTSD and allowed the authors to propose a replicable surveillance multidisciplinary management strategy.