Dr. Daniel A. Bakston, MD, MPH

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Get to know Occupational Medicine Specialist Dr. Daniel A. Bakston, who serves patients in Illinois.

An occupational medicine specialist, Dr. Bakston practices in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UI Health, where he performs post-offer, fitness-for-duty, and return-to-work employment physicals. 

His specialties include occupational and environmental medicine, DOT and employment physicals, employee drug screens, health hazard evaluations, acute injuries, medical surveillance, on the job injury care, OSHA exams, travel health exams, vaccines, workers’ compensation, and work-related injuries.

A part of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), UI Health comprises a clinical enterprise that includes a 462-bed tertiary care hospital, 26 outpatient clinics, and 13 Mile Square Health Center facilities, which are Federally Qualified Health Centers. It also includes the seven UIC health science colleges: the College of Applied Health Sciences; the College of Dentistry; the School of Public Health; the Jane Addams College of Social Work; and the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nursing, including regional campuses in Peoria, Quad Cities, Rockford, Springfield, and Urbana. 

As a certified Medical Review Officer, Dr. Bakston sees acute work-related injuries and poisonings and conducts independent medical evaluations. He is also Interim Director of the Occupational Health Institute and Chief of Service at UI Health, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of the Occupational Medicine Residency Program at the UIC School of Public Health.

In Illinois, he serves as an attending physician at Munster Community Hospital, St. Catherine’s Hospital, Rush University Medical Center, and the University of Chicago Medical Center. 

Graduating with his medical degree from Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland, Dr. Bakston relocated to the United States to further his training. He performed his internships at Ascension Providence Hospital & Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and his residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dedicated to the profession of medicine, he is board-certified in occupational medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM). The ABPM is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties that issues “certificates of special knowledge” in the specialty of preventive medicine.

Among his professional affiliations, Dr. Bakston is a member of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the Chicago Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Association, and the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics.

Occupational medicine is the branch of medicine concerned with the maintenance of health in the workplace, including prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries, with secondary objectives of maintaining and increasing productivity and social adjustment in the workplace. Occupational medicine specialists work to ensure that the highest standards of occupational health and safety are achieved and maintained in the workplace.

A reviewer for the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Bakston has also given lectures in multi‐disciplinary seminars at the UIC School of Public Health, the local Medical Director’s Club, and regional conferences. 

On a more personal note, he is fluent in English and Polish.

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