Type of Program:
Preventive Medicine - Occupational Medicine
Length of Program:
2 years - Academic Phase and Practicum Phase
Current Program Status:
Full Accreditation
Program Director:
Dean Baker, MD, MPH
Overview
The goal of the UCI occupational medicine residency is to prepare residents for the comprehensive practice of occupational medicine in a variety of settings, including occupational medicine clinical practices, managed health care organizations, corporate medical departments, and public health programs. The program provides a range of academic and practicum training opportunities, which enables the residents to tailor their training to address their educational objectives while also ensuring that each resident receives solid training in the core areas.
Residents in the academic year enroll in the MS degree program in environmental toxicology in the UCI College of Health Sciences or in environmental health, science, and policy in the UCI School of Social Ecology. During the practicum year, residents spend most of their time in field site rotations. The residency provides practicum training in industrial and service sector occupational medicine programs, as well as in comprehensive occupational medical practices and in regulatory agencies. Within these rotations, residents are exposed to all aspects of occupational medicine practice.
Throughout the academic and practicum years, residents receive ongoing training at the UCI COEH consisting of supervised clinic sessions, clinical case conference, didactic seminars, journal club, and work site visits. Residents must also complete a research project during the residency. This intensive academic, clinical, and practicum training prepares our graduates to serve as specialists and leaders in occupational medicine.
Faculty
Dean Baker, MD, MPH Professor Occupational and environmental epidemiology
M. Joseph Fedoruk, MD, CIH Professor Occupational medicine, toxicology
Peter Schnall, MD, MPH Professor Occupational epidemiology, work organization
James Seltzer, MD Professor Environmental allergy and immunology
Stephen Bondy, PhD Professor Neurotoxicology
Robert Phalen, PhD Professor Air pollution and respiratory toxicology
Leslie Israel, DO, MPH Associate Professor Occupational medicine, occupational health services
Elliott Kornhauser, MD, MBA, MPH Associate Professor Occupational medicine, employer health services
Ulrike Luderer, MD, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor Occupational medicine, reproductive toxicology
Wayne Chang, MD, MS Assistant Professor Occupational medicine, toxicology
Ralph Allan, MS, JD, CIH Specialist Industrial hygiene, environmental health law.
COEH CORE TRAINING ACTIVITIES [top]
Required core training activities include clinical case conferences, didactic seminars, journal club, worksite visits, and the COEH occupational and environmental medicine clinic. Residents come to the COEH for these core training activities on a weekly basis throughout both years of the residency. Residents in the academic year participate in the seminars over the summer and during the academic year if their class schedules permit. The clinical case conference is held every week, while the didactic seminar and journal club are held bi-weekly on alternate weeks.
Orientation period. The residency begins with a seven week orientation period during which the residents participate in the COEH occupational health clinics, make work site visits, and develop their educational plans for their residency training. During this period, the residents complete required courses in exposure assessment and industrial hygiene, occupational safety, and introduction to occupational and environmental health laws and regulations.
Residency seminar. Topics for the weekly residency seminar are taken from the requirements for residency training in occupational medicine and from recommendations on essential competencies by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The seminar is taught by the core faculty and volunteer clinical faculty.
Clinical case conference. This bi-weekly conference serves as the attending rounds for the clinic in which residents discuss case issues, case management strategies, toxicology, and occupational medicine principles. Dr. Fedoruk is the principal faculty for the case conference.
Journal-club. Under faculty supervision, each resident in turn is required to identify and critique an important, recent article. Principles of study design, epidemiology, clinical toxicology, and data analysis are emphasized in the journal club discussions. All faculty participate in the journal club.
Grand rounds. The COEH sponsors a monthly grand rounds designed as a Continuing Medical Education program for practicing physicians. We invite regional and national speakers to present at the rounds. Residents are expected to attend the Grand Rounds whenever their schedules permit.
Work site visits. The core training also includes regular work site visits organized by Dr. Israel, Mr. Allan (industrial hygiene) and Ms. Koebler (nursing). The following are examples of sites visited during the past year by the residents: Toyota Car Manufacturing, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Steelcase Furniture Manufacturing, 3M Dental, Mansfield Plumbing, GNB Smelter, Rockwell Semi-Conductor, and Exxon-Mobil Oil.
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic. Residents receive clinical training through their participation in the two COEH occupational and environmental medicine clinics. One clinic is based at the UCI Medical Center and provides comprehensive occupational medicine clinical services. This clinic also serves as the employee health service for the medical center. Another clinic is based at the COEH and provides occupational and environmental medicine specialty consultations and does medical surveillance examinations for a variety of employer clients. Residents generally attend one clinic session per week, where they evaluate an average of three to five patients per session. Residents see a variety of patients, including potentially exposed or symptomatic patients (case evaluations), pre-placement and periodic examinations, and return to work evaluations.
ACADEMIC PHASE [top]
The UCI residency provides a choice of two degree programs for the academic phase. We offer a choice of degree programs in order to provide flexibility in addressing the residents' educational objectives. Residents in both degree programs complete all course requirements for board certification in preventive medicine.
Master of Science in Environmental Toxicology, UCI. The MS degree program in Environmental Toxicology is the most common training track chosen by residents. This degree program is offered by the Department of Community and Environmental Medicine with the collaboration of faculty in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This track provides in-depth training in toxicology while satisfying the core course requirements for preventive medicine. The residents complete required courses in toxicology and conduct an individual research project leading to a Master's thesis. Elective courses in the toxicology program are used by residents to complete the required course work for the preventive medicine residency program.
Master of Science in Environmental Health Science and Policy, UCI. Residents may enroll in the MS degree program in Environmental Health Science and Policy, which is offered by the School of Social Ecology and the College of Medicine. This track is appropriate for physicians who wish to emphasize training in environmental health policy, management, or ecology. The residents complete required courses in environmental health science and policy and conduct a research project leading to a Master's thesis. Residents take the same preventive medicine core courses for this program as those taken by the residents in the toxicology degree program.
PRACTICUM PHASE [top]
During the practicum phase, residents spend most of their time in field site rotations which reflect the broad range of "real world" practice opportunities. Within these rotations, residents are exposed to all aspects of practice, including: clinical care and
evaluation of workers; medical surveillance; organization and management of occupational medicine programs; work place exposure assessment and control methods; and collection and analysis of health data. Meanwhile, residents receive clinical, didactic, and research training through interaction with the program faculty at the COEH.
Field Placement Training
We divide the field site rotations into three types of experiences - worksite-based occupational medicine programs; regulatory or public health agencies; and comprehensive occupational medicine clinical practices. Residents are expected to complete at least one rotation in each setting. Residents may also undertake clinical training at UCI in areas relevant to occupational medicine practice, such as dermatology or pulmonary medicine.
First, rotations with Exxon-Mobil Oil and Steelcase provide training in major industrial corporations. Residents participate in the full range of occupational medicine activities that occur in these corporations. A rotation with the County of Orange Employee Health Service also provides a comprehensive range of learning experiences in a municipal occupational medicine program.
The field site placement with Cal-OSHA is an interesting and valuable component of the practicum training since it affords an opportunity for residents to view many workplaces and become involved in issues related to occupational health law and regulation. The rotation takes place two days per week over several months, so residents have meaningful participation in possible regulatory actions.
The third group of training sites is the rotations with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group and Kaiser Occupational Medicine. In these rotations, residents obtain comprehensive clinical training. These rotations provide residents an opportunity to understand the comprehensive practice of occupational medicine in a group medical practice setting.
The program also offers rotations with the UCSD Toxicology and Poison Control Center and the UCSD Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine. In addition, if the resident would like to emphasize more clinical training relevant to occupational and environmental medicine, we offer the option of ambulatory rotations in dermatology, radiology, pulmonary medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Research Training
We believe it is important for the residents to gain an appreciation for the research process. In fact, research is an integral component of the residency program in that the academic programs at UCI require research leading to a thesis. During the practicum phase, residents may extend the research they began in the academic phase, or they may undertake new projects. The research experience is designed to provide knowledge, skills, and an appreciation of research without detracting from the residents' core training in occupational and environmental medicine practice.
Most research projects are done in the areas of epidemiology, toxicology, or occupational health policy. Residents identify a core faculty member as the faculty supervisor. Approval of the project is required by the residency faculty, using standard procedures for a research master's thesis.
The following are examples of residents' research projects during the past few years:
Trends in Agricultural Organophosphate Poisoning in California
Jennifer Javors, MD, MS
Relationship of Estimated Dose of Particulate Matter and FEV 1 in Asthmatic Children
Wayne Chang, MD, MS
Patterns of Percutaneous Injuries Among Physicians and Nurses at a University Medical Center
Sheri Ryan Belafsky, MD, MS
Effect of Fine Particles on Heart Rate Variability in Aged Rats
Tack Lam, MD, PhD, MS
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT [top]
Dean Baker MD, MPH
Program Director
Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
University of California, Irvine
School of Medicine
5201 California Avenue, Suite 100
Irvine CA 92617
Telephone: 949-824-8641
E-mail:dbaker@uci.edu |
