HISTORY and BACKGROUND
The
University of Cincinnati's
Occupational Medicine Residency
Training Program
Historical Perspective
In 1947, the Department of Environmental Health, within the University
of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine, created an Occupational Medicine Training
Program. The program was in response to a growing need for trained
physicians in Occupational Medicine. It is presently the oldest continuously
running program in the Unites States, with more than 200 graduates to date.
The University of Cincinnati has trained several times that number of students,
residents, and practicing physicians as part of the undergraduate medical
curriculum, various rotations for visiting physicians, and through continuing
education programs.
The Department of Environmental Health houses the Kettering Laboratory,
established nearly 75 years ago to conduct biomedical studies of environmental
health problems. The Department has close ties with the new Vontz
Center for Molecular Studies, which focuses on Molecular Genetics, including
the human genome project sponsored by NIH. The diverse scientific
and educational interests of the Department are largely in response to
the need to understand the nature of occupational and environmental hazards,
probe their biological and economic impact, and to develop methods of prevention,
control, and treatment. The Department of Environmental Health is
a designated research center for Environmental Health Science and is sponsored
by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Besides
the occupational medicine residency program, the department offers masters
and doctoral degree programs in environmental health, industrial hygiene,
toxicology, epidemiology, and biostatistics.
The University of Cincinnati's NIOSH Educational Resource Center
The University of Cincinnati is one of 16 National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) sponsored Education and Resource Centers (ERCs)
in the country. The components of the university’s ERC include - occupational
medicine, occupational health nursing, occupational safety, industrial
hygiene, and continuing education. The NIOSH ERC provides a rich environment
for the multi-disciplinary interactions between all occupational health
professions.
The Occupational Medicine Residency Training Program
The residency program provides a unique approach to occupational medicine
training by it curriculum configuration, breadth of experiences offered,
and its depth of faculty support. Many Occupational Medicine residency
training programs require one year of didactic training in "preventive
medicine” culminating in a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree or equivalent
degree. This is followed by one year of clinical work in either patient
care or field study. In contrast, the University of Cincinnati program
affords the resident the opportunity to integrate the clinical and the
academic experiences throughout the two years of training. The specific
courses offered address the basic components for preventive medicine residencies.
This program leads to a Master of Science (MS) degree upon the completion
of a required thesis project. Upon completion of Occupational Medicine
Residency Training Program, residents meet all the requirements for occupational
medicine board eligibility as set by the American Board of Preventive Medicine
(ABPM) and the American Osteopathic Board of Preventive Medicine (AOBPM).
Return to the University
of Cincinnati's Occupational Medicine Residency
Homepage
Last updated 2000-08-17