The Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center (ERC) prepares leaders in occupational health and safety research and practice. Master's and doctoral (PhD, DrPH, ScD) training is provided in occupational and environmental hygiene (1.5 yr MHS;4-5 yr PhD, DrPH), occupational and environmental health nursing (1 yr MPH;1.5 yr MSN/MPH;4-5 yr PhD, DrPH), biomarkers of exposure and susceptibility research training (4-5 yr PhD, DrPH) occupational injury epidemiology and prevention (4-5 yr PhD) and residency training in Occupational Medicine (2 yrs). Continuing Education and Outreach components bring the strengths of the core programs to practicing occupational health and safety professionals. A Pilot Project Research Training Program provides research study support to students and junior faculty at academic institutions within our region. Finally, this application proposes a new initiative to develop an interdisciplinary training program for exceptional scholars who plan to enter an academic career. The objective is to prepare qualified faculty for OHS educational programs. Like the Pilot Project Research Training Program, the NORA Scholar program will emphasize the NORA II, sector-based priority areas. Annual trainees per program have averaged 10 in occupational health nursing, 6-8 in occupational medicine, 20 in occupational hygiene, 8-10 in biomarkers research, and 5-6 in injury prevention. The continuing education program reaches at least 1,000 students per year. Relevance: There are approximately 120 million workers in the U.S. whose work-related health, quality of life, and productivity are affected directly or indirectly by the expertise of health and safety professionals. The health needs of workers are best met by integrated teams of professionals, trained to work in an interactive setting, to provide care, set policy, design and manage health and safety programs, and conduct research that discovers new knowledge to advance the body of knowledge in this field. The Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center trains occupational hygienists, nurses, physicians, injury epidemiologists, and specialized researchers to achieve this goal and also provides educational and outreach opportunities to practicing community partners. Thus, this center, through its interdisciplinary training mission, builds the national capacity to evaluate risks, detect and assess vulnerable populations, and deliver cost-effective and state-of-the-art care to prevent and mitigate health threats in the workplace.
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