With the establishment of a collaborative centered on emerging technologies in occupational health and safety, LSUHSC-NO, LSU-BR and UTHSC will develop an innovative, interprofessional approach to workforce development. The primary goal of this initiative is to enhance training efforts in the area of emerging technologies in occupational health and safety through interprofessional, field-based instruction supplemented with online modules and workshops. The creation of an Advisory Board for the program comprised of industry, state government, and healthcare representatives will serve to evaluate the program?s translational quality and sustain the applicability of emerging technology training to current industry and governmental concerns. Training structure will consist of several options to serve both traditional students and working professionals. Online modules will provide core and background information in occupational health and industrial hygiene to educate those in non- traditional occupational/environmental fields to the basic constructs. In-person workshops will provide continuing education credits with initial curricula including e-waste and emerging issues with the electronics industry and advances in bioremediation in addition to interprofessional- based GIS, Economics, and Law. Graduate-level academic training will be delivered through programs at LSU-BR and LSUHSC-NO. LSU-BR will restructure their current Professional MS program and develop a new graduate certificate program in environmental technology. LSUHSC-NO will develop two new courses housed within the School of Public Health for MPH/MS students that will be taught in an interprofessional, case-based format focusing on emerging technologies. All graduate academic courses will be cross-listed for inter-campus participation. These courses will also include a rotation of interprofessional teams of students to industries in Southeast Louisiana for hands-on experience with current occupational health professionals. Utilizing a watershed approach, this initiative will augment workforce diversity through targeted recruitment for undergraduate programs at LSU-BR, graduate programs at UTHSC, LSUHSC-NO and LSU-BR, and occupational medicine at LSUHSC-NO. The participation of non-traditional field such as Business and Law will boost the dissemination of this training in emerging technologies with the modules and/or courses, professional organizations and Advisory Board advocacy.
With the establishment of a collaborative centered on emerging technologies in occupational health and safety, LSUHSC-NO, LSU-BR and UTHSC will develop an innovative, interprofessional approach to workforce development. This continuing education and graduate level academic training will enhance worker safety and augment workforce diversity through a team-based approach to occupational health that encompasses non-traditional perspectives such as business and law.
