Current projections indicate a significant shortage of occupational health and safety professionals, including industrial hygienists, because of an imbalance between the supply and demand of suitably trained and educated professionals. Additionally, there is a disparity in the percentage of under-represented minority professionals in the occupational safety and health fields. The Tulane University industrial hygiene training program addresses these issues through its goal of providing support for industrial hygiene graduate students in the School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine MSPH-IH degree program. The MSPH industrial hygiene program began in 1980, a distance learning option was added in the early 1990s, and the program has been ABET accredited since 1996 including both the traditional on-campus and the distance learning options. Tulane also offers a graduate certificate in industrial hygiene and a PhD in environmental health science with a focus on industrial hygiene. The Industrial Hygiene graduate program curriculum is comprehensive and includes core courses from various public health disciplines and specialty courses in industrial hygiene. Courses include epidemiology, biostatistics, toxicology and risk assessment, radiological health, industrial ventilation and hazard control, physical agents, air sampling and analysis, occupational health, principles of industrial hygiene, and industrial safety. In addition, practice experience, applied research thesis, and comprehensive exam are required for completion of the degree. Since its inception, the program has graduated 203 masters students, of whom 35 were under-represented minorities. Approximately one-third of our alumni have obtained professional certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene. Current program students are trained and mentored by three core industrial hygiene faculty with the support of a large cadre of regular and adjunct faculty with expertise in related and ancillary disciplines including environmental health, occupational medicine, environmental epidemiology and safety science. NIOSH funded traineeships for Tulane MSPH-IH students began in 2005. In academic year 2015, 6 trainees are receiving support, 1 on campus and 5 in distance learning. Two of our current trainees are minorities. Recruitment of minority students into the Tulane program will be facilitated through continuing collaboration with Xavier University of Louisiana, an HBCU. Of our 35 minority graduates, 19 received undergraduate degrees from Xavier. The Tulane training program will continue to provide support for MSPH-IH students in on-campus and distance learning options. Tuition/fee and stipend support will be provided for selected full-time on-campus students and tuition/fee support provided for selected distance learning students. Support for trainee travel to professional conferences for attendance or presentation will also be provided. The program target is to provide support for four to six student trainees per academic year.
Americans spend a major part of their adult lives in the workplace and increasingly, the adverse effects of workplace conditions, exposures, and stressors on workers' health are being recognized. This academic Training Program addresses this public health issue through our goal of training qualified masters-level industrial hygienists - front line professionals engaged in the primary prevention of occupational injury and illness - with a special focus on the recruiting of minority student trainees.
