A section of occupational medicine was first established at the University of Connecticut (UConn) after an intensive curriculum review in 1988. As of 1994, 5 physician and 3 non-physician faculty have been hired. Missions are described as education, service, and research in descending order of importance. Specific educational activities have already been introduced in all 4 years, as well as in primary care residency training, and an occupational medicine residency has been established without federal funding.
Specific aims of the proposed project are to: 1) expand the knowledge base of students, residents, and faculty in EOM; 2) provide instruction leading to development of skills in history taking, exposure assessment, and patient management; and 3) bring about attitudinal changes with respect to medical practice of EOM. Mechanisms to achieve these aims include: 1) expanding time allotted to EOM through integration with appropriate subject areas across all 4 years; 2) reinforcing a structured approach to EOM into internal medicine, primary care internal medicine, and family practice training; and 3) implementing faculty development through continuing medical education (CME). A Theme Committee for Environmental Health has grown out of a student interest group and has developed goals and objectives. For students, problem based learning (PBL) will be used in all years, environmental influences on disease will be presented and inserted into 11 identified courses. Student practice will occur under supervision of section faculty in longitudinal experiences. Clinical medicine interventions will benefit from a """"""""train the trainer"""""""" approach. In their ambulatory experience each student will do one worksite and one home visit. Students will be hired to record discussions which occur on inpatient rounds. Evaluation will occur thru objective structured clinical exams (OSCE) which have long been used at UConn, pre/post testing, chart reviews, student assessment, student evaluations on in-patient rotations, and through state-wide disease reporting.
