The goal of the Northern California ERC Targeted Research Training program is to train research leaders in occupational health and safety in the following disciplines: occupational medicine, occupational health nursing, ergonomics, and industrial hygiene. Research training will be accomplished through mentorship with faculty, discipline specific course work, proposal writing, and direct research activities, such as data collection, management, and analysis, as well as exposure to community-based participatory based research activities. In addition, students funded through this project will attend a monthly research seminar focused on research methodology (didactic), weekly student discussions sessions and presentations (role development), and research critique in an interdisciplinary environment (discussion). Targeted research training activities will focus on three thematic areas of interest to ERC faculty: occupational lung disease and inhalation exposures; musculoskeletal injury and prevention; and high-risk and vulnerable workers. Research projects in the following NORA Council areas would be available for student learning experiences: construction (overhead drilling), healthcare and social assistance (GROW study data), services (restaurant workers), and manufacturing (NUMMI auto manufacturing) as well as other relevant areas. Continuing education courses related to key elements of their specific research topic may round out the students' experiences. In addition, students will learn how to develop and use educational bridges to translate University research to external constituencies to ensure that practicing professionals, workers, their representatives, supervisors, and other educators benefit from the University's occupational health and safety research activities. Exposure to faculty research activities, group discussion, other research rotations, and participation in interdisciplinary Center activities will assist students in these endeavors.
The aim i s to provide a broad, multidisciplinary educational experience involving student and faculty collaborations in the classroom and on research projects. The discipline-specific research curricula in all programs have evolved in response to major changes in the workplace so that now research training with an applied emphasis is increasingly a key element this learning experience. The goal is to produce graduates with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to synthesize diverse information in order to effectively address the unusual research problems that arise in the technically, institutionally, and culturally complex workplaces that characterize the current economy. ? ? ?
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