Institute of Occupational & Environmental Health

Outline of Residency:

The West Virginia University School of Medicine is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and a participating member of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Postdoctoral Application Support Service, and other advanced residency matching programs.

International Graduates: All graduates of foreign medical schools must be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Graduates (ECFMG). All alien foreign graduates must meet all VISA Qualifying Examination or Foreign Medical Graduate Exam in the Medical Sciences requirement prior to application.

ONLY US Citizens or Permanent Resident Applications accepted.

IOEH:

The Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health is situated on the third floor of the Health Sciences Center South. Office space, including telephone access and computer facilities are provided for each resident within the Institute. Faculty offices, conference rooms, and a library are included in the Institute's quarters. The Occupational Health Clinic uses the clinical facilities of the Physician's Office Center adjacent to Ruby Memorial Hospital.

Program Objectives:
This two year program is designed to administer the academic and practicum phases of the training sequentially. Residents take academic coursework over the first year and satisfy the requirements for completion of a master's degree in public health (MPH). During the second year, they engage in required and elective clinical, corporate, and research experiences.

Residents are expected to develop the competencies in the six (6) areas below to the level expected of a new practitioner:

• Patient care: residents must be able to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health.
• Medical knowledge: residents must demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (i.e. epidemiological and social-behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care.
• Practice-based learning and improvement: residents must be able to investigate and evaluate their patient care practices, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and improve their patient care practices.
• Interpersonal and communication skills: residents must be able to demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective information exchange and teaming with patients, their patients families, and professional associates.
• Professionalism: residents must demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a diverse patient population.
• Systems-based practice: residents must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value.

The Academic Phase:

The Master in Public Health (MPH) program was designed with the needs of both preventive medicine trainees and public health professionals in mind. It serves the public health training needs of West Virginia and the surrounding region, and has pioneered distance learning techniques to reach public health professionals throughout the state. It admitted its first full class in 1996, and one year later was given full accreditation status by the Council on Education in Public Health. Residents in occupational medicine receive tuition support to obtain the academic coursework towards a Masters Degree in Public Health (MPH).

A plan of study and recommended schedule for the MPH is listed below in the attached link. Note that these courses will satisfy the minimum academic requirements of the American Board of Preventive Medicine for certification in occupational medicine. Residents are required to complete all MPH course work, however, to satisfactorily complete the residency and to gain board eligibility status. Additional or alternative courses may be taken with approval of the Residency Director.

Residents are expected to plan their academic year to insure that appropriate academic courses are completed within the year. Only the public health practicum or research project may be carried into the next year.

• MPH Course of Study

The Practicum Phase:

The practicum phase of the occupational medicine residency program is designed to provide residents with broad and intensive training in occupational medicine evaluation and treatment. A full spectrum of the practice of occupational medicine is seen in the clinics of the IOEH, including workplace injuries, evaluations of toxic exposures, fitness-for-duty and surveillance examinations, disability evaluations, and medicolegal examinations. In addition, the clinic acts as a major resource for the management of the workers' compensation system in West Virginia.

The clinic features two interrelated components. There is a primary care clinic based within the Department of Family Medicine and run by IOEH faculty held on Mondays. In addition, there is an occupational medicine service within the Medical Specialties clinic of the Physicians' Office Center every day except Tuesday. Residents most often start with the family practice, surveillance, and pre-placement patients and progress to the care of more complex patients and the performance of more difficult evaluations.

Training in clinical disciplines pertinent to occupational medicine, primary care occupational health services, applied research, and corporate experiences are also available as components of the resident's practicum training. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides an additional resource for training of residents in research and investigative techniques in public health. Residents may rotate through the Divisions of Safety Research, Respiratory Disease Studies, and Health Effects Laboratories with appropriate guidance from the staff there. Residents may also spend one or two months in Washington DC at the headquarters of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and become involved in the regulatory activities of the agency.

Clinical rotations in medical specialties related to the practice of occupational medicine are available. These include dermatology, pulmonary medicine, outpatient orthopedics, and rehabilitation medicine, and may be scheduled depending on resident interest and preceptor availability.

All residents are encouraged to complete one research project or practical public health/preventive medicine intervention of publishable quality to satisfy the requirements of the practicum, if this was not completed as part of the MPH.  Residents are encouraged to submit their papers for presentation at the Academic Section of the American College of Occupational Medicine annual meeting, or to other appropriate forums.

Academic or PGY-2 Level:

Promotion to PGY-3 depends on successful completion of the PGY-2 year. The requirement includes:

1. Successful completion of the MPH curriculum according to criteria established by the MPH degree program. Only the research project may be carried over into the next year.
2. Satisfactory quarterly reviews.
3. Participation in on going Occupational Medicine activities including clinical activity, occupational medicine departmental lectures, case presentation seminars and research seminars.

Practicum or PGY-3 Level:

Completion of the PGY-3 year is synonymous with residency completion.  The requirements include:

1. Eleven months of clinical and research rotations of which at least four months must be spent at a site where a comprehensive program of occupational medicine and related health and administrative services exist, as defined by the ACGME.  These may include traditional industrial rotations, as well as clinics which provide comprehensive services to employers and workers.
2. Satisfactory completion of the MPH practicum and all MPH requirements.
3. Satisfactory quarterly reviews as well as evaluations from preceptors of the practicum rotations.
4. Satisfactory completion of expected competencies in occupational medicine.

Residency completion:

Residents will be given notification of completion of training, which may be used for boards eligibility submission purposes.

Resident Benefits:        

Residents in occupational medicine receive all the benefits of house officers of the West Virginia University School of Medicine including malpractice insurance, health and sickness benefits and three weeks vacation. Tuition support for the Masters Degree in Public Health is provided through training grant support from NIOSH.

The residency will support sending residents to a professional meeting in the practicum year only, up to a predetermined level as may be presently available through program support. Exception may be made for residents in the academic year if they are presenting a research paper. Residents are expected to apply for any available travel grant funds available. In an effort to compensate for this situation and to afford residents the opportunity to meet colleagues, residents may request support for registration fees at occupational health conferences held in West Virginia or nearby. A book stipend, also dependent upon funding, is provided for residents.

Licensure:

It is the policy at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center that all residents obtain an unrestricted West Virginia medical license. Residents are expected to apply for a license to practice medicine in West Virginia at least 8 weeks in advance of their starting date.

The IOEH does not fund licensure costs for residents. Physicians will not be allowed to begin rotations until a copy of medical licensure has been presented for departmental files.

Details of medical licensure in West Virginia can be obtained from the West Virginia Board of Medicine, 101 Dee Drive, Charleston, WV (Telephone: 304-348-2921 or 304-558-2921). Please be aware that obtaining licensure in West Virginia may be a long process. The website for the Board of Medicine is:  http://www.wvdhhr.org/wvbom/

Doctors of Osteopathy participating in residency programs at WVU School of Medicine are also required to be licensed by the State of West Virginia.  They must obtain a license from the osteopathic board upon successful completion of their rotating osteopathic approved internship.  They must have passed all three parts of the COMLEX to qualify for this license.  Information on rules and regulations, fees, and applications can be obtained from: State of West Virginia, Board of Osteopathy, 334 Penco Road, Weirton, WV  26062 (304-723-4638).  The website for the Board of Osteopathy is: http://www.wvbdosteo.org/