The Southern California Education and Research Center prides itself on the number and variety of interdisciplinary opportunities provided for our trainees. Our trainees are typically UCLA and UCI graduate students from the Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health Nursing, Occupational Medicine, and Epidemiology disciplines but we welcome students from all areas. We believe that the educational experience is greatly enriched by sharing with and learning from other disciplines. Through these collaborative experiences, trainees learn how to see the workplace from the point of view of other disciplines, how to bring their own perspective to the table, and how to work as a team. At most events, participants are seated or grouped to maximize the interactions among the disciplines and the benefits of communication among first year students, second year students, and PhD candidates.
ERC Student Training Program
Fall Workshop
We start off the academic year by bringing together all of our trainees, new and returning, and our faculty for a two-day orientation and workshop.
Day One - at UCLA - features short presentations about each of the different programs, and presentations by returning trainees about their research projects and internships. There is a poster session where attendees move in groups from one trainee to another who explain their research and their posters illustrating the results. There is also a featured speaker who is invited to conduct a presentation on a health and safety topic.
Day Two - at UC Irvine - is a clinical case conference where students learn about the issues of interviewing ill or injured workers and may have the opportunity to observe an actual clinic visit. All participants must complete online HIPAA training prior to attending.
Annual Meeting
Each year during Winter quarter, we invite a prominent occupational health and safety professional to be our keynote speaker. Trainees, faculty, Advisory Board Members and Continuing Education Course Directors are invited. There are opportunities for question and answers as well as interdisciplinary activities. Past speakers have included NIOSH Director John Howard, Dean of UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health Jody Heymann, and UC San Francisco Medical Center, Professor Paul Blanc.
Clinical Case Conferences
There are three clinical case conferences during the year. The first is during the Fall Workshop (above). There are additional clinical case conferences for Winter and Spring quarters. This is always one of our most popular activities.
Worksite Visit
Each Spring we visit a work-site in the greater Los Angeles area to observe the hazards and controls encountered by workers on the job. After an introduction to the company and presentations by current trainees about hazards they may observe, we tour the facility in small groups. This is followed by a working lunch where groups prepare a presentation based on an assignment. Members of the facility’s safety department attend these presentations and often find them useful in identifying improvements that can be made. At some facilities, trainees don the PPE (personal protective equipment) necessary for the safety of workers and visitors.
Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Case Studies
Every month an IH or OHN trainee presents a case. This case is usually related to an event taking place during their practicum. The preceptor, usually a faculty member, helps the student prepare the case in order to address key aspects during the presentation. Students from different disciplines provide their professional feedback to the presenter. This is part of the interdisciplinary training they receive for EHS 230.
Journal Club
Once or twice every month, the students in the program attend a seminar where they study an occupational health and safety article in a professional journal. This part of the 1-credit EHS 230 course series.
Ethics Webinar
Twice a year, the Continuing Education Program offers an online webinar on Ethics for Health and Safety Professionals. The course instructors are an industrial hygienist and an occupational health nurse. The course focuses particularly on ethical situations facing occupational health and safety professionals and encourages the interaction between the trainees and working professionals who take the course for professional accreditation. All trainees are required to attend the course once during their traineeship.
To access the course website, log in with your UCLA login:
Spring 2020 Schedule:
| Date | Time | Location | Module | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | 6:00-7:50 pm | Online | Case Presentation: “A Case for Worker Compensation: A Task Based Loss Analysis in SoCal” (Zarreen Amin, IH Student) | |
| April 7 | 6:00-7:50 pm | Online | Case Presentation: “Health Hazards of Respirable Silicon Amoung Stone Fabrication Workers” (Armine Gukasyan, OEHN Student) | |
| April 14 | 6:00-7:50 pm | Online | Case Presentation: "Delayed Chemical Burn Cased by Industrial Biocide Exposure" (Dr. Oluseyi Awodele, OM Resident) | |
| April 20 | 10:00am-12:00pm | Online | Ethics for Health & Safety Professionals, Part 1 | |
| April 23 | 10:00am-12:00pm | Online | Ethics for Health & Safety Professionals, Part 2 | |
| May 26 | 6:00-7:50 pm | Online | Interdisciplinary Group Project Reports/Presentations | |
| June 2 | 6:00-7:50 pm | Online | Interdisciplinary Group Project Reports/Presentations |
