Mission

The NCC Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Residency develops physician leaders in occupational and environmental medicine, with specific expertise in support of the health of military service members, civilian employees, and family within the scope of Department of Defense (DOD) programs and Defense Health Agency (DHA).

Vision

The NCC OEM residency will continue to produce talented and capable public health driven physicians, who are ready to meet the ever-evolving missions of DOD and DHA.

Aims

Train OEM physicians who are able to:

• Recognize, assess, and mitigate environmental and occupational health hazards
• Advocate for a healthy workplace and workforce
• Support the DOD and DHA missions
• Effectively communicate and help mitigate risk for their employers, workers and community regarding public health hazards, environmental concerns and occupational considerations
• Effectively communicate and mitigate the workers impact on the work and the work’s impact on the worker
• Understand, provide and communicate occupational surveillance requirements, risks and trends
• Execute an effective worksite visit and provide recommendations to the employee, employer and leadership
• Address social, cultural, and behavioral factors influencing individuals and public health
• Assess population health needs, and implement primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies to meet them
• Apply principles and methods of biostatistics and epidemiology appropriately
• Plan, administer, and evaluate health systems and medical programs

Weekly OEM Residency Journal Club – Residents critical appraise scientific literature to address problems in OEM, the DOD and public health, discussing the quality and relevance of selected articles, and how the evidence presented in those articles can be used to address issues of public health and military significance. Residents also present clinical cases of public health and OEM significance and discuss current events that may impact the health of various populations including workers. PGY3s organize and present weekly board review sessions.

First Year Residents (PGY2) 

Residents complete coursework required to earn an MPH degree. Additional academic requirements for these degrees include an independent research project, completed during PGY2 year, and a Public Health practicum activity, which is completed during the PGY3 year. PGY2 residents are also required to complete four months of direct patient care, which is accomplished during the last four months of the PGY2 year.

Second Year Residents (PGY3)

This year focuses largely on practicum activities. Residents are based at USUHS but spend most of their time rotating in a variety of external organizations gaining “on the job” experience in the required competencies. Throughout this year, residents continue to participate in the weekly Journal Club and Board Review at USUHS.

Categories and site examples:

• 4-months of Occ Health Clinic each year (Indian Head, Walter Reed, Occupational Health Consultants, Concentra, NSA)
• 3-months of a Policy rotation two of which are federal and one month that is service specific (OSHA, OTSG, BUMED)
• 1-month of a Population Care sites (International Association of Fire Fighters)
• 1-month Industrial Site (Shipyard or Army Depot)

• Bushmaster (1-2 weeks) – Ft. Indiantown Gap
• Tropical Medicine Training Program – various overseas locations
• Specialty Clinics at WRNMMC
• Research: 1-2 weeks; can be used to prepare manuscripts or develop other academic products
• Any rotation in the following categories: Occ Health Clinics, Industrial site, Population Care site and Policy
  • Rotation site examples:
    • Federal Bureau of Prisons
    • Kimbrough
    • National Security Agency
    • Naval Health Clinic Hawaii
    • National Institutes of Health Toxicology
    • Dugway Proving Grounds
    • University of Maryland Occupational Medicine
    • Walter Reed Specialty Clinics

Typically, there are no call expectations for our program.

Our program has a robust military unique curriculum including: 

• Assess the threat of, and develop and implement effective countermeasures against heat, cold and other environmental injuries in military populations, including exposures to chemical weapons, depleted uranium, and other hazards unique to the military.
• Identify and counter environmental and injury threats which account for substantial morbidity in workers, e.g. hearing protection, respirator certification.
• Conduct ongoing surveillance capable of rapidly identifying and responding to significant disease and injury threats in military populations in a variety of settings.
• Devise, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs in military populations.
• Assess and respond effectively to the public health needs of civilian populations displaced by military conflict or natural disasters.
• In addition, there are required courses for our residency to complete prior to graduation:
  • Medical Effects of Ionizing Radiation (MEIR)
  • Radiation Health Indoctrination (RHI)
  • Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM)

PGY2

• Master of Public Health completion is required.
• Details can be found in the USUHS catalog  

PGY3

• Attend at least one major national professional conference, typically the American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC)
• Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties Course (MCBC)
• Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) Course
• Medical Effects of Ionizing Radiation (MEIR)
• Radiation Indoctrination Course (RHI)
• National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners Training course

PGY2 and PGY3 residents participate in a ½ day OSCE* at the USU Simulation Center, to assess their skills in managing clinical problems commonly seen in OEM clinics.

*Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) – Case based with patient actors

Residents fill many leadership roles. Every year PGY2s serve on the Graduate Medical Education Council subcommittees (Internal Oversight and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittees). PGY2s may also serve as wellness coordinators for the residency program. Additionally, a peer-selected PGY2 represents USUHS OEM at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center House Staff Council. During PGY3 year, two residents serve as Chief residents. Finally, Journal Club academic activities include a quarterly leadership session, developed and facilitated by faculty, in which we discuss current issues in military, public health, or civil leadership.

PGY2 residents are expected to complete an independent research project, as part of the requirements for their MPH degree. Multiple other opportunities for research arise during PGY3 practicum rotations.

Process Improvement/Quality Improvement projects during PGY2 and PGY3 are completed at rotation sites.

The OEM PD and APD serve as academic advisors to all residents and work closely with them in the selection of their courses and projects. Each fall, the military Specialty Leaders/Consultants present a professional development session to the residents during Journal Club. A variety of leaders in OEM are invited to speak for journal club to provide varying perspectives and experiences from the various areas of OEM to include industry, federal government (non-DoD), academics, policy and community.

• Annapolis Occ Health - Naval Health Clinic Annapolis
• Annapolis Sports Med - U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis
• Anniston Army Depot
• BUMED - Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
• Concentra
• DC-Veteran's Affairs Medical Center – WRIISC
• Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP)
• Fort Meade Kimbrough
• Hill AFB - 75th Medical Group
• Indian Head Branch Clinic - Naval Health Clinic
• Patuxent River (Dahlgren)
• International Association of Firefighters (IAFF)
• Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL)
• Madigan Army Community Hospital (Joint Base Lewis-McChord)
• National Security Agency (NSA)
• Naval Branch Health Clinic, Philadelphia (Parent Org: Naval Academy)
• Naval Health Clinic Hawaii
• Naval Health Clinic Quantico (Parent command to Washington Navy Yard)
• Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
• Norfolk NSY
• NIH Tox - The National Institutes of Health-Toxicology
• NMCPHC - Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Occupational Health Consultants (OHC)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG)
• Pine Bluff Arsenal
• Tooele/Dugway Proving Ground
• University of Maryland Occupational Medicine/Sports Med
• U.S. Army Public Health Command (USAPHC)
• White Sands Missile Range, NM, McAfee Army Health Clinic
• WRNMMC – Allergy, Cardiology, Dermatology, Occupational Health, Ophtho (NeuroOpth), PM&R, Pulmonary

We welcome our military medical students to rotate with our program. Interested students should contact oem_residency@usuhs.edu for more information.

Contact the program email to schedule an interview. The PD and APD are also happy to answer questions about the program or the preventive medicine career field, via phone or email.

Program graduates take the American Board of Preventive Medicine exam in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This exam is offered annually. To become fully board certified, applicants are eligible to take board certification exam 4 months following graduation. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the ABPM by August of the same year.

Qualified graduates may also meet requirements to sit for an additional Preventive Medicine board exam, in either Aerospace or Preventive Medicine.

Residents are able to develop and strengthen their teaching abilities during weekly Journal Club and Board Review, presenting critical appraisals of scientific literature and teaching board review material. They are also nominated to be teaching fellows during their residency.

Throughout PGY2 and PGY3 year residents may also choose to support the department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics by serving as faculty for School of Medicine small group sessions.

Faculty members are board-certified in all three specialties of preventive medicine (public health, aerospace, and occupational). Many faculty members are also dual-boarded in other medical specialties, including pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, toxicology and infectious disease. We also have a robust PhD faculty with expertise in diverse subjects including epidemiology, biostatistics, entomology, microbiology, and healthcare management.

Chief Residents and PGY3 residents often serve as mentors to PGY2 residents. OEM residents often have a diverse background and may have completed part or all of a prior residency program. Past residents have had experience in flight medicine, underwater medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, and multiple operational tours The mix of prior training and service experience in our residents provides a rich environment for sharing of experiences and advice among our residents. Each resident is assigned an advisor, the PD or APD as well as a research mentor and this provides additional mentorship opportunities.

Two PGY2s serve as wellness coordinators for the program. Each year there are scheduled social events at the midpoint and end of the academic year. Additionally, the wellness coordinators plan social outings for the program throughout the year. Recent activities have included bowling, picnics and joint session with fellow GPM residents.