OCCUPATIONAL  MEDICINE /  INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY

The combined Occupational and Internal Medicine residency is a program designed to prepare the physician for a leadership role in private care and consultation, medical directorships for companies, and academic roles.  The combined Occupational and Internal Medicine residency will allow physicians to prepare for and write for both the Occupational and Internal Medicine boards. The program is designed so the requirements for the residency will be met within a four-year time frame. Some of the rotations will be counted toward both Occupational and Internal Medicine requirements. The resident will also receive a Master of Public Health.

 Internal Medicine

UTMB’s Department of Internal Medicine offers the future internist rigorous training in a supportive environment.  Because scholarship involves both teaching and learning, UTMB’s Department of Internal Medicine ward team functions interactively.  All members perform as both teachers and students, with residents participating actively in bedside and didactic instruction for the under-graduates on their services.  Although interns (PGY-1s) assume primary responsibility for patient care, they are supervised by junior and senior residents (PGY-2s and PGY-3s) and the attending faculty physician.  Attending physicians from the entire faculty conduct rounds seven times weekly.

By seeing outpatients in the clinic two half-days a week, all house staff gain experience with longitudinal ambulatory patient care, because these same residents often have examined these same individuals in the consult clinic or cared for them in the ward services.

The morning after being on call, residents assigned to ward teams meet with chief residents and the chairman or program director for morning report to discuss the patients admitted during the previous 24 hours.  The informal atmosphere of these morning report conferences encourages Scholarly inquiry and the discussion of interesting and Outpatient experience makes up more than 40 percent of the Department of Internal Medicine’s primary training program and 38 percent of our categorical program.  The emphasis on patient  care and evaluation in an outpatient setting, a result of changing health care economics, is a vital component in the education of today’s physician.  

The Department of Internal Medicine’s residency program include rotations of four weeks each.  Although some rotations are more intense than others, the focus remains on the content and intense immersion in patient care more often the pace allows for attention to other facets of learning.  For more information, please visit the Internal Medicine residency website.

                                Occupational Medicine

Preventive medicine is the medical specialty that deals with the prevention, treatment and management of disease processes in defined population groups as well as an entire community.

Occupational medicine is a specialty within preventive medicine, which focuses on the relationships among the health of workers, the ability to perform work, and the physical, chemical, and social environments of the workplace.  Our program provides the necessary training in clinical, administrative and research areas for effective leadership in private clinical care and consultation, medical directorships for companies, and academic roles.

The University of Texas Medical Branch is the only university in the country to offer all three preventive medicine residencies.  The Department of Preventive Medicine/ Community Health houses the residency programs of Occupational Medicine, Aerospace Medicine, and General Preventive Medicine.  There is unparalleled  opportunity to gain competency based knowledge in all specialty areas of preventive medicine.

Areas of competency based training will include disability management and work fitness, public health and surveillance, hazard recognition, evaluation and control, clinical care and preventive services (including cardiology, dermatology, hematology, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal, neurology, pulmonary), toxicology, government regulations, environmental health and risk assessment, management and administration, expert testimony, research and education, biostatistics and epidemiology, and social issues.

The division of Preventive, Occupational and Environmental Medicine strategically reorganized in 1996, to bring under its umbrella the diverse disciplines of workers’ compensation, risk management, the employee assistance program, safety and environmental services, and the employee health clinic.  Residents will also interact as a team member with industrial hygienists, nurses, safety personnel, and counselors for psychosocial issues.

Academic Year

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Texas Medical Branch and will lead to the degree of Master of Public Health.  This training will provide the physician an academic foundation in such areas as biostatistics, sociomedical sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, and health services administration.  The degree fulfills the requirements of the board leading to certification in Preventive Medicine.  Ample opportunities for research in these and other related areas will be available for the resident.

Practicum Year                 

The Practicum Phase will be composed of didactic and clinical components and other rotations to provide the necessary training opportunities covering the spectrum of occupational medicine.  Each resident will be matched with a Faculty Advisor that will assist in coordinating the practicum experience.

The practicum phase shall prepare the resident for the comprehensive practice of occupational medicine and shall afford opportunities for the resident to deal with clinical, social, legal, and administrative issues from the perspectives of workers, employers, and regulatory authorities.

Clinical rotations include petrochemical plants, rehabilitation facilities, public health facilities, occupational medicine clinics, insurance and electronics companies.  Electives are available in aerospace medicine and correctional medicine.