Preventive Medicine - General Preventive Medicine Program Closed

Effective July 1, 2018, UTMB Health closed its General Preventive Medicine Residency Programs. This includes its combined Internal Medicine/Preventive Medicine program (ACGME 7514844010) and its categorical Preventive Medicine program (ACGME 3804821049).

The UTMB Health Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health remains committed to physician training, and to our residents in training. This change does not affect our Aerospace Medicine programs. Details for the Aerospace Medicine program are listed below.

Aerospace Medicine Residency Program

Aerospace Medicine Residency Program_banner_image

It is our mission to prepare physicians in the operational aspects of aerospace medicine and space biomedical research to protect the health of populations exposed to unusual or extreme environments, to be knowledgeable about the physical and engineering aspects of the flight environment, and manage public safety issues from a variety of regulatory agencies.Practicum experience includes clinical and other rotations to provide the necessary training opportunities covering the entire spectrum of aerospace medicine. These rotations prepare the resident through supervised clinical, project and program management experiences to be competent in all aerospace medicine competencies.

Graduates of this residency should be able to meet the following program goal and objectives:

  • Plan, administer and evaluate programs to promote health and prevent disease; including risk management and risk education, budget and financial systems
  • Develop continuous quality improvement programs
  • Manage health care systems for flight and support personnel, and dependents
  • Develop crewmember medical standards
  • Support design and use of biomedical protective equipment
  • Be proficient in identifying hazardous environments and provide expert advice for protection from environmental contamination, radiation, and low pressure environments
  • Apply public health models to domestic and international health issues including public health issues of commercial air travel
  • Design and conduct research into clinical problems of aerospace medicine, clinical outcomes research, and basic science causes of problems related to long-duration space flight
  • Design and plan longitudinal studies of flight and support personnel to evaluate long-term health consequences of exposure to unusual environments
  • Implement preventive medicine programs to reduce personal health risks and to increase the safety of the workplace environment
  • Develop information management systems to support the delivery and evaluation of population based healthcare system

NASA UTMB Aerospace Medicine Residency patch

The UTMB Health Aerospace Medicine Residency Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The UTMB Health/NASA Aerospace Medicine Residency Program combines the facilities, faculty, and expertise of two great institutions and several partners to provide aerospace medicine training focused on space to the flight surgeons and researchers of tomorrow.

The two‐year program integrates academics leading to a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree and practicum experience in a variety of aerospace medicine related activities and rotations. Program graduates are eligible for certification by the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) in Aerospace Medicine.

Training is prevention‐based and acquaints residents with unique aspects of space medicine applications including medical standards and certification, crew health issues, biomedical protective equipment, acceleration, microgravity, hyper and hypobaric conditions, radiation, remote monitoring, and lifetime surveillance of astronaut health. Residents become proficient in the ability to access the literature related to the physiological changes that occur in microgravity and evaluate current research.

NASA Astronaut and UTMB Aerospace Medicine Residency Graduate Live Video Conference

On November 2, 2018, UTMB had the honor of hosting Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, MD, MPH, NASA Astronaut and graduate of the UTMB Internal Medicine and Aerospace Medicine residencies and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, for a live video conference question and answer session. Medical students, residents/fellows, faculty, staff, area high school STEM programs, and visiting residency interviewees had the opportunity to ask Dr. Auñón-Chancellor questions pertaining to medicine, research projects and life on the International Space Station as a part of the Expedition 57 crew.

Watch the live recording here...Video Broadcast Recording

Program Highlights

Work with national and international experts in space and aviation medicine disciplines

Train in space medical operational activities, biomedical research design, aerospace medicine space physiology, and biostatistics

Training in extreme medicine environments

Complete a total of 42 hours of graduate-level coursework (MPH)

Develop and complete an integrative learning experience (capstone project) to earn an MPH degree

Qualify residents to be eligible to sit for the certification examination of the American Board of Preventive Medicine


Academic Study

The MPH degree plan includes a core set of 42 credit hours required by the Accreditation for Graduate Medical Education and the Council on Education for Public Health.

  • Courses in core knowledge areas of public health (Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Environmental Health, and Social/Behavioral Sciences)
  • Aerospace specialty courses (toxicology, global health & travel medicine, principles of aviation and space medicine, and accident investigation/ risk management and mitigation)
  • Completion of an integrative learning experience (capstone)
  • Completion of a mentored non-patient care public health practice experience

Summer I

Principles of Aviation and Space Medicine
Public Health Practice
Introduction to Occupational Injury and Illness

Summer II

Public Health Professionalism and Leadership
Integrative Learning Experience
Public Health Practice Experience

Fall

Introduction to Epidemiology
Foundations in Public Health
Health Policy and Management
Fundamentals of Occupational Toxicology and Environmental Health
Ethics

Spring

Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Health Promotions
Social Determinants of Health
Public Health Assessment, Planning and Evaluation
Applied Statistical Methods
Public Health Practice Experience

Practicum Opportunities

Our program offers practicum experiences with partners including the NASA Johnson Space Center, Federal Aviation Administration, military aerospace medicine, aviation medicine, commercial spaceflight, extreme medicine, hyperbaric medicine, clinical and administrative preventive medicine sites, and various other elective opportunities.

Contacts

Preventive Medicine Residency Programs
University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, Texas 77555-1110

Phone: (409) (409) 747-6131
Email: aerospace.med@utmb.edu
small_powersWilliam (Ed) Powers, MD, MS
Director,
Aerospace Medicine Residency
R. Yvette Schulz_smR. Yvette Schulz
Program Manager
Aerospace Medicine