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Taking an Occupational and Environmental Health History

Jointly provided by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, the Tulane University School of Public Health Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, and Center for Continuing Education

Release Date: September 28, 2015
Date of Last Review: June 20, 2018

STATEMENT OF NEED
Healthcare providers do not receive adequate education in environmental and occupational medicine. People may be exposed to hazardous substances in their homes, workplaces, and communities. Environmental and occupational injuries and diseases are generally not distinctive. They have non-specific symptoms that can have a variety of causes and present in the clinic just like anything else. Providers need the tools to help them identify and treat problems caused by environmental and occupational exposures.

OVERVIEW
Exposures to hazardous substances in the environment and workplace are estimated to account for 24% of the global disease burden and 23% of all deaths. You will learn three simple questions that will help you identify and treat problems caused by environmental and occupational exposures. These questions will help you to connect the dots between a patient's health problems and the possible sources of those problems in his or her environment, which will allow you to treat your patient most effectively. In the process, you may also be protecting other people from the same risks.

GOAL
You will learn three simple questions that will help you identify and treat problems caused by environmental and occupational exposures. These questions will help you to connect the dots between a patient's health problems and his or her environment, which will allow you to treat your patient most effectively. In the process, you may also be protecting other people from the same risks.

TARGET AUDIENCE 

• Physicians, primarily Internists and Family Medicine, plus other interested specialties
• Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, EMS
• Physician Assistants
• Industrial Hygienists

LEARNER OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be better able to …

• Explain why occupational and environmental exposures may be important to the health of their patients.
• Identify hazardous substances in the environment and how patients may be exposed to them.
• Describe the health effects of hazardous substances, and how such effects might appear in a clinical setting.

PREDICTED OUTCOMES
Predicted Changes in Practice as a result of participating in this activity include the ability to …

• recognize patients exposed to environmental or occupational hazards
• remove them from the exposure
• prevent others from becoming exposed

COMPETENCIES
This activity may address elements of competencies identified by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC):

ABMS:  Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-based Learning & Improvement, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, Professionalism, and Systems-based Practice

IOM:  Provide patient-centered care, Work in interdisciplinary teams, Employ evidence-based practice, Apply quality improvement, and Utilize informatics

IPEC:  Values/Ethics for Interprofessional Practice; Roles / Responsibilities; Interprofessional Communication, and Teams and Teamwork.

PRESENTERS

Last Name	First Name	Role in the Activity
Epperson	Melinda	Director, Tulane CME
Gutman	Anya	Speaker (Health History)
Harrison	Robert	Speaker (Seafood & Health History)
Kirkland	Katherine	Co-Activity Director, AOEC
Kleinpeter	Myra	Chair, Tulane CME Advisory Committee
Krane	N. Kevin	Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Tulane SOM
Lichtveld	Maureen	Co-Activity Director, Tulane SPHTM
Lind	Caroline	Educ. Eval. & Research Specialist, Tulane CCE
Meister	Raymond	Cases (Seafood & Health History)
Refvem	Sarah	Program Coordinator, Educ. Eval. & Research, Tulane CCE
Schmidt	Pamala	Assistant Director, Tulane CME
Silver	Elaine	Speaker (Seafood & Health History)
Sliwinski	Roblynn	Department Administrator, Tulane CME
Wickliffe	Jeffrey	Reviewer (Seafood & Health History)

To begin the presentation, click here.

PRESENTATION NOTES

• This course takes approximately 75 minutes to complete.  
• This course can be viewed on any recent browser version including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. An internet connection is required.

SPONSORS AND FUNDING
The Gulf Region Health Outreach Program was developed jointly by BP and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee as part of the Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement, which was approved by the U.S. District Court in New Orleans on January 11, 2013 and made effective on February 12, 2014.  The Outreach Program is supervised by the court and is funded with $105 million from the Medical Settlement.