Shafali Patel completes Safety Internship at the John. S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston

Published: January 23, 2024

Shafali Patel, a master of public health student, is a Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH) Trainee in industrial hygiene at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Born in India, Patel studied dentistry as an undergraduate making her a prime candidate to complete a summer internship for clinic safety at the John. S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston.

Patel’s interest in public health aligns with the industrial hygiene field as it intertwines the evaluation of worker safety, and identifies key measures to protect the health and safety of this group. Her goal is to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) in the future.

Patel first became involved with this internship after a recommendation from her advisor, Wei-Chung Su, PhD, assistant professor with the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. Su introduced her to Scott Patlovich, the assisant vice president of Environmental Health & Safety at UTHealth Houston, to network and gain insight into internship opportunities in the field. With Patel’s background with clinical experience as a dentist, she secured a distinguished internship in the summer of 2023.

Her schedule as a clinic safety intern with the Behavioral Sciences Center involved attending safety meetings weekly, participating in Environment of Care rounds, and developing safety training modules for new personnel. Each aspect of her experience allowed Patel to gain hands-on experience in the field outside of the classroom.  

“I think this experience will help me a lot in my future career in industrial hygiene. I can now anticipate and recognize safety concerns by looking at my surroundings. This is the primary principle for an industrial hygienist. I became familiar with OSHA requirements during my internship, which will help me to organize the work according to OSHA requirements.”

The SWCOEH provides graduate-level training opportunities for occupational and environmental health professionals through our industrial hygiene, occupational and environmental medicine, occupational epidemiology, and Total Worker Health^® programs.