Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

Industrial, Corporate and Public Health Environments

• Dow Health Services (Freeport) – Dow Chemical is a leading material manufacturing company with a large complex in Freeport, TX. Residents will rotate with Dow Health Services and learn approaches to include Return to Work/Fitness for Duty evaluations, Injury and Illness Case Management, Medical Surveillance Program, Reproductive Health Consultations, and Travel Health Consultations. There are also opportunities to understand better health and safety hazards associated with their extensive chemical manufacturing processes. Finally, they have a state-of-the-art wellness center for employees and an onsite clinic to learn from.
  
  
• Fort Bend County Clinical Health Services Division – The Fort Bend County Clinical Health Services (FBCCHS) ensures that Fort Bend County residents have access to available and affordable care in specific public health clinical areas. The core public health services that FBCCHS provides are prevention of vaccine preventable diseases in children and adults, prevention and treatment of latent and active tuberculosis, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections including prophylaxis for HIV and linkage to care for residents living with HIV, and partnering with community stakeholders to provide education in the core areas of prevention.
  
  
• Harris County Public Health – Harris County Public Health (HCPH) Is the local county public health agency for the Houston/Harris County community. HCPH is a comprehensive local health department engaged in a variety of diverse public health areas including public health preparedness, epidemiology, environmental public health, veterinary public health, public information and health education. Rotations at Harris County Public Health are in the areas of: public health administration, policy & planning, epidemiology, public health preparedness, mosquito & vector control, environmental public health, public information and risk communication, veterinary public health, health education & prevention, and disease control & clinical prevention activities.
  
  
• Houston Area Safety Council (HASC) – This large healthcare facility provides extensive services for small and medium companies, primarily in the oil and gas industry. Services include injury care, physical exams including DOT, non-DOT, pre-employment, fit-for-duty, Coast Guard, OGUK, laboratory services, pulmonary function testing (PFT), audiograms and respirator fit testing, substance abuse testing, and travel medicine. HSC also has an extensive health and safety educational facility for employers to have hands-on education.

• Houston Health Department - The Houston Health Department (HHD) is the public health agency for the City of Houston. It is a comprehensive local health department engaged in a variety of public health areas including epidemiology and disease reporting, consumer health services, health centers, immunizations and pollution control and prevention. Rotations at the HHD include activities in the areas of public health administration, policy & planning, public health preparedness, environmental public health, public information and risk communication, health education & prevention, and disease control & clinical prevention activities.

• LyondellBasell – LyondellBasell is a multinational refinery and chemicals plant with manufacturing and corporate sites in Houston. Residents will have an opportunity to work in both scenarios, seeing occupational injuries, illnesses, disaster response, return to work, and fitness for duty. LyondellBasell is also leading an initiative in Total Worker Health, and residents will be able to participate in its development.
  
  
• Memorial Hermann Health System - Corporate – Residents work closely with the preceptor, a former resident of our program, and current Vice President of Employee Health Medical Operations. The rotation also involves assisting the Vice President with a project work relevant to occupational medicine and a chance to learn the management structure of an employee health department of a large healthcare service organization. 

• Practical Issues in Disability Assessment in Occupational Medicine – The Practical Issues in Disability Assessment in Occupational Medicine rotation includes foundational learning and practical experience. By the end of the rotation, the resident will be able to differentiate between disability and impairment; understand legal and policy frameworks; identify common occupational injuries and illnesses; conduct comprehensive clinical examinations; develop clinical skills for determining Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI); apply the AMA guides to permanent impairment; write structured impairment rating reports; evaluate workers’ fitness to return to work; and formulate return-to-work plans.

• ShellHealth – Shell is also a large multinational energy company. Residents can learn the breadth of a large healthcare organization that provides employee services around the globe, many in remote hazardous conditions. The rotation will spend time in both Shell Corporate headquarters working with executives whose responsibility focuses on North and South America Shell global manufacturing. The other part of the rotation will be spent at the Deer Park chemical plant better understand, prevent, and treat hazards associated with chemical manufacturing.

 Healthcare Settings

• Concentra Medical Centers (three Houston sites) – This national occupational medicine clinic system provides various employee health care, including acute care, pre-placement testing, ergonomics evaluations, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and fitness for duty. Residents can obtain both Medical Review Officer (MRO) and Department of Transportation (DOT) certificates for free while on this rotation. The Houston area has three different Concentra clinics residents can rotate in, each with a different set of employers and hazards unique to the area. Away rotations in other cities can also be arranged at Concentra sites if those clinic sponsors obtain permission.

• International SOS – Residents spend:

a)  Two weeks assisting remotely on an International SOS-managed project somewhere in the world, subject to availability, working with an Occupational Health MD in the relevant region.

b)  Two weeks with a consultant within CMA in the US, and

c)  Four weeks with International SOS’ affiliate, PRIME, at their clinics either in Texas or Louisiana, which will be hands-on clinical practice under the supervision of a PRIME physician.

• Lifestyle Docs – Lifestyle medicine clinic focused on addressing the root cause of disease and providing the tools, guidance, and support patients need to reverse diseases, become holistically healthy and achieve their personal best. The clinic’s mission is to empower the patient to become healthy in mind, body, and spirit. 
  
  
• Lifestyle Medicine – A multi-specialty practice focusing on lifestyle health interventions. In this rotation, residents develop skills in assessing and managing occupational/environmental and other health problems affecting the employee population served from the occupational health perspective. 
  
  
• MD Anderson Employee Health - The MD Anderson Employee Health rotation allows residents to become familiar with the administration, operations, and occupational health issues typically occurring within the employee population at MD Anderson. Residents will develop skill in the medical evaluation of healthy working people, of occupational injuries, and of the conditions of their work. Resident’s activities are only clinical in nature, and they will (i) attend meetings and conferences, (ii) participate in medical screening activities, (iii) participate in worker’s compensation case management, (iv) evaluate/treat assigned patient, (v) participate in evaluation of worksites with other members of the occupational health team, (vi) participate in routine occupational health consultation activities as assigned, (vii) complete any special projects with the Rotation supervisor with the approval of the Program Director, and (viii) complete assigned readings.
  
  
• Memorial Hermann Health System - Clinical – residents work at a fast-paced Occupational Medicine clinic, which includes preventive services such as pre-employment physicals and interpretation of screening exams to diagnose and treat occupational injuries and illnesses.  
  
  
• University of Texas Health Services - UTHS is a provider of employee health care for a variety of companies and organizations throughout and beyond the Houston area. They offer primary care services as well employee health coverage for a large, tertiary care hospital system with extensive health care education integrated into patient care.

Subspecialty Rotations 

• Houston Emergency Opioid Engagement System (HEROES) – The HEROES program is designed for individuals seeking long-term recovery from opioid use disorder. It provides clinical and behavioral opioid treatment options at no cost. Residents will learn to evaluate and treat patients with addiction disorders and learn approaches for their return to home and the workplace.
  
  
• UTHealth Houston Dermatology – The clinical activities in the Department of Dermatology are comprehensive and diverse. During the UTHSC Dermatology rotation residents spend their time at the UT Dermatology clinic, gaining a broad knowledge base in medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology. Common as well as rare and challenging cutaneous conditions are seen in a diverse patient population.
  
  
• UTHealth Houston School of Bioinformatics – Residents understand Bioinformatics, which uses computers to help explain complex biological phenomena. Bioinformatics combines multiple layers of information, for example, measurements of genetics, imaging, proteomics, and microbiomics, in large quantities. It is a data-driven endeavor meant to understand and cure disease. Residents rotating through here can apply for the UTHealth Houston Bioinformatics fellowship following occupational medicine residency.  
  
  
• UTHealth Houston Sports Medicine – The Sports Medicine program is a collaboration between the McGovern Medical School’s Department of Family & Community Medicine and Department of Orthopedic Surgery. During the Sports Medicine rotation, residents are involved in history-taking, physical exam and anatomy correlation, they are introduced to musculoskeletal ultrasound, sideline and training room exposure, along with educational participation and professionalism within sports medicine.