Occupational Medicine

Broadly based introduction to specialty with rotations to a number of organizations involved in providing occupational health services and work-related injury or illness services

About

Location:  Edmonton (including possible placements in Fort Saskatchewan)

Duration:  Minimum two weeks. Introduce the student to the expanding field of occupational medicine, and its implications for his or her future practice. Provide the student with more detailed knowledge in selected areas applicable to practice, career, or research goals.

Organization

Selective with a number of 1-2 week attachments with varying types of occupational health providers. Monday to Thursday is usually spent in a community attachment with Fridays spent in academic half-day and at the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic and the University of Alberta.

Typical attachments include:

• Worker’s Compensation Board

• Industry or community clinic

• Millard Health rehabilitation centre

Available staff and facilities vary according to the organization to which the student is attached.

Duties

Depends on rotation but will involve assisting in individual clinical assessments including fitness for work assessments, assisting in screening and surveillance programs, attending meetings, and review of complex files and preparation of reports on the causation and management of work-related illness and injury.

Typical Topics:

• Taking a work history

• Classifying hazards in the workplace

• Identifying sources of information on workplace exposures

• Work-related disease

• Environmental hazards arising from work

• Assessment of causation for possibly work-related illness and injury

• Assessment of impairment and disability

• Planning rehabilitation and return to work

Call: None

Education

Academic Half Day Friday mornings. The student may also be asked to prepare and present in teaching sessions held at the WCB. Opportunity to attend the Occupational Physicians of Edmonton Third Wednesday Club monthly.

Additional Notes

Clinical experience in medicine and surgery preferred. Most placements do not require night call but you should be prepared to observe emergencies or unusual incidents regardless of when they occur. You may be privy to sensitive information and must maintain the same standards of confidentiality as for patient information.

By the end of this rotation, residents will be graded as “progressing as expected” in each of the following and in the Global Rating.  The expected level of performance in the PGY1 year is Interpreter level (See Program Information - Overall Goals and Objectives).

1. Medical Expert

• Data Collection and Clinical Reasoning: The resident appropriately collects and synthesizes clinical information to formulate a primary diagnosis and appropriate differential.

• Clinical Decision Making: The resident is able to make appropriate and cost-effective investigation and management decisions based on the context of the case and best available evidence.

2. Communicator

• Patient and Family Communication: The resident communicates with and about patients and family in a patient-centred manner.

• Documentation and Verbal Presentation: The resident appropriately documents and presents cases for new consults, progress notes, and handover of care (succinctly organized, prioritized, summarized) including answering the question asked by the referring service.

3. Collaborator

• Interdisciplinary Team: The resident works well in a team, shares work, and interacts with referring physician and other healthcare providers effectively.

4. Leader

• Efficiency: The resident prioritizes tasks and manages time effectively.

5. Health Advocate

• Patient Advocacy: The resident addresses disease prevention, risk factor reduction, and health surveillance when indicated.

6. Scholar

• Personal and Team-based Learning:  The resident demonstrates an effective personal learning strategy (reading around cases, appropriate use of resources) and shares knowledge with other team members.

7. Professional

• Scope of Practice: The resident is trustworthy and responsible, knows limitations (asks for help appropriately), and responds well to feedback.

The objective of this rotation is to develop an approach to:

• Assess a patient's fitness to work

• Take an Occupational history

• Report/Notify work-related diseases appropriately

• Understand an overview of industrial hygiene and/or ergonomics, 

• Understand an overview of the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta and/or rehabilitation and disability management services. 

Assessment

We use the following In-Training Evaluation Report (ITER):  

• Occupational Medicine

Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)

This rotation focuses on Core of the Discipline EPAs. However, due to scheduling, a resident may do this rotation during Foundations. Residents are allowed to start Core of Discipline EPAs during the Foundations stage. This rotation is an ideal learning environment for the following EPAs:

• CD2: Assessing, diagnosing, and managing patients with complex chronic diseases

• CD3: Providing internal medicine consultation to other clinical services

• CD8: Caring for patients who have experienced a patient safety incident (adverse event)    

  • E.g. adverse event related to occupational exposure

Program Director

Dr. Quentin Durand-Moreau

durandmo@ualberta.ca

Medical Education Program Coordinator 

mepocmed@ualberta.ca