First published on May 8, 2020 in observance of the COPH’s 35^th anniversary celebration.

The Sunshine Education and Research Center (Sunshine ERC) located in the USF College of Public Health is one of 18 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) education and research centers across the nation that provides interdisciplinary training of occupational safety and health professionals.

The Sunshine ERC, which was founded in 1997, offers programs collaboratively with the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Arts and Sciences and focuses on evidence-based practice and research, continuing education and outreach.

“Over the years this continuing education program evolved into a vehicle to provide low cost opportunities for professional development,” said Dr. Thomas E. Bernard, USF College of Public Health professor and Sunshine ERC center director. “The scope of the center also increased with pilot project research training and more opportunities for interdisciplinary activities.”

According to Bernard, USF COPH’s Drs. Yehia Hammad, Stuart Brooks and Pete Rentos had a vision for starting a NIOSH-supported education and research center that would be the first new center in a decade.

“As funded, the Sunshine ERC was the umbrella for industrial hygiene, occupational medicine and occupational health nursing with a nascent continuing education program. We then added occupational safety and occupational health psychology (OHP)­­—the first ERC to have an OHP program,” he said.

Bernard and Dr. Candance Burns of the College of Nursing, assumed leadership of the Sunshine ERC in 2008.

According to Bernard, with growing support from NIOSH, the Sunshine ERC affiliated with the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), expanded interdisciplinary activities and enhanced outreach into underserved populations.

“This momentum carried us into the current funding cycle with the addition of UCF to support research training directed at the hospitality industry, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for a new vision of occupational safety, and programs with UPR in disaster resilience for workers. Further, we now have a supported online program in health, safety and environment,” Bernard said.

The Sunshine ERC focuses on providing training that reflects the needs of key industries in Florida and emerging issues of the nation.

“Students in the Sunshine ERC receive solid training in their chosen field,” Bernard said. “The real value-added is further experience in interdisciplinary activities to better prepare them for the practice of occupational health, safety and wellness.”

Trainees spend time with peers from across disciplines in public health, nursing, and medicine at USF, psychology at USF and UCF, hospitality at UCF, and aviation at Embry-Riddle, according to Bernard.

“Each trainee is enrolled in a degree program within their institution,” Bernard said. “It is the interdisciplinary experience that takes them beyond their specific discipline.”

For example, Bernard explained, trainees are expected to attend one ERC-wide session that provides information of interest to all.

“This varies a little and includes responsible conduct of research, general principles of occupational health, safety and wellness, and team building exercises,” he said.

Trainees are also encouraged to attend national symposiums and also contribute and participate in research projects sponsored by the ERC and its faculty.

Zach Brandes-Powell, a second year occupational exposure science student in the COPH, said the Sunshine ERC has expanded his experience level as a student. 

“The mentoring and encouragement of the professors and members of the ERC have helped to push me to do things I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of with my current level of experience,” he said.  “For example, through the ERC’s support, I was able to co-present on the benefit of internships for occupational safety and health students and professionals at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHCE). With their encouragement, I also started to offer to tutor students taking industrial hygiene related courses. These opportunities have helped me to develop skills that will be beneficial to me in life and throughout my career in occupational safety and industrial hygiene.”

Brandes-Powell said going to AIHCE 2019 has been a highlight for him.

“We were able to meet students from ERCs around the country and interact with alumni of the program. The impact that the ERC has on its students was evident as the current students instantly found common ground with the alumni when talking about our courses and projects,” he said.

Miriam Escobar, also a second-year occupational exposure science student in the COPH, said the Sunshine ERC has helped her expand her networking abilities with professionals from other disciplines.  

“Now, I am part of a diversified professional network with a common goal to improve the safety and health of others in various occupational industries,” she said.

She said the highlight of her experience so far has been the ability to participate in the Puerto Rico Resiliency focus group research.

“I was able to travel to Puerto Rico and hear first hand how the hospitality community was not only affected by hurricane Maria but also come together and prevail,” Escobar said.

Currently, the Sunshine ERC is supporting four COVID-19 research projects through its program development fund, according to Bernard, three at USF and one at UCF.

Bernard said that while the Sunshine ERC focuses on students within the ERC disciplines, they have started to also engage students and faculty interested in disaster management.

“If students have an interest they should contact me or Ms. Kelly Freedman and we will see if there is an opportunity with current projects,” he said. “We would welcome and support expenses for some students outside the ERC to participate in interdisciplinary activities.”

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

The post Sunshine ERC provides students cross-discipline collaboration appeared first on College of Public Health News.

When it comes to simulating a large scale crisis, USF College of Public Health students in the master of science in public health (MSPH) occupational medicine residency program are getting as close to the real deal as possible.

Through a partnership with the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics in Tampa, students have the opportunity to take part in emergency management preparedness and training. It prepares them for handling a large scale disaster and triage of multiple patients with varying degrees of injuries and illness.

The VA’s “SIM BUS” contains mannequins dressed with mock injuries to fit six different scenarios.

Dr. Ronald Figueredo, COPH occupational medicine resident, examines a patient exposed to a rail car oil shipment explosion. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

The most recent simulation included patients with an array of chemical exposures from chlorine gas to ammonia.

Upon entering the bus, residents are provided information cards noting the status of the patient’s injuries. They utilize critical thinking skills and make decisions on how they would triage the patients, categorizing who needs care first, according to Dr. Eve Hanna, occupational medicine faculty in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

Trainees in the program are resident physicians from the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Residents complete clinical rotations at locations in Tampa including the VA, Tampa General Hospital, local private occupational medicine clinics and OSHA.

Occupational medicine is a board certified medical specialty with a focus on worker populations, diagnosis and treatment of work-related injuries, illnesses and exposures.

The simulation training happens twice a year for students in the MSPH occupational medicine residency program.

Residents of the COPH’s occupational medical residency program and instructor Dr. Eve Hanna (third from left) take a moment to show some USF school spirit following the simulation training. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

“It’s a higher form of learning,” Dr. Hanna said. “In order for all parts of your mind to be engaged you have to be doing something. In a lecture you’re just sitting there and taking the information in, so once you become an active participant you learn and retain the information better.”

Dr. Theodore Aquino, chief resident of occupational medicine at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said that coming from a military background, he’s had experience in dealing with mass casualty scenarios and that in emergency scenarios providers must triage patients to do good for the greater number of people.

“There is no replacement for real world training, but a close runner up would definitely be a simulation,” he said. “We’re taught see one, do one, teach one, so if you can’t necessarily see one or do one in a live scenario, live emergency, or live patient, a simulation is the next best thing,” he said.

Chief resident of occupational medicine at USF, Dr. Theodore Aquino, works to triage patients during the simulation. Trauma categories were defined as immediate care (red), delayed (yellow), minor (green) or expectant (black). (Photo by Anna Mayor)

Dr. Janet Sprehe, program director of simulations at the VA, manages all simulation education.

She said the VA obtained the simulation bus in August of 2015 and it has been used to train USF College of Public Health medical doctors and residents and USF College of Nursing students, as well as University of Tampa nursing students. The bus has been used for trainings across the Tampa Bay area, including at MacDill Air Force Base and the Hillsborough Emergency Management Command Center.

VA nurses, including emergency room and ICU nurses, provide clinical coaching as students make decisions regarding each patient.

“We have had over 700 people utilize the bus in training,” she said. “It’s great to see everyone liking what we’re training them on. Our goal is to keep simulating different types of emergencies to help people be prepared in what they need to do.”

The bus is equipped to provide medical services in the event of a disaster and, according to Sprehe, could be ready for operation within an hour.

Dr. Brandon Dawkins, a senior occupational medicine resident, said the simulation helped him become more familiar with how it feels to make a critical decision that will help to minimize harmful effects.

“It was difficult at first to understand how to balance the varying levels of triage during the simulation,” Dawkins said. “As a clinician one is trained that everyone who presents to the health care system will get the full complement of resources available. This is very different from an emergency or disaster situation as there are more constraints on time and resources. This creates a situation where attempting to give the full complement of resources to a patient without proper triage may result in injury or death that could have been prevented.”

For resident Dr. Dwayne Wilson, the simulation training was a new and helpful experience.

“Basically, preparation is the key to responding to an event, the more you plan, the more you prepare, the more reflexive memory to assess a patient or disaster event, so that’s why I feel this really helps,” he said.

COPH occupational medicine resident, Dr. Dwayne Wilson, checks the pulse of a patient who was exposed to a mixture of bleach and ammonia. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

The occupational medicine residency program at the COPH is a two-year concurrent academic and practicum training program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

For more information about the program visit the program’s website or contact Kelly Freedman, program coordinator, at kfreedm1@health.usf.edu.

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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