Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Megan E. Romano, MPH candidate¹, Wayne W. LaMorte, MD, PhD, MPH², Richard Clapp, MPH, DSc³, Wendy J. Heiger-Bernays, PhD⁴, Michael D. McClean, MS, ScD⁵, and Robert Schadt, EdD¹. (1) Talbot Building, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, (724)454-4637, meromano@bu.edu, (2) Epidemiology Department (Talbot Building), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, (3) Environmental Health Department (Talbot Building), Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, (4) School of Public Health, Boston University, 715 Albany St., Talbot 2 East, Boston, MA 02118, (5) School of Public Health - Environmental Health Department, Boston Univeristy, 715 Albany Street, Talbot Building, Boston, MA 02118

Traditionally, public health education has been department-based, frequently restricting students to a one-dimensional perspective that fails to illustrate the complexities of real public health problems and the manner in which expertise from multiple disciplines can be effectively integrated to solve problems. We sought to shift this paradigm by bringing together a faculty-student team from different departments to collaborate on the creation of a realistic, case-based teaching module that integrates concepts from environmental health, epidemiology, health law, and environmental justice based on a real case of human health risk assessment (HHRA) undertaken at a former naval air station in Massachusetts. Site contaminants include PCBs, arsenic, lead, manganese, and benzo(a)pyrene. The module leads students through a series of interactive scenes that explore key steps in the HHRA, including hazard identification, exposure assessment, toxicology/dose-response assessment, risk characterization and communication. Links to streaming video enhance the realism of the case and make it more engaging. The case unfolds serially, and the student confronts conceptual questions and must make decisions to work through the case. Links to carefully selected resources enable the student to investigate these areas in order to formulate answers and make appropriate decisions related to the scenario. After each response the student receives immediate feedback. Topics such as ecological risk assessment, standard incidence/mortality ratios, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and smart-growth principles of redevelopment are explored. The module will be available as an on-line resource for both students of public health and public health professionals in practice.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• List and explain each step involved in a human health risk assessment.
• Describe the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and its applications for protecting public health.
• Calculate and interpret a standard incidence rate (SIR).

Keywords: Public Health Curriculum, Risk Assessment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation