Please submit an abstract for a poster, oral, or roundtable presentation. Accepted abstracts for oral and roundtable presentations will be grouped with other abstracts on complementary topics by the OHS program committee into 90-minute sessions.
Oral sessions: The 90-minute oral sessions will typically feature four (18-20 minute each) scientific presentations and a brief time period for audience Q&A.
Roundtable Sessions: The 90-minute roundtable sessions will typically feature six to seven speakers who are given 6-8 minutes each to describe their research, outreach, advocacy, or discussion topic. The speakers are then situated at different roundtables and audience members select a table and engage in a discussion with that speaker for a 15-minute period. A second 15-minute discussion period is offered to allow the audience to switch tables and speak with a different presenter. Projectors and other audio visual (AV) equipment are not provided in the roundtable sessions. In this more interactive format, the OHS Section encourages speakers to use other methods to present their work, such as a handout, photos, a poster, or tablet/laptop display. If a roundtable session is your preference, write “interested in roundtable” in the notes section on the on-line abstract submission form.
Student and New Researchers Poster Competition: This year we will feature a Student and New Researcher Competition. All Students (currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs) and New Researchers (within 2 years of completion of last degree) are encouraged to submit their abstracts to the Poster Competition.
All accepted abstracts assigned to poster sessions will be entered into a special Student and New Researcher Poster Session to recognize exceptional worker health and safety research. Scores for the awards competition will be based on the (1) current relevance of the research question; (2) whether the research addresses a novel OHS issue; and (3) its harmony with the theme “research to action.”.
Special Information for Students and Community Members:
The OHS section encourages students and local community members to submit abstracts for our program. The OHS Section offers a limited number of scholarships for students, labor union representative and community-based organizations. Please see the OHS Section page on the APHA web site for scholarship information. The OHS Section also has a limited number of one-day passes and will offer them to individuals with accepted abstracts who have limited means to pay for the conference registration fee.
Instructions for individuals wishing to propose a full 90-minute session: See notation (**) below.
Instructions for preparing abstracts: Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words. Where applicable, organize your abstract into four sections: Background and Objective(s), Methods, Results, Conclusion(s). We understand that you may not have results at the time of submission; if not, please include preliminary results or expected outcomes.
The OHS Section strives to offer a full program of scientific sessions at which participants are able to earn the following continuing education (CE) credits: CME, CHES, CNE, CPH, MCHES.) We require each abstract to include each of the following:
(1) At least one measurable objective, which must include one of the following action words: explain, demonstrate, analyze, formulate, discuss, compare, differentiate, describe, name, assess, evaluate, identify, design, define, or list. Note: ‘to understand’ or ‘to learn’ are not measurable objectives.
(2) No mention of any trade and/or commercial products.
(3) A signed Conflict of Interest form with a relevant qualification statement. Your qualifications statement should list your unique expertise to present the information identified in your abstract. Note: “I am a professor at XYZ university” is not deemed an acceptable qualifications statement by the CE accrediting organizations. An acceptable qualifications statement would be: “I have conducted research on the ABC topic for 5 years, and was the co-PI on this project.”
The CE accrediting organizations expect the educational learning content to be of sound science or professional practice, and serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills and professional competence of the health professional. Learning content should be evidence-based if available. A list of over 30 areas will be provided online from which to choose. You will be asked to choose at least one or up to six areas that your presentation will address.
Information for those who wish to submit a proposal for a full 90-minute session: The OHS Section will also accept abstracts that propose a complete session with 4-5 presenters. The organizer of a proposed session must submit a “session abstract.” In the first sentence of the abstract write, “this is an abstract for a 90-minute session,” and then describe briefly the session objectives. In the "Comments to Organizers" box in the Title step, include the names of each proposed presenter and the title of their presentations. (Do not include the names of each proposed presenter and the title of their presentations in the body of the abstract.) List the organizer or key contact person for the proposed session as the “first author” on session abstract.
In addition to the “session abstract,” each proposed speaker must also submit an abstract. The organizer of the session is responsible for ensuring that the “session abstract” and all individual abstracts are submitted by the submission deadline (DATE.) Ensure that each proposed presenter submits an abstract for their unique presentation. They should indicate in the ‘notes’ field of the on-line abstract submission form that their abstract is part of the [proposed title of session] organized by [name of organizer].
It is the session organizer’s responsibility to inform each proposed presenter that, if their abstract is accepted, they will be required to register for the conference, and pay the registration fee. All presenters are also required to be a member of APHA, and a session organizers should encourage their presenters to designate the OHS Section as one of their primary Sections.
Slots for 90-minute sessions are very competitive and a limited number of these session slots are scheduled for the OHS Section. (Other high-quality abstracts will be scheduled for Roundtable or Poster Sessions. Proposals for a 90-minute session will be evaluated by the OHS Section reviewers based on the quality of each individual abstract, as well as the degree to which the individual abstracts complement each other, the diversity of the speakers (e.g., different disciplines, organizations, backgrounds) and the proposed session’s potential contribution to the overall OHS Section scientific program.
Deadline for submitting all abstracts is February, 11th, 2014. You will be notified on or around June 1, 2014 if your session abstract is accepted, waitlisted or rejected.
Ready?
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
Dept of Environmental & Occupational Health
George Washington University
102 Senisa Court
Washington, DC 78666
Phone: 512-938-3312
cmonfort@gwu.edu
and
Homero Harari, MSc
135 College Street
Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine
3rd. Floor. Rm. 378
New Haven, CT 06511
Phone: 978 888 3634
Fax: 203 785 7391
homero.harari@yale.edu
