The University of South Florida’s Occupational Medicine Residency research training program places an emphasis on the acquisition of fundamental research knowledge and skills to develop a sound research protocol, conduct analyses on collected data, and draft a publishable thesis or research project, which is a requirement for graduation with the MSPH or MPH degree respectively. Research opportunities are diverse and available through interdisciplinary collaboration among OM residents and other Sunshine ERC departments including Safety or Industrial Hygiene, participating institutions and the community. Residents have the opportunity to present their research and showcase their work in many places including ACOEM AOHC conference, NORA Research Symposium, Southeast Regional Research Symposium and USF Health Research Day.

The experience includes resident participation in a weekly research seminar, which lasts about one hour during which the status of each ongoing research project is reviewed, obstacles and aberrant results are discussed, and basic research topics are reviewed. By the end of their training, residents will have gained sufficient critical thinking skills, acquired through research training, to utilize scholarly approaches to offer solutions to complex clinical and workplace challenges.