Environmental Medicine

People are increasingly concerned about potential environmental health hazards and often ask their physicians questions such as: "Is the tap water safe to drink?" "Is it safe to live near power lines?" Unfortunately, physicians often lack the information and training related to environmental health risks needed to answer such questions. This book discusses six competency based learning objectives for all medical school students, discusses the relevance of environmental health to specific courses and clerkships, and demonstrates how to integrate environmental health into the curriculum through published case studies, some of which are included in one of the book's three appendices. Also included is a guide on where to obtain additional information for treatment, referral, and follow-up for diseases with possible environmental and/or occupational origins.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Executive Summary
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Curriculum Content
• 3 Implementation Strategies
• 4 Changing Medical Education
• 5 Concluding Remarks
• References
• Appendixes
• A: Taking an Exposure History
• B: Medical School Courses and Clerkships: Access Points for Integrating Environmental Medicine
• C: Case Studies in Environmental Medicine
• Case Study 1: Arsenic Toxicity
• Case Study 2: Seasonal Arsenic Exposure from Burning Chromium-Copper-Arsenate-Treated Wood
• Case Study 3: Asbestos Toxicity
• Case Study 4: Benzene Toxicity
• Case Study 5: Beryllium Toxicity
• Case Study 6: Cadmium Toxicity
• Case Study 7: Fetal Death Due to Nonlethal Maternal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Case Study 8: Carbon Tetrachloride Toxicity
• Case Study 9: Chlordane Toxicity
• Case Study 10: Chronic Reactive Airway Disease Following Acute Chlorine Gas Exposure in an Asymptomatic Atopic Patient
• Case Study 11: Chromium Toxicity
• Case Study 12: Cyanide Toxicity
• Case Study 13: Dioxin Toxicity
• Case Study 14: Ethylene/Propylene Glycol Toxicity
• Case Study 15: Formalin Asthma in Hospital Staff
• Case Study 16: Gasoline Toxicity
• Case Study 17: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: A Clinical Description of 17 Patients with a Newly Recognized Disease
• Case Study 18: Lead Poisoning from Mobilization of Bone Stores During Thyrotoxicosis
• Case Study 19: Lead Toxicity
• Case Study 20: Legionaires' Disease: Description of an Epidemic of Pneumonia
• Case Study 21: Mercury in House Paint as a Cause of Acrodynia: Effect of Therapy with N-Acetyl-D, L-Penixillamine
• Case Study 22: Mercury Toxicity
• Case Study 23: Methanol Toxicity
• Case Study 24: Methylene Chloride Toxicity
• Case Study 25: Paint Remover Hazard
• Case Study 26: Fatal Outcome of Methemoglobinemia in an Infant
• Case Study 27: Nitrate/Nitrite Toxicity
• Case Study 28: An Outbreak of Nitrogen Dioxide-Induced Respiratory Illness Among Ice Hockey Players
• Case Study 29: Pentachlorophenol Toxicity
• Case Study 30: Aldicarb Poisoning: A Case Report with Prolonged Cholinesterase Inhibition and Improvement After Pralidoxime Therapy
• Case Study...read more...