Graduate Training in Occupational Health Psychology

DESCRIPTION The proposed graduate training program is designed to address a currently under-represented discipline of Occupational Safety and Health, namely, Occupational Health Psychology (OHP). The purpose of this training program is to provide formal graduate training in OHP. It requests five years of funding to support a minor in a graduate major leading to the Ph.D. Specifically, the proposal requests funding for three NIOSH doctoral trainees per year, for each of the five years. The program has been NIOSH-supported for three years. It is one of only two programs that have ever been supported through NIOSH TPG funds. The OHP curriculum is based in the Ph.D. program in Systems Science: Psychology. Thus, all NIOSH trainees complete a curriculum that meets the Ph.D. program requirements. OHP serves as a minor area that students could choose to concentrate on and consists of 4 required courses, a minimum of 2 elective courses, and an OHP-related internship. In addition, students conduct their thesis and dissertation research in the area of OHP. This program supplements training for doctoral students beyond their major program of study both within psychology and in other areas of systems science. The OHP area of study is not intended to supercede the program requirements in these areas, but rather to complement and enhance existing curricula.