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Pediatric Environmental Health Continuing Education

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Children are especially vulnerable to toxins in our environment. The Utah Poison Control Center is pleased to provide clinicians with links to online education opportunities that provide continuing medical education credit on various pediatric environmental health topics of toxicological significance. Not all courses qualify for continuing medical education credits.

The UPCC acknowledges the contributions of the Rocky Mountain Pediatric Environmental Health Speciality Unit (PEHSU).

PEDIATRIC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALTY UNIT (PEHSU) - NATIONAL CLASSROOM 

  • The PEHSU national classroom provides a portal for online education on environmental health topics affecting children via online courses and webinars.
  • Online courses: E-learning modules are available for CE credit in a variety of areas including air quality; general environmental health; indoor environmental health, marijuana, oil exploration; pesticides; reproductive health; schools and childcare. To see all available online courses visit http://www.pehsu.net/onlinecourses.html. Examples of e-Learning modules of particular toxicology significance are:
    • Pesticide residues in the indoor environment
    • Marijuana exposure in pediatric population
    • Toxicology of hydraulic fracturing
    • Pesticides and child health: exposure recognition and prevention
    • Reproductive toxicology
    • Endocrine disruptors
  • Webinars: The PEHSU program hosts a variety of webinars in the format of case conferences, journal club and grand rounds. Many of the webinars qualify for continuing education credits. They fall under the same broad categories of the online courses and include presentations on specific topics such as phosphine, wildfire smoke, mercury, lead, arsenic, marijuana, e-cigarettes, endocrine disruptors, etc. Access PEHSU past webinars at http://www.pehsu.net/webinars.html.

Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) (cehn.org)

  • CEHN, dedicated to protecting children from environmental hazards, also provides access to online courses and webinars. They provide links to a number of other resources on pediatric environmental health topics.
  • CEHN's Pediatric Environmental Health Training Resource has a series of 12 modules available for download. Each module includes a PowerPoint presentation with a supplementary User Guide. These modules can be incorporated into teaching programs (residents, students, colleagues). User’s guide includes discussion points and assignments. Topics available for download are:
    • A Developmental Approach to Pediatric Environmental Health
    • Advocacy for Pediatric Environmental Health
    • Air Pollution: Effects on Children
    • Childhood Lead Poisoning
    • Children and Nature (via the National Environmental Education Foundation)
    • Children and Solvents
    • Endocrine Disruptors and Children's Health
    • Environmental History Taking
    • Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Health Care Providers (via the National Environmental Education Foundation)
    • Mercury, Arsenic, and Cadmium Toxicity in Children
    • Persistent Organic Pollutants
    • Pesticides and Children's Health
  • CEHN also has several webinars available such as:
    • Protecting children from lead exposures through water: introducing the lead service line replacement collaborative
    • Small steps to improve children’s environmental health
    • Environmental management of pediatric asthma: guidelines for health care providers
    • Children’s environmental health: building champions among health care professionals

Additional resources on pediatric environmental health topics

  • Pediatric Environmental Health Toolkit: This toolkit was created to help clinicians reduce toxic exposures in children. It was developed by Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units. The toolkit includes concise overviews of a variety of health hazards with anticipatory guidance on how to avoid toxins in the home.
  • Westerns States PEHSU at UCSF: UCSF PEHSU provides links to fact sheets, publications, videos, resources and additional training.
  • World Health Organization: WHO has a variety of training modules for health care professionals on a variety of children’s environmental health topics.