About Occupational Medicine
Cornell Health Occupational Medicine serves Cornell staff, faculty, and students in Ithaca and at remote facilities across the state.
We collaborate with campus partners and local, regional, and state healthcare providers and public health agencies to prevent occupational and environmental injury and illness and support the university's research mission. Our office helps mitigate the harmful health effects of hazardous exposures that may occur during education, research, and university support activities. When injuries and illnesses cannot be prevented, our OM team provides medical consultations and clinical services to identify and manage cases, minimize disability, and enhance health and productivity.
Our occupational medicine team includes administrative staff, and medical and nursing professionals with certifications and training in occupational medicine, internal medicine, public health, hearing conservation, and spirometry.
> Visit our Animal User Health & Safety Program page
Occupational Medicine services
Employee-related services and support
- Audiograms (as part of the Hearing Conservation Program)
- Cornell Health employee initial and annual assessments
- Immunizations including tetanus, rabies, hepatitis B, vaccinia, influenza, MMR, and varicella
- PPD testing
- Medical evaluations, including allergy assessments, for individuals enrolled in the Animal Users Health and Safety Program (AUHSP)
- Pre-placement physical examinations for CU police officers and dispatchers
- Respirator clearances (as part of the Respiratory Protection Program)
- Respirator fit testing for Cornell Health employees
- DOT/CDL examinations
- Silica surveillance evaluations
- Fitness for duty evaluations and consultations
- Exposure consultations
- Employee disability case reviews and consultations
- Student disability case reviews and consultations
Note: Cornell Health's Primary Care, Counseling & Psychological Services, and Occupational Medicine departments do not treat or manage work-related injuries or illnesses for Cornell staff or faculty. Cornell Health does not participate in the workers compensation system or process worker’s compensation insurance claims. Faculty and staff should seek care with a community provider that treats work-related illness and injury and accepts workers compensation insurance.
Students identified by their primary care provider as requiring worker’s compensation related care and/or case management will be referred to a community worker’s compensation care provider.
Research-related services and support
- Credentialing of HMRU researchers and staff engaged in human clinical research at the Human Metabolic Research Unit (HMRU) and the Cornell MRI Facility (CMRIF)
- Human clinical research consultation, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR)
- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol reviews (as part of the AUHSP working group)
- Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) protocol reviews
- Medical oversight and observations at the Human Metabolic Research Unit (HMRU)
- Medical surveillance for those with potential exposure to hazardous chemical, biological, radiological or zoonotic agents, including BSL3 research
- Research blood draws
- Standard Operating Procedure development for human clinical research
Our partners
At Cornell
- Faculty and Staff Assistance Program
- Human Resources, including the Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program and Workers' Compensation
- Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)
- Institutional Review Board for Human Participants (IRB)
- Office of Environment Health and Safety (EHS)
- Office of the Vice Provost for Research, including the Cornell Center for Animal Resources and Education (CARE) and the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance (ORIA)
Local, regional, and state healthcare providers and public health agencies
- Cayuga Center for Infectious Disease
- Central New York Occupational Health Clinical Center (SUNY Upstate Medical University)
- Finger Lakes Occupational Health Services (University of Rochester)
- New York State Department of Health
- Tompkins County Whole Health (Tompkins County's health department)
Informational resources
- AUHSP allergy prevention fact sheet
- Zoonoses information sheets (provided by the Cornell Center for Animal Resources and Education, or CARE)
- Pregnancy risks (from the CDC):
Forms
- Authorization for releasing, discussing, or obtaining protected health information (pdf)
- Authorization for releasing rabies and hepatitis B information to the College of Veterinary Medicine (CU NetID required)
- Department charge authorization form (CU NetID required)
- Faculty and staff health history form (CU NetID required)