The specialisation in Occupational Medicine includes:

• Practical training undertaken at the Occupational Risk Prevention Department, clinical rotations and rotations in Preventive Medicine departments.
• Theoretical training through the Advanced Course in Occupational Medicine.
• Part of the training is conducted outside the hospital but is guided by the Basic Occupational Risk Prevention Unit: Primary Care, Medical Inspection and other external prevention services.
• Acquisition of basic knowledge in radiation protection aligned with the provisions of the European Radiation Protection Guide 116.
• Undertaking monthly on-call duties.

Additionally, you will have the opportunity to train in disciplines you might not yet have had the opportunity to study in depth, such as: Occupational Safety and Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics and Applied Psychosociology.

Also, during your stay:

• You will visit the professionals to conduct medical examinations and apply established protocols.
• You will review and advise vaccinations for professionals based on their exposure risks.
• You will learn to manage contact tracing following accidental exposure to biological agents.
• You will assess the protection of particularly vulnerable workers and pregnant staff.
• You will be involved in the prevention, early detection and diagnosis of occupational diseases and will collaborate in their treatment.

Other aspects you will develop during your stay: 

• You will conduct health surveillance and learn to adopt an epidemiological perspective.
• You will advise on occupational health issues and healthy habits.
• You will collaborate with healthcare institutions.
• You will participate in the training of workers on occupational risk prevention.

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because we are a world-leading healthcare complex where healthcare, research, teaching and innovation come together.
• Because we offer you specialist training in a tertiary-level Hospital with opportunities to train across the different areas needed to complete your training:
• A dedicated Occupational Health Department encompassing all risk prevention specialities.
• External rotations at the Medical Inspection and external prevention services.
• Access to continuous training.
• Because you will be integrated as an Occupational Medicine resident in the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit.
• Because you will learn to ensure the health of your colleagues, as well as promoting healthy habits within the Hospital.
• Because you will become familiar with the Hospital, a complex environment with various risks: physical strain, data display screens, biological agents, chemical agents, ionising and non-ionising radiation, noise, psychosocial risks...

The Occupational Health Nursing speciality includes:

• Practical training carried out by the Occupational Risk Prevention Service and other specialities within the Hospital, health centres and educational facilities associated with the Teaching Unit.
• Theoretical training in accordance with the training programme for Occupational Health Nursing.
• Acquisition of basic knowledge in radiation protection as set out in the provisions of the European Radiation Protection Guide 116.
• Carrying out monthly on-call duties.
• Additionally, you will also have the chance to train in disciplines on which you have not yet had the opportunity to study in depth, such as: Occupational Safety and Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics and Applied Psychosociology.

During your two years at Vall d’Hebron:

• You will visit professionals to conduct medical examinations and apply established protocols.
• You will analyse the risks that professionals are exposed to and will indicate relevant vaccines. 
• You will learn to manage contact studies following accidental exposure to biological agents.
• You will assess the protection of workers in especially sensitive situations as well as for pregnant staff.
• You will be involved in early detection, prevention, and diagnosis of occupational diseases and collaborate in their treatment.

Also, during your stay:

• You will be engage in health surveillance and develop epidemiological judgement.
• You will advise on occupational health matters and healthy habits.
• You will collaborate closely with healthcare institutions.
• You will participate in training activities for employees on occupational risk prevention.

Why specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because we are a world-leading healthcare complex where care, research, teaching and innovation come together.
• Because you will specialise in a tertiary Hospital and also have the opportunity to train in:
  • An in-house Risk Prevention Service covering all areas of risk prevention.
  • External rotations in Medical Inspection and external prevention services.
  • Access to continuous training.
• Because you will integrate as an Occupational Health Nursing resident within the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit.
• Because you will learn to safeguard the health of your colleagues and promote healthy habits.
• Because you will experience first-hand the Hospital, a highly complex environment presenting different risks: physical strain, data display screens, biological agents, chemical agents, ionising and non-ionising radiation, noise, psychosocial risks...

The Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology Department is a national leader in the creation of vaccination campaigns  for at-risk patients with chronic illnesses. Residents’ training lasts four years. Residents must acquire knowledge in epidemiology and environmental and workplace health to be able to efficiently resolve problems and for public health control and cancer prevention. At the primary care level, residents spend their rotation on the monitoring and control of environmental contamination and hospital acquired infections, and notifiable diseases. The Vaccination and Epidemiology programme for communicable diseases and the Smoking Prevention programme are run in parallel.

As part of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), we are an established research group in the field of Epidemiology and Public Health, carrying out research in the epidemiology of infections related to healthcare and their risk factors. We are lead research for the creation of new preventative vaccines. This achievement is the result of working on international multi-centre clinical trials. These include pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza vaccines such as the current seasonal flu vaccines, in addition to trials for human papillomavirus and shingles (herpes zoster) vaccines both in healthy and immunodeficient patients, and the  meningococcal meningitis B vaccine. The department's involvement in preventative vaccines has led to the organization of an annual course in advances in vaccinations of recognised international prestige.

At the same time, we continue to work on the prevention of common community infections such as whooping cough, tuberculosis, chicken pox, bronchiolitis caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and shingles.

In 2015, ten research papers were published as a result of our work, and four projects were begun as a result of being awarded grants.

The Department’s research work also plays an active educational role in the Resident Medical Intern Programme at UPF, the Phoenix Project Master’s in Community Health at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Master’s in Public Health at UPF and UAB, the Master’s in International Health at the University of Barcelona and UAB, the Master’s in Community Health from the University School of Nursing at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, and the Vaccinology Diploma Course in Epidemiology and Public Health research (IES) diploma. 

Why should I specialise at Vall d’Hebron?

• Because we offer advanced training in vaccinology and giving up smoking, as well as Communicable disease prevention and Infectious disease control programmes in the healthcare environment to maximise patient safety.
• Because we allow you to train in international centres where you will carry out  international healthcare and research projects, such as the Pan American Health Organization in Angola.
• Because you will learn to perform epidemiological analysis and to calculate indicators of healthcare quality.
• Because we have the most extensive training portfolio in Catalonia, which includes the Vaccination Unit, the Tobacco cessation Unit, and outpatient appointments for patients with communicable diseases, as well as monitoring and control of healthcare related infections, prevention of environmental contamination and hospital-acquired infections , the breast cancer screening unit and the hospital register of tumours.
• Because we are a unit that studies adverse post-vaccination reactions and that provides urgent care to people requiring post-exposure prophylaxis for certain infectious illnesses  such as chicken pox or rabies.
• Because we attend to a high number of patients, on average 9,000 per year, meaning you will work with a very wide range of cases.
• Because we are national pioneers in the monitoring of hospital acquired infections and authored the first Study of the Prevention of Hospital Acquired Infections in Spain (EPINE) in 1990; a study in which we now coordinate the 250 hospitals who take part every year.
• Because we also coordinate the Bacteraemia monitoring programme associated with catheters used in paediatric and neonatal ICUs in Catalonia (VINCAT).
• Because we have 25 years of experience in training resident doctors in prevention and public health.
• Because we can say that all our residents find work quickly, especially as primary care technicians.