Student Handbook
The Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health’s OEH student handbook provides in-depth information about topics such as degree programs and requirements, course lists, important policies and standards, and expectations for students.
The handbook is updated annually, and we encourage students to consult it frequently, as its contents are important and it contains answers to many commonly asked questions.
Writing Papers
RMCOEH emphasizes writing skills, as at least three divergent skills are vital for health and safety professionals: 1) the ability to clearly explain nuanced and complicated topics in an understandable way for scientific audiences, 2) succinct presentations backed by quality evidence to senior management, and 3) simple and memorable communications for frontline workers and staff to optimally prevent injuries and illnesses.
Fortunately, students can take advantage of a number of resources that will help them overcome writer’s block or add an extra layer of polish to their thesis or dissertation.
All students can utilize RMCOEH Senior Technical Writer Bubba Brown (
Students enrolled in the University of Utah additionally have access to:
- The University of Utah Writing Center, which provides free in-person or virtual tutoring and writing assistance
- Dissertation and thesis writing boot camps
- Grammarly, an AI platform that assists with writing elements such as grammar, sentence structure, clarity, and citations. All graduate students have free access to Grammarly Premium
While most RMCOEH students opt for the publishable paper option instead of a thesis, The University of Utah Graduate School also provides a handbook that includes detailed information about the thesis and dissertation process, such as formatting and style requirements, policies, submission procedures, and examples.
In addition to RMCOEH resources, students enrolled in Weber State University have access to:
- The Weber State Writing Center, which provides free in-person or virtual tutoring and writing assistance
Journal Club
Journal Club is a valuable part of the educational experience for RMCOEH trainees. Held weekly, it involves students, faculty, and staff gathering to discuss published scientific articles relevant to occupational and environmental health and safety.
RMCOEH-funded trainees are required to present in Journal Club during the academic year (students should contact their program directors for specific requirements). All students are encouraged to attend Journal Club regularly, as it is an opportunity to dig into the research process, sharpen critical thinking skills, learn about other fields, practice presentation skills in a low-stress setting, and engage in spirited discussion.
RMCOEH Journal Club Frequently Asked Questions
What is the format of Journal Club?
At each Journal Club, two trainees deliver a PowerPoint presentation and moderate a discussion regarding a study relevant to occupational and environmental health and safety published in a scientific journal. Each presentation is 30 minutes and should generally follow this format: 10 minutes for the main presentation, 10-15 minutes for the group discussion regarding preprepared questions from the presenter, and 5-10 minutes for questions from the audience.
Who participates in Journal Club?
All RMCOEH-funded trainees must present in Journal Club each academic year and should contact their program director for specific requirements. All students are encouraged to attend regularly and engage in the discussion with their peers and RMCOEH faculty. Sessions are typically attended by several RMCOEH faculty.
When and where is Journal Club?
Journal Club takes place on Fridays at noon at RMCOEH’s headquarters. It is held in either the William Rom Classroom or Eddie P. and Karen Mayne Conference Center.
How do students sign up to present?
Trainees select dates to present on a first-come, first-served basis. RMCOEH Senior Technical Writer Bubba Brown maintains a sign-up sheet, and trainees should contact him at
How should presenters choose an article?
Students should present a peer-reviewed article that is relevant to their studies in occupational and environmental health and safety. There are a number of sources available to find an article, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, EBSCOHost, and other scientific databases available through the Marriott Library (logging in is necessary to bypass paywalls for off-campus access).
Advice for choosing a paper:
- Ask a faculty member if you have a topic in mind but not a paper
- Find papers that have been multiply-cited by other researchers
- Consider papers relevant to your career goals
- Look for papers that have been published within the last five years or that are seminal (i.e. an earlier article that strongly influenced later developments) or novel in approach, design, or topic
- Select a paper that is key for your research project
- Pick a paper that is challenging to analyze, helping you (and your peers) learn more
The best Journal Club papers hit multiple bullet points. Students must send a PDF version of their chosen article to
What makes a good presentation?
Trainees should create PowerPoint presentations that are approximately 10 minutes in length. Slides should be simple, with images and concise text. Rather than reading the text word for word, presenters should use the slides as talking points to guide the presentation. At the end of the PowerPoint, presenters should provide three to five questions regarding the paper for group discussion.
Presentations must include the following elements:
- Purpose of the study
- Type of study (cross sectional, prospective cohort, meta-analysis, etc.)
- Overview of the methods (including study population, data collection, analysis, article scoring)
- The main results
- Strengths of the study
- Weaknesses of the study
- Discussion of the results (how might the presenter implement the results into their own work, future research that could emerge from the results)
- Questions for group discussion (see below)
What sort of discussion questions are appropriate?
The questions included in presentations should be open-ended to facilitate group discussion. Below are generic prompts that presenters can use or modify:
- What is the study adding that is new, innovative, or interesting?
- How is this study relevant to your field (e.g., industrial hygiene, ergonomics)? How might this study be relevant to other fields?
- What are the implications of this study? For clinical or professional practice and/or research? For future studies?
- What sort of data do the authors have, and what statistical methods did they use to analyze the data? What were the benefits and drawbacks of these methods?
- Do you see any unaddressed biases in the paper (e.g., the “healthy worker” effect in which only healthy and active workers are included, the self-reporting bias in which people may report what they wish they did rather than what they actually did, or selection biases in recruitment like gender, age, race, etc.). What effect(s) might these biases have?
- Has the study appropriately addressed confounders? If not, what confounders should the authors have considered? What effect might dealing with confounders have on these results?
- Do the data justify the conclusions? Why or why not?
- How generalizable are these results? Could these findings be applied to other populations?
- Is the sample size appropriate for the study? Why or why not?
Poster and PowerPoint Templates
RMCOEH provides a template for poster presentations and PowerPoint presentations that students are encouraged to use. Students are free to tweak the template as needed.
Download the RMCOEH PowerPoint poster templates:
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Student Clubs
Participating in student clubs is one way trainees can get the most out of their time at RMCOEH. It provides students with a network of peers and professionals, access to lectures and other educational events, and a platform to connect with others who are pursuing a similar career path.
- Utah Rocky Mountain Center Industrial Hygiene Student Association: Affiliated with the regional American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the Utah Rocky Mountain Center Industrial Hygiene Student Association, also known as the AIHA Student Club, is a student-sponsored organization open to any currently enrolled student or employee through the University of Utah.
- American Society of Safety Professionals at the University of Utah: Affiliated with RMCOEH, the University of Utah Mechanical Engineering department (MEEN), and the national American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the American Society of Safety Professionals at the University of Utah Club, which is also known as the ASSP Student Club, is a registered student organization and is open to students who are mentees through MEEN or the RMCOEH mentoring program.
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