ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ECHO OEM) offers 12 virtual sessions each cycle. Cycle 1 ran from September 17 to December 3, 2021 and Cycle 2 ran from April 22 to July 15, 2022.
Cycle 3 will run from September 22 to December 8, 2023 from 12:00 to 1:30pm EST.
Learning objectives of ECHO OEM
At the end of this program, participants will be able to:
Objective 1 – Recognize work-related and environmental conditions
Objective 2 – Manage injuries and illnesses that affect returning to work or staying at work to improve patients' workability
Objective 3 – Communicate effectively with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to improve access to care and a safe return to work/stay at work
Objective 4 – Collaborate effectively with workplace and allied health professionals to improve access to care and a safe return to work/stay at work
Benefits of participating
- ECHO OEM provides a community of practice opportunity for Ontario primary health-care providers to gain up-to-date knowledge, skills, resources and expert advice.
- Participants learn how to identify occupational and environmental injuries and illnesses, manage complex cases and support their patients in returning to work or staying at work.
- Participants build confidence and skills in OEM by taking part in case-based discussions, presenting their own cases and hearing presentations on key topics in occupational medicine by experts in the field.
- ECHO OEM is free. It is a no-cost way to get expert, specialist advice, reducing patient referrals to specialists in other areas.
- Participants earn CME credits. The program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
- Physicians presenting a case may bill OHIP for case conferences (billing codes K707 or K701). Learn more about presenting a case.
Expectations of participants
Participants register for an entire ECHO OEM cycle. ECHO OEM participants are expected to:
- attend as many of the ECHO OEM sessions as possible
- complete surveys to evaluate each session and the ECHO OEM program
- consider presenting a short, de-identified patient case, if applicable
- contribute to case discussions as appropriate
How ECHO OEM works
ECHO OEM links primary health-care providers with an expert interprofessional “hub” team through weekly videoconference sessions. Each session involves a case presentation and discussion and a didactic presentation on a key OEM topic.
Before a session:
- an agenda is sent to participants with the videoconference link and session resources
- participants prepare their equipment (computer or smart device with a stable internet connection, camera and microphone)
During a session:
- a patient case is presented and discussed
- a short didactic is presented by a content expert
- the case presenter receives a summary of recommendations provided by participants and the expert hub
After a session:
- participants can apply their new knowledge in practice
- case presenters can use recommendations from the session to modify patient care
- participants complete a feedback survey
After the program cycle:
- Participants receive a certificate of attendance