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If you are a Vanderbilt faculty or staff member and you have an injury caused by your work, the Occupational Health Clinic is here to help you. You do not have to schedule an appointment to be evaluated for a new work injury.

Smallpox is an acute, contagious illness characterized by fever, backache, and severe headache followed by the appearance of an eruption of papules and vesicles which become pustular by the eighth day. Although smallpox disease has been eradicated worldwide, researchers sometimes still use the vaccinia virus, which is the virus used in the smallpox vaccine. These research faculty and staff may obtain smallpox vaccine from OHC at no charge.

(See VUMC Vaccination Policy requirements further down this page.)

Some of the most common respiratory diseases healthcare workers may be exposed to include pertussis (whooping cough), varicella (chickenpox), tuberculosis, meningococcal infections, and measles. Any time you have an exposure to one of these illnesses for which OHC assesses your contact with the patient, you must fill out a Tennessee First Report of Injury form.

Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine is a two-dose immunization series which provides immunity to chickenpox. For adults, this vaccine is recommended only for those who lack natural immunity. Occupational Health provides Varicella vaccine at no charge for employees when needed to meet VUMC immunization compliance requirements whose immunity test shows they do not have immunity to varicella, or for those have begun the vaccine series and need a completion dose. Varicella vaccine is available outside of compliance requirements and will be charged to your personal insurance.

​Main Campus and One Hundred Oaks

Faculty and staff in the Division of Animal Care, as well as research staff who work with sheep or goats, have the potential for exposure to Q fever. These employees are required to participate in OHC's surveillance program to detect any signs of Q fever infection.

Standardized patients (SPs) are individuals who are hired to "act out" medical illnesses and other conditions, often repeatedly, as a teaching exercise for medical students and other learners at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Occupational Health Clinic offers blood pressure checks on a walk in basis. There is also a self check blood pressure station in the Courtyard Cafe.

Exposure to hazardous chemicals or other materials may cause a variety of health problems: skin and mucous membrane irritation; reproductive problems; bone marrow changes with altered blood cell production; impaired liver