Professional development information resources

American Water Resources Association (AWRA) http //www.awra.org/ (accessed Novanber 3, 2010). The AWRA s mission is to be the preeminent, multidisciplinary association for information exchange, professional development, and education about water resources and related issues. It publishes the leading U.S. journal Water Resources) in the field. The site contains conference information, publications, employment news, e-leaming courses, links, and membership information. 

It is worth noting that the past few years have witnessed tremendous development of web-based information resources. Notably, the PubMed search tool [4] has made the investigation of any life sciences topic much easier. It offers keyword and author (as well as structure and sequence) searches and covers a wide range of medicinal chemistry-related journals. This resource, coupled with e-journals, affords the medicinal chemist the tools to keep up with any research topics of interest. Because of the public nature of the Web, now a chemist can sometimes find critical journal articles on the Web that do not show up until much later in traditional literature sources. It is not uncommon that scientific meeting presentations can be found on the Web. Indeed, the Internet tools we have all become familiar with also have made the professional life of the medicinal chemist much easier. 

Information and knowledge develop on a continuum. Facts and information gained during the years of our formal education represent a thin slice on this continuum. Some of what we learn from the academic curriculum does remain viable unfortunately, much decays and becomes incomplete and inaccurate. Health care professionals and scientists must constantly renew and add to their skills, resources, and knowledge. This is fundamental to the profession. The Millis Commission in 1975 eloquently stated [26] ... 

The Society maintains a website. The site contains Society and membership information, SCHC presentations, SCHC newsletters, SCHC meeting material, and professional development courses. There are links to hazard communication and related websites and a list of hazard communication and translation resources. Updates on legislative and standards activity concerning hazard communication are posted. 

A compendium of drug and therapeutic information, the AMH is an initiative of Australia s National Health Policy in response to professional, consumer, and government concerns about the lack of independent drug information resources in Australia. AMH was developed to provide pharmacists, doctors, other health professionals, and their students with independent and comparative information about drugs. 

In healthcare, we are today at a crossroads of yet, another of many notable technical developments. Personal computers have become ubiquitous and easier to use for healthcare professionals and patients. The newly available mobile or handheld devices have become more practical for real-time computing. Through the Internet or hand-eld device, there is ready access to a patient s medical information. With these tools, the art of practicing medicine is truly about to change. An electronic information resource for the Internet and for handheld devices, as for other platforms, requires that the data meet specific standards of reliability. First DataBank information is tried and true, a tested, authoritative source of such information. 

ACM Career Resource Center http //campus.acm.org/crc/ (accessed August 3, 2010). Search and apply for jobs, find out information about CS/IS/MIS careers and industry trends, set up job alerts, get career advice from career coaches, find out about salaries, etc. In its Professional Development Center http //pd.acm.org/ (accessed August 3, 2010), ACM offers a wide variety of online courses (Element-K) to its professional and student members and member-discounted courses offered through Stevens Institute of Technology. 

This book, for the most part, is a stand-alone text. It addresses not only the fundamentals of PSA as a science, but insights on the regulatory framework affecting its development and apidication. In particular, it provides the basic methods of analysis that can be employed, available databases, an excellent set of examples, software resources, chapter summaries that tacilitate comprehension, and problem sets that are very well connected to the theory. While much has been written about probabilistic safety assessment over the last three decades, this is the most comprehensive attempt so far to provide a much needed college level textbook for the education of risk and safety professionals. It also provides a valuable reference for any individual curious enough about the risk and safety sciences to want to become much more informed. 

Mobilizing scientific resources throughout the European Union to provide high quality evaluation of medicinal products, to advise on research and development programs, and to provide useful and clear information to users and health professionals ... 

Founded as the National Asbestos Council, EIA is a resource for professionals in the management and control of health hazards to occupants of buildings, facilities, and industrial sites. It develops and disseminates information about asbestos, lead based paint hazards, underground storage tanks (USTs), indoor air quality, solid and hazardous waste. 

Professional pharmacy and medical organizations [e.g., the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Community Pharmcists Association (NCPA), and the American Medical Association (AMA)] and health care organizations [e.g., the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or the American Heart Association (AHA)] also provide valuable information about many health conditions and value-added services. This information is important not only in the development of a service but also in justifying the need for a service with consumers and administrators. These organizations also provide treatment guidelines and additional resources that can be used when developing an operations plan for a service (see Chapter 25). 

This chapter has shown that in developing countries there is a paucity of data on quantities of POPs used, potential sources and environmental concentrations. This information is critical in order to develop plans to eliminate POPs in developing countries. The lack of data is due to lack of resources, personnel and facilities to carry out the necessary smdies. What is needed is joint action whereby developed countries aid developing ones in establishing a cadre of trained professionals and suitable facilities to both conduct monitoring and to implement disposal plans. The international community needs to respond in a coherent and cost-effective fashion with measures acceptable from a public health and socioeconomic perspective. The available data indicates that POPs are indeed present in the environment and humans in developing countries and are likely to have an adverse impact on the environment and public health. 

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