Patricia W. Gucer, PhD, MA

I received my A.B. from Dunbarton College of Holy Cross, Washington, D.C. in Biological Sciences, my M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University in Sociology; and my Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in Sociology.

Teaching interests include resident training in the scope and prevention of work-related MSDs, collective research and survey design.

My research interests centers on work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDSs), which are enormously costly to employers, their insurers, the injured workers and their families. I design surveys to expose and calculate the indirect costs from work-related MSDs and to determine the effectives of preventive interventions. I survey workers’ compensation claimants, among poultry workers and long-term caregivers. MSDs make long-term caregiving more dangerous than construction work. These injuries are largely due to patient transfers. They are preventable with the use of mechanical lifting devices. My research work has included a pilot intervention featuring the use of mechanical-lift equipment as well as a cultural change supporting the use of equipment. I am currently preparing to “scale up” the pilot intervention in partnership with workers’ compensation insurers. Also, along with Workers’ Compensation partners I plan to survey long-term care facilities to determine whether adequate numbers of lift equipment and the cultural climate to support their use are related to workers’ compensation costs and resident well-being.

Another research interest involves a surveillance of depleted uranium (DU) exposed veterans headed by Dr. McDiarmid. I am interested in discovering and documenting any changes over time typical of heavy metal poisoning that are a function of the body burden of DU.

Safe lifting, MSDs, survey research

1. McDiarmid M.A., Gucer, P.W. (2001). The "GRAS" status of women's work. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 43(8), 665-669.
2. Gucer, PW, Oliver MS, McDiarmid, MA, Workplace Threats to Health and Job Turnover among Women Workers. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine. 45(7) 683-690. 2003.
3. Gucer, P.W., Gaitens, J., Oliver, M., McDiarmid, M.A. (2013). Sit-stand mechanical lifts in long-term care and resident quality indicators. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55(1), 36-44.
4. Restrepo, T.E., Schmid, F.A., Gucer, P.W., Shuford, H. L., Shyong, C.J., McDiarmid, M.A. (2013). Safe lifting programs at long-term care facilities and workers compensation costs. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55(1), 27-35.