Abstract
Purpose
General practitioners play or should play a role in occupational medicine (OM), either in diagnosing occupational diseases or in counseling on return to work. Nevertheless, their training has been reported to be insufficient in most single country studies.
Aims
The objectives of this study were to analyze the content and extent of undergraduate teaching of OM in European medical schools.
Methods
An e-mail questionnaire survey of the teaching of OM to undergraduates was undertaken from December 2010 to April 2011 in all medical schools and medical faculties listed in 27 European countries (n = 305).
Results
Among the 305 universities identified, 135 answered to the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 44 %. The mean number of hours given to formal instruction in occupational medicine to medical undergraduates was 25.5 h. Nevertheless, this number of hours varied widely between countries, but also within countries. Overall, 27 % of medical schools gave their students 10 h of teaching or less, 52 % 20 h or less and 69 % 30 h or less. Whereas occupational diseases and principles of prevention were covered in most schools, disability and return to work were very poorly represented among the topics that were taught to students.
Conclusion
Dedicated undergraduate teaching on occupational health or OM in European medical schools is present in most medical schools, usually at a low level, but is very variable between and within countries. Medical schools across Europe are very unequal to provide qualifying doctors education on the topics they will frequently come across in their working lives.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank all the faculty members who answered the questionnaire. They are grateful to Dr. Asim Chaudry who built the Excel file with all the answers and Dr. Ivo Iavicoli for his help in collecting the questionnaires. This work was supported by a Grant of EU Lifelong Learning Programme (Agreement Number—2010—3481/001–001).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical standard
This research did not involve human subjects and no ethical approval was sought.
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Gehanno, J.F., Bulat, P., Martinez-Jarreta, B. et al. Undergraduate teaching of occupational medicine in European schools of medicine. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 87, 397–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0878-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0878-5