C. Hadjichristodoulou, V. Mouchtouri, F. Malli, O. Kotsiou, D. Papagiannis, I.

Face to Face:

Teaching of Occupational Medicine consists of lectures, and seminars/tutorials.  Attendance of Seminars/Tutorials is obligatory.

The lectures content has been described above.

Seminars/Tutorials

In the context of the tutorial, a case study related to occupational lead poisoning is presented to the students. Special emphasis is given to the importance of obtaining the occupational history in the context of the differential diagnosis. In this tutorial students prepare answers to the questions related to the examined clinical cases and discuss them with the teachers.

MANDATORY ATTENDANCES -LECTURES : NO

Information and Communication Technologies are used for the preparation of the lecture material, the online information and provision of supplementary learning material to students.

Specifically:

• Common software (e.g. MS powerpoint) is used to prepare lecture material and display slides and videos.
• The study guide (detailed supplementary material & additional bibliography), the tutorial material (clinical cases), the theory and protocols of the laboratory exercises, the slides of each lecture as well as relevant videos and scientific articles made available electronically and online to students through the e-class system of the University of Thessaly.
• Information about the course, instructors and their research interests is available online at the website of Medical Faculty (www.med.uth.gr).
• Common software (e.g. MS excel) is used to statistically process student’s assessment.

Announcements, information etc are available online via e-class. Communication is also possible via e-mail.

The language of assessment is Greek.

Evaluation methods.

1. For the lecture material: Multiple choice and short answer questions are used for the evaluation of the students.

The course exams are written, and have a duration of two hours. The material of the tutorial is examined together with the lecture. In particular, one question related to the case- report of occupational Lead intoxication which has been presented and discussed in the tutorial is incorporated in to the list of the lectures- related questions during the final exam.

Final Grade:

The final grade of the course is the Grade of above-mentioned written exam.

Aim of the course

The course aim – in the context of the distinct discipline of occupational medicine – to provide medical students with sufficient knowledge and skills to be able to assess the impact of work on health and interpret the occupational history in the context of differential diagnosis and everyday medical practice.

After the successful completion of this course, the students will be able to:

• Understand the concept of occupational risk, the importance of proper occupational history in the daily diagnostic/clinical practice, the mechanisms by which the various harmful factors of the work environment are harmful to health and the expediency of implementing various preventive measures
• Have knowledge of the main harmful factors of the working environment, their effects on the health of employees as well as the preventive measures that can be taken.
• Use the acquired knowledge in order to use the information of the professional history in the differential diagnosis of the diseases as well as to organize a plan of medical examination of the employees according to the harmful factors to which they are exposed.
• Analyze work processes and harmful work factors in terms of the risk of developing occupational disease.

General Abilities

• Decision making
• Autonomous work
• Exercise criticism and self-criticism

The content of the course includes the following major items:

A. The content of the lectures together with the relevant clinical insights the students need to learn/acquire per chapter.

B. The content of the tutorials/seminars together with the relevant clinical insights the students need to learn/acquire per seminar.

C. The content of the laboratory practical together with the relevant practical & clinical skills the students need to learn/acquire per exercise.

A. Lecture content and relevant clinical insights

Introduction to occupational medicine. Basic concepts

Occupational exposure to natural harmful factors I (Noise)

Occupational exposure to natural harmful factors II (Vibration, radiation, thermal stress)

Principles of occupational epidemiology and toxicology.

Occupational cancer

Basic principles of occupational safety

Specialized occupational toxicology

Occupational diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Principles of ergonomics

Professional exposure to biological harmful factors with emphasis on hospitals Vaccinations of employees with emphasis on hospitals

Psychosocial factors and work. Work stress. Burn out and Mobbing syndromes

Smoking in the work environment.

 Introduction to occupational lung diseases

B. Seminar/Τutorial content and relevant clinical insights

Problem-based learning: Presentation, analysis and discussion of clinical cases 

In the context of the tutorial, a case study related to occupational lead poisoning is presented to  the students. Special emphasis is given to the importance of obtaining the occupational history in the context of the differential diagnosis.               

C. Laboratory Practical content. Not applicable.

 Α. Lecture Material

Main suggested textbooks:

1. Practical Occupational Medicine , R. Agius , A. Seaton
2. Health and Work, E. Velonakis, P. Sourtzi