An Evaluation of Undergraduate Occupational Health Teaching

Abstract

It has been reported that at present, UK medical schools do not have a uniform approach to undergraduate occupational health teaching. Consequently, a suggested educational framework for this teaching has been prepared. In this study a problem management questionnaire was used to evaluate a course based on this framework. Patterns of student understanding about hazards, risk groups, and staff responsible for occupational health in the hospital environment, were compared before and after the courses. This environment was chosen for study because after graduation all doctors work for some time in hospitals and different doctors may treat hospital staff for problems acquired at work. The findings show that although specific teaching of hospital occupational health is not given, students grasp the introductory concepts and then modify their approaches to the prevention and clinical care of health problems associated with hospital employment. In particular, they become more aware of different risk groups and the sources of professional advice. Findings from such studies before and after tuition, help tutors to identify gaps in knowledge and can be used with student groups to reinforce their interest in learning.