Effect of the Training Program at Occupational Health Training Center (OHTC) on the attitude of occupational health residents

Abstract

University of Occupational and Environmental Health (UOEH) conducts three courses in postgraduate education of occupational health (OH). Graduates of UOEH who have already received a basic education in OH can participate in any course and are trained to play an appropriate role as an occupational physician (OP). We operate the training program to provide practical knowledge and skills as well as to encourage interest in occupational health and to promote a further understanding of the role of the OP. In this study we evaluated changes in attitude of participants and the effectiveness of our program by an anonymous questionnaire. The subjects were all 19 participants of the 3-month program conducted between September 2003 and February 2004 as a part of the postgraduate education following several years of clinical experience. They were expected to be occupational physicians with a clinical specialty. The data were collected from questionnaires handed out at the beginning and the end of the program. The questionnaire included 8 items on the attitude toward occupational health. The subjects answered the questions according to a scale of 1 to 7. Data analysis was performed using the unpaired t-test by SPSS. The results suggested that our training program had a positive effect on trainees. Interest in occupational practice (P < 0.05) and willingness to act as a full-time occupational physician in a large company (P < 0.05) increased significantly. When considering the positive correlation between willingness to act as an OP and interest in a field that has some overlap between the speciality and occupational health, it was thought that developing a vision as an OP with respect to their career was important for training. However, in some clinical fields it may be difficult to define a relationship between the clinical speciality and occupational health. Understanding the role of an OP (P < 0.05) and self-confidence in playing an appropriate role as an OP (P < 0.05) also showed significant improvement. On the other hand, fourteen of the trainees (74%) did not have enough confidence to play a role as an OP even after completion of the program. In this study, the questionnaire we used was anonymous and did not include items concerning various attributes of the subjects. Therefore it was not possible to analyze changes of attitude at the individual level. We recognize the need to improve the program and are preparing a new version of the educational program with emphasis on understanding company organization activities and practical skills for problem solving. Opportunities to consider association between clinical speciality and occupational health are also included in this new version. We hope that the new program will further encourage trainees.