Unit for Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology and Net Teaching, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2012 Jan;85(1):81-7. doi: 10.1007/s00420-011-0639-2. Epub 2011 May 24.
To assess medical students' attitude toward occupational health (OH) in Brazil and Germany before and after a compulsory OH course.
A questionnaire regarding the attitude toward OH was completed by medical students at the beginning of the OH teaching term at the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba, Brazil (n = 79), and at both medical schools in Munich, Germany (n = 266), in 2009/2010. The change in the assessed qualities over the course period was measured repeating the survey at the end of the teaching term (n = 193; 56%).
Overall, attitude toward OH was relatively low in both countries (mean 3.0 ± SD 1.2 on a scale from 1 = very low to 6 = very high) and students did not consider OH as a career option. However, Brazilian medical students rated the importance of OH statistically significantly higher than German medical students. Students in both countries considered their knowledge of OH low (2.2 ± 0.9). Not only self-assessed knowledge of OH (mean difference 1.5; 95% confidence interval 1.3-1.6) but also interest in OH (mean difference 0.2; 95% CI 0.06-0.4) improved statistically significantly over the teaching term.
A negative attitude toward OH accompanied by little knowledge of OH seems to be a global problem. However, we have shown that this might be improved through adequate training in OH. The long-term effect still needs to be evaluated. Nevertheless, our results are promising and should encourage medical schools around the globe to include OH as a compulsory subject in medical training.
在巴西和德国，评估医学生在参加必修职业健康（OH）课程前后对 OH 的态度。
2009/2010 年，在巴西库里蒂巴联邦大学（n=79）和德国慕尼黑的两所医学院（n=266）的 OH 教学学期开始时，医学生填写了一份 OH 态度问卷。通过在教学学期结束时重复调查（n=193；56%）来衡量课程期间评估质量的变化。
总的来说，两国医学生对 OH 的态度相对较低（1=非常低，6=非常高，平均 3.0±1.2），并且他们不认为 OH 是一种职业选择。然而，巴西医学生对 OH 的重要性评价明显高于德国医学生。两国学生都认为自己对 OH 的了解程度较低（2.2±0.9）。不仅 OH 的自我评估知识（平均差异 1.5；95%置信区间 1.3-1.6），而且对 OH 的兴趣（平均差异 0.2；95%置信区间 0.06-0.4）在教学学期中都有显著提高。
对 OH 的消极态度伴随着对 OH 的了解甚少，这似乎是一个全球性问题。然而，我们已经表明，通过对 OH 的适当培训，这种情况可能会得到改善。还需要评估长期效果。尽管如此，我们的结果是有希望的，应该鼓励全球的医学院将 OH 作为医学培训的必修科目。
