title: [The teaching of occupational medicine in the Master of Science in Medicine in the twenty years since the introduction of Table XVIII].
abstract: In 1991, the implementation of the new programme for education and training in Medicine and Surgery has introduced the teaching of Occupational Medicine (OM) as a compulsory subject for all medical students. After two decades from that event and in conjunction with the implementation of the new academic departments introduced by the law 240/2010, the aim of the present study was to address the current status and the main characteristics of education and training, including clinical activities, in OM in Italian Universities and to update the information on the related academic human resources available. A questionnaire was developed to investigate the different features of the academic staff belonging to the area of OM (SSD MED/44), and to evaluate the organization of teaching and the clinical activities performed by the Occupational Medicine sections. The results showed that among the 40 Italian universities with a degree course in Medicine and Surgery, 67% of them have at least one full professor, 72% one associate professor and 78% one assistant professor belonging to the area of OM. Nevertheless, a steady decrease in the number of academic staff is observed with time, which caused a lack of presence of the discipline in some universities. In most degree courses in Medicine and Surgery the teaching of OM is usually included in an integrated course together with other disciplines such as General and Applied Hygiene and/or Forensic and Legal Medicine. Within the integrated course the number of University Education & Training Credits (CFU, corresponding to approx. 25 hrs of teaching overall) assigned to OM is generally between 2 and 3 (61% of cases). The teaching of OM is also present in eight different master degree courses (MSc) and in 33 different triennial degree courses (BSc). To support the teaching clinical activities, such as workers' health surveillance, laboratories, ambulatories, and DH or inpatient activities are performed, in one or more of these forms, by almost all of the OM institutions. The findings of this study, despite being subject to change rapidly with time, still provide an invaluable set of information and should represent, therefore, a rational basis for planning the future recruitment of academic staff and for updating the contents and methodologies of graduate education and training in Occupational Medicine in Italian universities.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iavicoli
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sbordone
authors.forename: Giovanni Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Bartolucci
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abbritti
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Apostoli
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manno
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000193:education*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires