[Position of occupational diseases in medical education in Turkey]

Currently, economical and socio-political changes seem to influence the point of view on occupational health all over the world. Duration of the occupational health education in medical schools decreases day by day and treatment based medical practice seems to be much more popular than preventive medicine activities. The aim of our study is to determine the quality and level of the occupational health education both during the education period and post post-graduation period of medical schools in Turkey. Two questionnaires on the occupational health education were sent to the medical schools of state universities. 65% of the medical schools answered the questionnaires. The average education time of the topic was 6.7 hours during pre-graduate period. Education was usually given by a faculty staff in respiratory medicine (73%) and in public health departments (52%). It was found that, only in six of 19 universities, the faculty staff members had a specific education on occupational health. In the post-graduate period, 15 respiratory medicine unite (62%) gives education on occupational health. As a conclusion, we can say that, there isn't a standardized and structured education program on occupational health/occupational diseases during the medical education during both the education period and post-graduation period of medical schools in Turkey. The duration and the quality of the present education programs seem to be insufficient.