A survey on occupational medicine residency programs across european countries

The European Union of Medical Specialists aims at improving post-graduate training in different disciplines developing European Training Requirements (ETRs) that reflect scientific progress. The study assessed the completeness, coherence, and applicability of the current Occupational Medicine (OM) ETR document and identified areas requiring revision and implementation.

An online survey was conducted among 22 European specialty training representatives to address specific items concerning the training of the OM specialists, including requirements for trainees, trainers and Institutions.

An OM specialty was present in all the countries investigated, with universities responsible for training in 56% cases. In every country theoretical knowledge and practical skills covered the following areas: framework for practice; clinical practice; hazard recognition, evaluation and control of risk; epidemiology and preventive health. Other topics, e.g., effective teaching and educational supervision; research methods; leadership, policy development and professionalism; business continuity, disaster preparedness and emergency management were not consistently covered, with gaps reported in 19-31.8% of countries. Suggested additions to the OM curriculum included disability, protection of conditions of susceptibility, future of work, ethics, interprofessional training, communication strategies, and emergency management.

Although several common approaches to OM training emerged, among participating countries, some differences were identified in specific competency areas, governance processes, and assessment procedures. These findings suggest the need for further reshaping OM training according to the evolving features of the world of work.