Learning objectives
Identify health effects of chemical, physical, biological, psychological, and ergonomic hazards
Describe the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of occupational and environmental
diseases
Discuss control of occupational and environmental factors that affect health and the course of diseases.
Outline the regulatory, legal, and ethical framework under which occupational physicians and related
professionals operate, and apply this framework to cases and problems that arise in practice
Course unit content
The Course of Occupational Medicine is aimed at providing students with general references for the recognition of the major occupational diseases, the obligations of physicians, and the general lines of prevention programs and health promotion at the workplace.
Full programme
1. Aims and tasks of Occupational Medicine, Toxicology and industrial hygiene (Prof. Antonio Mutti)
Historical background; Injuries and Occupational Diseases; Basics of Occupational Epidemiology; Criteria of causality in Occupational Medicine; Elements of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology.
2. Occupational history: relations between work and health (Prof. Massimo Corradi)
The etiological diagnosis in occupational medicine: process, importance, critical aspects; Classification of the most frequent diseases by chemical, physical, biological and organization of work, information and education on occupational hazards (motivate those who work to implement prudent behavior standards and implement preventive );
3. Tools of analysis, evaluation and risk management (Prof. Antonio Mutti):
Concepts and definitions of Hazard, Risk, Exposure and Susceptibility; environmental monitoring, biological monitoring, health surveillance; guiding values to interpret environmental monitoring data: OEL, TLV, MAK
The values to interpret the biological monitoring: reference values, action levels, limit values can be used either individually or in a group;
4. The principles of environmental toxicology and occupational (Prof. Antonio Mutti)
Toxicokinetics: absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion;
Toxicodynamics: The main mechanisms of action;
The concepts of dose response and effect of dose-effect and dose-response:
The interpretative models (deterministic, multi-factorial, multi-stage);
individual susceptibility and health surveillance.
5. The main physical risk factors (Prof. Enrico Bergamaschi)
Clinical, instrumental tests, diagnosis, prevention:
a. noise,
b. high and low temperatures,
c. vibrations.
6. Main chemical risk factors (Prof. Antonio Mutti)
Main clinical, biological monitoring, instrumental and laboratory findings, diagnosis, prevention and possible treatment for:
a. main elements toxic metal (cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium, manganese)
b. organic solvents: aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, d. carbon monoxide, carbon disulphide, aromatic amines
7. Tumors of occupational origin (Prof. Antonio Mutti):
a) epidemiology, risk factors, with the exposure ratio;
b) pathogenetic theories and the role of occupational factors;
c) diagnosis and medical-legal aspects for major cancers pathognomonic.
8. Main respiratory diseases (M. Massimo Corradi):
Risk factors, principal clinical, instrumental tests, laboratory findings, diagnosis, prevention and possible treatment:
a) acute and chronic diseases of the upper airways
b) pneumoconiosis,
c) bronchial asthma, extrinsic allergic alveolitis;
d) broncho-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
9. Occupational Nephropathies (Prof. Enrico Bergamaschi)
10. Outdoor and indoor air pollution (Prof. Luisella Selis)
a) Paperwork
b) occupational risks in the use of equipment with VDT
c) Tobacco Smoke
d) Risks to workers exposed to pollution from traffic;
11. Work organization and workplace (Prof. Luisella Selis):
a) Stress;
b) Shift work and night;
c) Ergonomic Factors (from posture and repetitive movements, cargo handling).
d) Risks in driving cars and transportation
12. Working irritative and allergic skin diseases (Prof. Massimo Corradi):
occupational risk factors, environmental, domestic, laboratory findings;
diagnosis, prevention and possible therapy.
13. Occupational Neuropathies (Prof. Antonio Mutti)
occupational risk factors, environmental, domestic, laboratory findings;
diagnosis, prevention and possible therapy
Bibliography
Medicina del lavoro, di Vito Foà, Luigi Ambrosi. Utet Editor
A. Mutti e M. Corradi: Medicina del Lavoro. Nuova Berti editrice, 2013, in press
