ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The study was conducted with the aim of evaluating applied occupational health teaching for final-year medical students at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine. METHODS: The study included all sixth grade medical students (n=293) during one academic year. Pre- and post-training tests were used to assess the magnitude of change in knowledge and attitude of students on occupational health, whereas the opinion of students on several aspects of the quality of teaching sessions were assessed by using post-training questionnaires. RESULTS: Post-training tests revealed that the level of knowledge on all aspects of occupational health increased among medical students. An evaluation of the teaching sessions showed favorable results for the overall quality of the sessions: 81.3% of the students stated that the sessions were well organized, 81.7% remarked the workplace/factory visit was a valuable experience, and 91.0% stated feeling more competent on occupational health issues. CONCLUSION: There was a greater increase in students' knowledge on technical precautions than their knowledge on issues related to medical practice in the workplace. Visiting a workplace was found to contribute to the overall aim of knowledge and attitude change on occupational health issues. The scope of undergraduate medical education should be extended by improving occupational health education with respect to educational content, duration, and methods.
Subject(s)
Humans , Education, Medical , Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Occupational Health , Students, MedicalABSTRACT
Characteristics of narghile-smokers in Turkey have been under-investigated. In this study it was aimed to examine the knowledge, smoking patterns, and the perceptions of narghile-[Waterpipe] smokers in Turkey. In this descriptive survey, the data was collected through a structured questionnaire. The questions focused on smoking patterns of narghile smokers who were the clients [n=460] of narghile cafes. The perceptions of participants were identified using a 10 point visual scale. In all, 76.7% was male and 9.6% was younger than 18 years, and the mean duration of narghile smoking was 27.1 months. Peer influence [38.4%], and curiosity [18.4%] were the two most common reasons for starting narghile smoking. Aromatic narghile tobacco was preferred [86.3%] mostly, and 50.1% of them did not believe the addictive pattern of narghile smoking. One third of narghile smokers rated the negative health consequences of narghile smoking between 8.1 and 10 point on the visual scale versus 74.9% for cigarette. Interventions are needed to inform people in Turkey about the health hazards of narghile [Waterpipe] smoking