Residency Programs for Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Korea / 한국의학교육

PURPOSE: This study was performed to obtain baseline information about the occupational and environmental medicine(OEM) residency programs in Korea. METHODS: We surveyed 39 residents for the present training condition, satisfaction, vision of OEM, the condition and satisfaction after residency programs by self- administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Residents want to get appropriate clinical and practical training to be a medical director in a factory or specialist of the occupational medicine based at a hospital. They report, however, that current system for OEM residency training program is not appropriate. The curricula, duration of the each curriculum, level of training hospital or institute need to be reconsidered. CONCLUSIONS: We need to develop more systematic residency program with support from government and OEM society.

The Role of Genetic Polymorphism of Cytochrome P450 2E1 in Bladder Cancer in Korea / 한국역학회지

Although the association of genetic polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase(GST) and N-acetyltransferase(NAT) with bladder cancer has been reported, limited numbers of studies have been indicated the association of CYP2E1 with bladder cancer, particularly in Asian population. A hospital based case-control study was conducted in South Korean, consisting of 232 histologically confirmed prevalent bladder cancer cases and 165 controls to evaluate the association between genetic polymorphisms of CYP2E1(RsaI) and development of bladder cancer. The frequency of CYP2E1(RsaI) c1/c1 genotype in bladder cancer cases was higher than in controls; 114 of 201(56.7%) vs. 62 of 146(42.5%). Men with CYP2E1(RsaI) c1/c1 genotype had increased risk of development of bladder cancer compared to men with at least one c2 allele(OR=1.7, 95% CI=1.1-2.7). The bladder cancer risk increased as the number of c1 allele increased(p for trend=0.005). The risk increased as the amount of smoking increased(p for trend=0.009). When data were analyzed for the interaction between smoking and CYP2E1 genetic polymorphisms, smokers with c1/c1 genotype have 2.5 greater risk in development of bladder cancer(95% CI=1.0-6.2) compared to nonsmokers with c2 allele(p for interaction=0.008). Our findings suggest that the interaction between genetic polymorphisms of CYP 2E1 (RsaI, c1/c1) and smoking may play an important role for development of bladder cancer among Koreans.