ABSTRACT
All the medical schools in Australia and New Zealand were surveyed in order to determine the amount of teaching devoted to occupational and environmental medicine in the medical courses in 1998. A 100% response rate was achieved. The results showed that the number of hours devoted to these topics varied widely, but averaged 12.8 h and 10.5 topics. The most significant factor accounting for the variability was the presence on the universities' teaching staff of individuals trained in the practice of occupational medicine. While our findings show a greater time devoted to these topics than those of similar studies in the United States and Britain, the absolute time remains small when compared with the prevalence of occupational medicine problems in the community. There is little congruence in terms of both content and assessment processes between schools.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical, Undergraduate/organization & administration , Environmental Medicine/education , Occupational Medicine/education , Australia , Curriculum , Education, Medical, Undergraduate/standards , Educational Measurement , Humans , New Zealand , Surveys and Questionnaires , Teaching/methodsABSTRACT
Cutaneous infections occurring in abattoir workers are an under-recognized cause of occupational morbidity. This study examined the incident rates of cutaneous infection in a medium sized metropolitan abattoir in Adelaide, South Australia. The results show that cutaneous infections are common (0.65 per 1,000 working days) and that there exists an association between the nature of the work task within the abattoir and infection rates. Specifically, those individuals handling animal hides have higher rates of infection compared to other workers. The implications of these findings are discussed with particular emphasis on the prevention of these infections.