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Evaluation of an integrative masters program in occupational health at the Tel Aviv University Medical School
Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
Evaluation of an integrative masters program in occupational health at the Tel Aviv University Medical School Joseph Ribakavb*,Neta Notzer”, Estella Drezned “Occupational Health and Rehabilitation Institute, Lawenstein Hospital, P.O. Box 3, Raanana 43100, Israel bDepartment of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Suckler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel ‘Department of Medical Education, Suckler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel dInstitutefor Occupational Health, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Abstract Tel Aviv University conducts the Master’s program in occupational health in Israel. The program is composed from three different disciplines: occupational physicians, industrial hygienists and psychosocial workers. The aim of the program was to train graduate academic professionals for the developing occupational health system in Israel. The program is a two year study, opens every second year and accommodates about thirty students per class. After the second class, comprehensive assessment was conducted by the Unit of Medical Education. The evaluation was done by means of personal interview of class leaders, teachers and students, using structured questionnaires. A similar evaluation was again conducted after graduation of the fourth class in 1993. Three aims of the assessment were defined: to learn about the students’ and teachers’ expectations of the course, the level of integration achieved between the occupational health professionals in the three disciplines; and to evaluate the employment status of the graduates upon completion of the course. Following the first evaluation, changes were implemented in the methods of student selection for the program. A new entering examination was constructed to ensure a common basic knowledge of the potential students in the three disciplines. Changes were also made in the curriculum regarding teaching hours and subjects. A major problem at that time was that most of the graduates could not find positions in the field, because of low awareness for occupational health in Israel. In the second evaluation done in 1993 a higher level of satisfaction of students and teachers from the program was noted. The average level of the accepted students was higher compared with those accepted earlier. Better and deeper integration between the three disciplines of studies was appreciated. More graduates of the program found jobs in the area of occupational health and there is a higher level of awareness of employers and high regards to the course.
’ * Correspondingauthor. 0925-7535/95/$09.50 0 1995 SSDIO925-7535(95)00016-X
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
344
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
1. Introduction Tel Aviv University medical school is the only medical school in Israel which conducts a Master’s program in occupational health (MOccH) . The aim of the program was to train graduate academic professionals for the developing occupational health system in Israel. The program has three separate disciplines. One is intended for occupational physicians, who are required by the residency program to complete the MOccH as an integral part of the requirements of the residency in occupational health. The second discipline is for industrial hygienists. This is the only advanced industrial hygiene training program in Israel. The third discipline trains behavioral science graduates in occupational psychology and social work as well as nurses, physical therapists and physiotherapists. The Master’s program is a two years program and a master’s thesis is required for successful completion of the program. Between thirty and forty students participate in each class and they are divided equally between disciplines. The program has two main components: (A) Integrative teaching given to students of all three disciplines together at the same time. That, in order to create a common ground of understanding that will ensure the same knowledge level of occupational health problems and dilemmas, and will allow the students to speak the same ‘occupational health and safety language’ required to understand the basic concepts of occupational epidemiology, health, hygiene and safety. (B) Specific teaching given individually to each of the disciplines, by this allowing a more thorough learning of subjects which are unique to each discipline. Physicians learn more about work related diseases, hygienists get hands on experience in measurements and analysis of results of various occupational exposures and behavioral science students delve deeply into issues like work organization, structuring, employee’s assistance programs and other work-related behavioral issues. The students who participate in the program come from the field of occupational health, government agencies which are responsible for the worker’s health and safety, industry or other non related fields. A new class opens every second academic year. To date four classes have graduated, the last one in 1993. An ongoing evaluation program accompanies the academic program. It retrieves information from graduates regarding their opinion on the program in general and on specific courses.
2. Materials and methods After graduation of the second class of students an evaluation was done by means of personal interview of class leaders, teachers and students and by using a structured computerized questionnaire. A similar evaluation was again conducted after graduation of the fourth class in 1993. Three aims of the assessment were defined: to learn about the students’ and teachers’ expectations of the course, the level of integration achieved between the occupational health professionals in the three disciplines and to evaluate the employment status of the graduates upon completion of the course. The evaluation questionnaire was developed by the unit of medical education in conjunction with the master’s program and contained three parts. The
J. Ribak
et al. /Safety
Science
20 (1995)
343-347
345
first part included questions about the motives for selecting the program, changes in knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and changes in their job content or job definition including job substitution after completion of studies. The second part was devoted to evaluation of the integrative teaching courses and the last part evaluated the specific courses delivered to the different divisions. In the first two classes 83% of the students (38 out of 46) responded to the evaluation process. Following the first evaluation, changes were implemented in the methods of student selection for the program. A new entrance examination was constructed to ensure a common basic knowledge of the potential students in the three disciplines. Several changes were incorporated in the academic program. An integrative special project was added where the students were divided into teams. Each team was composed of a physician, an industrial hygienist and a behavioral science student. They had to design and implement a multidisciplinary occupational health program in a factory. At the end of the project they had to present the results in front of the faculty in the presence of the factory manager and safety officer. Another change was the incorporation of an industrial accident simulation in the course of the studies. This simulation was described before (Ribak et al., 1991). Again it required active participation of all students from the three disciplines simultaneously. A major problem at that time was that most of the graduates could not find positions in the field because of low awareness for occupational health in Israel. An extensive promotion of the program was done in industry and in the professional organizations where students usually come from, in order for them to understand better and appreciate the role of the occupational health specialist in the organization. After analyzing the responses, we compared the results of the questionnaires delivered to those classes to assess changes of attitudes and opinions that occurred during the elapsed time and following the changes made in the curriculum. The rate of response of the fourth class was 78% (32 out of 41).
3. Results Most of the results are displayed in Fig. 1. Evaluation of the fourth class showed that most of the students joined the program mainly for professional advancement (49%) or they had an interest in the field of occupational health (3 1%). These results were similar to what was found in the first two classes. Fifty one percent of the graduates in the fourth class felt that they did implement significant changes in their work organization and content following the course. This was significantly higher than the first two classes where only 25% felt they were able to do so. Eighty five percent of the fourth class graduates felt that they did implement some changes at work after graduation, compared to only 43% in tbe first two classes. An interesting finding was that 21% of the employers in 1993 were willing to implement changes in work content compared to only 5.5% in 1988. Students satisfaction from the program as a whole and from the integrative part in it improved significantly. Sixty percent of the students in 1993 evaluated the program as very good, compared to 17% in the first two classes. The level of students satisfaction from the specific courses in the three disciplines improved considerably. The students in the occu-
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
346
IUU
(I Fourth class
1
80
20
Fig. 1. Comparison between second and fourthclassesregarding opinions about the.masters’ program.
pational hygiene discipline gave the highest scores for the specific courses in 1993, with response rates of 95%. The integrative multidisciplinary special project introduced in the fourth class scored high evaluation marks. Ninety percent of the graduates thought it was needed and that the project did tend to their needs. Most of the students (90%) felt that a masters thesis is an important component of the program and it should be mandatory and not optional.
4. Discussion The masters program in occupational health at Tel Aviv University is one of its kind in Israel. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that a careful evaluation will follow the academic program. By instituting an ongoing evaluation of the master’s program we were able to detect problem areas, implement changes in almost real time, improve the student’s selection process and by these improve the program as a whole, answering at the same time to the changing needs of occupational health in Israel. The changes introduced and implemented in the program after the evaluation of the first two classes seem to be appreciated and they improved the program considerably. More students come to the program for professional advancement and they find their employers and workplaces more receptive for changes, willing to implement new methods and techniques in this important field. The graduates nowadays are significantly more satisfied with the curriculum. We succeeded in creating a common basis of knowledge in occupational health for the three disciplines providing them with the ability to talk the same professional language with a higher level of integration. This encourages employers and the authorities responsible for occupational health in the country to invest more in the occupational health field.
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
347
References Ribak, J., Noy-Man, Y., Henkin, I. and Shapiro, Y., 1991. Using industrial accident simulation teaching occupational and environmental medicine. J. Occup. Med., 3( 1): 41-44.
as a tool for
Evaluation of an integrative masters program in occupational health at the Tel Aviv University Medical School Joseph Ribakavb*,Neta Notzer”, Estella Drezned “Occupational Health and Rehabilitation Institute, Lawenstein Hospital, P.O. Box 3, Raanana 43100, Israel bDepartment of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Suckler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel ‘Department of Medical Education, Suckler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel dInstitutefor Occupational Health, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Abstract Tel Aviv University conducts the Master’s program in occupational health in Israel. The program is composed from three different disciplines: occupational physicians, industrial hygienists and psychosocial workers. The aim of the program was to train graduate academic professionals for the developing occupational health system in Israel. The program is a two year study, opens every second year and accommodates about thirty students per class. After the second class, comprehensive assessment was conducted by the Unit of Medical Education. The evaluation was done by means of personal interview of class leaders, teachers and students, using structured questionnaires. A similar evaluation was again conducted after graduation of the fourth class in 1993. Three aims of the assessment were defined: to learn about the students’ and teachers’ expectations of the course, the level of integration achieved between the occupational health professionals in the three disciplines; and to evaluate the employment status of the graduates upon completion of the course. Following the first evaluation, changes were implemented in the methods of student selection for the program. A new entering examination was constructed to ensure a common basic knowledge of the potential students in the three disciplines. Changes were also made in the curriculum regarding teaching hours and subjects. A major problem at that time was that most of the graduates could not find positions in the field, because of low awareness for occupational health in Israel. In the second evaluation done in 1993 a higher level of satisfaction of students and teachers from the program was noted. The average level of the accepted students was higher compared with those accepted earlier. Better and deeper integration between the three disciplines of studies was appreciated. More graduates of the program found jobs in the area of occupational health and there is a higher level of awareness of employers and high regards to the course.
’ * Correspondingauthor. 0925-7535/95/$09.50 0 1995 SSDIO925-7535(95)00016-X
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
344
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
1. Introduction Tel Aviv University medical school is the only medical school in Israel which conducts a Master’s program in occupational health (MOccH) . The aim of the program was to train graduate academic professionals for the developing occupational health system in Israel. The program has three separate disciplines. One is intended for occupational physicians, who are required by the residency program to complete the MOccH as an integral part of the requirements of the residency in occupational health. The second discipline is for industrial hygienists. This is the only advanced industrial hygiene training program in Israel. The third discipline trains behavioral science graduates in occupational psychology and social work as well as nurses, physical therapists and physiotherapists. The Master’s program is a two years program and a master’s thesis is required for successful completion of the program. Between thirty and forty students participate in each class and they are divided equally between disciplines. The program has two main components: (A) Integrative teaching given to students of all three disciplines together at the same time. That, in order to create a common ground of understanding that will ensure the same knowledge level of occupational health problems and dilemmas, and will allow the students to speak the same ‘occupational health and safety language’ required to understand the basic concepts of occupational epidemiology, health, hygiene and safety. (B) Specific teaching given individually to each of the disciplines, by this allowing a more thorough learning of subjects which are unique to each discipline. Physicians learn more about work related diseases, hygienists get hands on experience in measurements and analysis of results of various occupational exposures and behavioral science students delve deeply into issues like work organization, structuring, employee’s assistance programs and other work-related behavioral issues. The students who participate in the program come from the field of occupational health, government agencies which are responsible for the worker’s health and safety, industry or other non related fields. A new class opens every second academic year. To date four classes have graduated, the last one in 1993. An ongoing evaluation program accompanies the academic program. It retrieves information from graduates regarding their opinion on the program in general and on specific courses.
2. Materials and methods After graduation of the second class of students an evaluation was done by means of personal interview of class leaders, teachers and students and by using a structured computerized questionnaire. A similar evaluation was again conducted after graduation of the fourth class in 1993. Three aims of the assessment were defined: to learn about the students’ and teachers’ expectations of the course, the level of integration achieved between the occupational health professionals in the three disciplines and to evaluate the employment status of the graduates upon completion of the course. The evaluation questionnaire was developed by the unit of medical education in conjunction with the master’s program and contained three parts. The
J. Ribak
et al. /Safety
Science
20 (1995)
343-347
345
first part included questions about the motives for selecting the program, changes in knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and changes in their job content or job definition including job substitution after completion of studies. The second part was devoted to evaluation of the integrative teaching courses and the last part evaluated the specific courses delivered to the different divisions. In the first two classes 83% of the students (38 out of 46) responded to the evaluation process. Following the first evaluation, changes were implemented in the methods of student selection for the program. A new entrance examination was constructed to ensure a common basic knowledge of the potential students in the three disciplines. Several changes were incorporated in the academic program. An integrative special project was added where the students were divided into teams. Each team was composed of a physician, an industrial hygienist and a behavioral science student. They had to design and implement a multidisciplinary occupational health program in a factory. At the end of the project they had to present the results in front of the faculty in the presence of the factory manager and safety officer. Another change was the incorporation of an industrial accident simulation in the course of the studies. This simulation was described before (Ribak et al., 1991). Again it required active participation of all students from the three disciplines simultaneously. A major problem at that time was that most of the graduates could not find positions in the field because of low awareness for occupational health in Israel. An extensive promotion of the program was done in industry and in the professional organizations where students usually come from, in order for them to understand better and appreciate the role of the occupational health specialist in the organization. After analyzing the responses, we compared the results of the questionnaires delivered to those classes to assess changes of attitudes and opinions that occurred during the elapsed time and following the changes made in the curriculum. The rate of response of the fourth class was 78% (32 out of 41).
3. Results Most of the results are displayed in Fig. 1. Evaluation of the fourth class showed that most of the students joined the program mainly for professional advancement (49%) or they had an interest in the field of occupational health (3 1%). These results were similar to what was found in the first two classes. Fifty one percent of the graduates in the fourth class felt that they did implement significant changes in their work organization and content following the course. This was significantly higher than the first two classes where only 25% felt they were able to do so. Eighty five percent of the fourth class graduates felt that they did implement some changes at work after graduation, compared to only 43% in tbe first two classes. An interesting finding was that 21% of the employers in 1993 were willing to implement changes in work content compared to only 5.5% in 1988. Students satisfaction from the program as a whole and from the integrative part in it improved significantly. Sixty percent of the students in 1993 evaluated the program as very good, compared to 17% in the first two classes. The level of students satisfaction from the specific courses in the three disciplines improved considerably. The students in the occu-
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
346
IUU
(I Fourth class
1
80
20
Fig. 1. Comparison between second and fourthclassesregarding opinions about the.masters’ program.
pational hygiene discipline gave the highest scores for the specific courses in 1993, with response rates of 95%. The integrative multidisciplinary special project introduced in the fourth class scored high evaluation marks. Ninety percent of the graduates thought it was needed and that the project did tend to their needs. Most of the students (90%) felt that a masters thesis is an important component of the program and it should be mandatory and not optional.
4. Discussion The masters program in occupational health at Tel Aviv University is one of its kind in Israel. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that a careful evaluation will follow the academic program. By instituting an ongoing evaluation of the master’s program we were able to detect problem areas, implement changes in almost real time, improve the student’s selection process and by these improve the program as a whole, answering at the same time to the changing needs of occupational health in Israel. The changes introduced and implemented in the program after the evaluation of the first two classes seem to be appreciated and they improved the program considerably. More students come to the program for professional advancement and they find their employers and workplaces more receptive for changes, willing to implement new methods and techniques in this important field. The graduates nowadays are significantly more satisfied with the curriculum. We succeeded in creating a common basis of knowledge in occupational health for the three disciplines providing them with the ability to talk the same professional language with a higher level of integration. This encourages employers and the authorities responsible for occupational health in the country to invest more in the occupational health field.
J. Ribak et al. /Safety Science 20 (1995) 343-347
347
References Ribak, J., Noy-Man, Y., Henkin, I. and Shapiro, Y., 1991. Using industrial accident simulation teaching occupational and environmental medicine. J. Occup. Med., 3( 1): 41-44.
as a tool for