2020/2021

2025/2026

DM270

MED/44 (OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE)

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL MEDICINE AND THERAPEUTICS

MEDICINE AND SURGERY

PERCORSO COMUNE

6°

2nd semester (02/03/2026 - 05/06/2026)

3

24 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

ODDONE ENRICO - 2 ECTS
PERNETTI ROBERTA - 1 ECTS

Before taking the course, the student must possess
general understanding of human toxicology and physiopathology.

At the end of the course the student

a) must know:
- The physiological and toxicological basis of occupational pathologies.
- The principles of occupational exposures' monitoring and occupational diseases' prevention.
- The main medical-legal obligations in the field of professional pathology.

b) must understand:
- The relationships between occupational exposures and workers' pathologies.
- The complexity of the interactions between the different health risks present in environments and workplaces.

c) must know how to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the Occupational Medicine course to the prevention of occupational pathologies and to the understanding of the clinical characteristics of pathologies related to occupational exposures.

General topics: Notes on the history of the discipline. Definition and aims of Occupational Medicine. Definition of occupational risk; occupational risk factors and their classification. Occupational disease and accident at work. Work and environmental anamnesis criteria.

Occupational Hygiene: Primary and secondary prevention. Environmental monitoring and environmental hygiene limits (TLV). Biological monitoring and biological exposure limits (BEI). Health surveillance.

Industrial and Occupational Toxicology: General principles of industrial and occupational toxicology. Toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics.

Physical agent pathology: Noise pathology. Vibration pathology. Pathology due to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

Pathology caused by chemical agents: Pathology caused by metals, in particular lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium. Pathology caused by solvents, in particular n-hexane, benzene and homologues, halogenated compounds. Pathology caused by pesticides.

Biological Risk: General concepts and in-depth analysis of some infectious diseases of occupational interest.

Occupational carcinogenesis: Carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. Classification of carcinogens. Main neoplasms of professional origin. Regulatory aspects.

Ergonomics: General concepts. Work-related pathologies of the musculoskeletal system: risks from manual handling of loads and repetitive movements of the upper limb.

Occupational allergology: Classification of allergy diseases. Allergological diagnostics (prick test, patch test, RAST, specific and non-specific bronchial provocation test). Main professional clinical pictures (skin diseases, rhinitis, bronchial asthma, extrinsic allergic alveolitis).

Emerging Risks: Work organization and shift work. Work-related stress, bullying, burn out.

Medical-legal aspects: Legislation on hygiene and safety at work (in particular, Italian Legislative Decree 81/2008). Disclosure obligations of the physician regarding professional pathologies.

Teaching support tools:
Possible practical activity at the Hospital Operating Unit of Occupational Medicine (UOOML) of the Maugeri IRCCS Foundation

The course is organized in lectures. In each lesson space will be given to the interactive discussion of the topics with the students present in the classroom in order to make learning the fundamental concepts of the subject more efficient and easier.
During reception hours, the teachers are available for clarification on the topics covered in the course.

- Alessio L, Franco G, Tomei F. (Editors), Trattato di Medicina del Lavoro [Treatise on occupational medicine], 2 vol., Ed. Piccin, Padua, Italy, 2015.
- Tomei F., Candura S.M., Sannolo N. et al., Manuale di Medicina del Lavoro [Manual of Occupational Medicine], Ed. Piccin, Padua, Italy, 2019.
- Imbriani M, Maugeri U. Elementi di Medicina del Lavoro [Elements of Occupational Medicine]. II edition, ed. Arachne, Roma, Italy, 2014.

Learning will be verified through a written exam with multiple choice questions, aimed at ascertaining the achievement of the educational objectives of the teaching. 20 questions will be asked with 4 answer options of which only one is correct, with consequent attribution of one point for each correct answer. The calculation of the score out of thirty will take place according to the formula (number of correct answers / 20)*31, in order to award honor to students who complete the task by answering all the questions correctly. The time for carrying out the test will be 30 minutes.
The subject of the exam will be the contents of the lectures and reference texts.

Additional teaching materials will be made available to students through interaction with the teacher and / or publication on the institutional teaching sites.

The topics of the course are consistent with the objectives concerning health and well-being (code 3), decent work and economic growth (code 8) and industry, innovation and infrastructure (code 9).
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