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| Introduction and Scope |
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| The course is organized as a distance-learning course. It has been designed to allow students to study at their own pace and in their own time, whilst requiring about four weeks of attendance at seminars and practical trainings at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute (Deemed University). This is called 'blended' learning. Tutors will help the students throughout the course. |
| The course is specially designed for all doctors working or wanting to work as Factory Medical Officers who intend to obtain the “Certificate in Industrial Health”. The course meets the requirements of the Factories Act 1948 and the Rule 62-O (2) of the Tamil Nadu Factories Rules 1950 and follows the syllabus provided by DGFASLI. It has been recognized by the Government of Tamil Nadu as per Order Nr. 206 dated 23.07.2004. |
| Also approved by Government of Karnataka in compliance with 82-M (2) of Karnataka Factory Rules, 1969 as per Order Nr. LD 19 KABANI 2005, BANGALORE dated 18/05/2005. |
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More information including the regulations and the syllabus can be found at our web page www.srmc-ehe.org. The overall amount of work is equivalent to about three months of a residence program. |
| The first part of the course |
| In the first weeks we will concentrate on basic concepts and fundaments of Occupational Medicine like hazards identification, exposure assessment and the occupational medical history of a patient, "root-cause-analysis". We will have a repetition in toxicology and an introduction to company-level, industrial hygiene and practical epidemiology. We will also use a lot of case studies. This will also improve your problem-solving and communication & reporting skills. And you will also be starting on your project paper. |
| The second part of the course |
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| After the first contact programme we will dig into diseases and pathology more in detail, learn how to do screening programmes and how to use audiometry and spirometry in practice. With the help of case studies we will learn about prevention, clinical picture, treatment. |
| The third part |
| After the second contact programme we will continue with occupational diseases but also look at related topics like health promotion, surveillance programmes, safety, psychosocial factors etc. |
| IMPORTANT!! The course will use a set of international and national text books as reference. Some of these books will be mandatory for the students. This means that you need these books in order to work on your assignments. In addition, supplementary material like hand-outs, CDs will be provided by the faculty. At the beginning of the courses the students will have the opportunity to order these books via the Department by submitting a demand draft.
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| Course Elements and Structure |
| During one year of distance learning the students will have to work a substantial amount of time at home or at their workplace. In average about 6 to 8 hours per week will be necessary to do the assignments and the reading. The different contact programmes will span approximately four weeks in total with lectures, colloquia and practical trainings during the one year period. |
| The course comprises of the following elements: |
| Lectures |
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| Home Assignments |
| The students will have to work through books and other provided materials, handouts etc independently. These home assignments will be discussed in the colloquia. Assignments are required to be submitted at stipulated dates. If the assignments are not received at the deadlines marks will be reduced. |
| Internal Assessments |
| The faculty will monitor the progress of the students by regular internal assessments. At least one internal assessment (closed book) will be conducted at each contact program, others might be posted on the internet. The students will also be required to take tests of several internet course provided by other institutions. |
| Project |
| One paper on a field project is required in order to be admitted to the final exams. In this project the student will have to identify a practical problem of occupational health at workplace in the industry where he is working. The theme of the project must be relevant to the local occupational health situation. The student is required to present and discuss this project in the contact programme. |
| The best project will get an award: The award is called the "Lenk-Peschke-Award for Best Practice in Occupational Medicine" and the winner should get a medal and a certificate. |
| The joint faculty of the department who is responsible for the conduct and the quality of the course shall select the winner. The project paper for this award should be selected on grounds of being the project which: |
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Has led or will lead to actual improvements at workplaces |
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Has applied in the best manner the principles of prevention of occupational diseases at the workplace. |
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| Tutorials |
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| The colloquia during the contact sessions will provide the opportunity to present and discuss projects, assignments and practical questions in detail. |
| Practical Training |
| During the contact sessions practical training in audiometry, lung function tests, vision tests and basic industrial hygiene measurements (noise, dust and gas sampling) will be conducted. |
| Educational Visits |
| Visits to factories, occupational health care centers as well as clinical visits will be organized during the contact program. These visits will be used to discuss questions and problems at workplaces. The exercises will use specific checklists or short protocols for the workplace assessments. |
| Medium of Instruction |
| The medium of instruction for all subjects including the examinations is English. |
| Technical Requirements |
| The course will be conducted as an internet-based course. Every student therefore needs to have regular access to email and the internet from the beginning of the course. He/she will need to access the course website at least weekly - if not more often - Everybody therefore needs an email address. He/She also should be able to read and work with CDs which are provided by the department. |
| Course material, assignments and organizational information will be posted on the internet or send via email. All correspondence will primarily be conducted via the internet and email. |
| The students will be required to respond to assignments posted on the course website and to send their answers and papers back electronically. They will not be informed by other means. |
| The students should be able to use to the following standard software: email programme and email address (e.g. msn, Yahoo, MS Outlook), text programme (e.g. MS Word), internet browser (e.g. MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla) and the Acrobat Reader (free downloads at www.adobe.com). |
| If you encounter any problems please contact our department without delay. |
| Tentative Timetable |
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| The dates for the contact programs are: |
Start: 1st week of July
First contact program: 3rd week of July
Second contact program: 3rd week of November
Third contact program: 3rd week of March
Project submission: May
Fourth contact program: 3rd week of May
Final examination: 3rd week of June |
| All dates are tentative only and need to be confirmed! |
| Course Fees |
| The course fee for the last batch of was 25.000 Rs. The examination fee was 4.200 Rs. For questions, please contact the administrations office. |
| Contact Information |
| Please address all questions to the Department and the faculty involved in the PG course: |
| Dr. Zareen Mohamed Course In-Charge
Dr. P. Jayachandran Assistant Professor
Mr. Venkatesan D. Course Administrator |
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