Occupational Medicine, 7.5 credits

Specific entry requirements: Nurse degree of 180 HE credits or Bachelor's degree in nursing. English and Swedish language skills equivalent to English A/English 6 and Swedish B/Swedish 3 at Swedish upper secondary school are also required.

After the course, the student should be able to:

• describe important chemical, physical and microbiological agents and their importance for the development of diseases in working life
• analyse work and worksites from an occupational medical perspective in respect to risk for disease and reduced work ability in general but also for individuals with specific vulnerability
• plan appropriate occupational medical preventive actions and other risk-reducing measures both on an individual worksite and organizational level and be able to critically analyze and evaluate the advantages and limitations of the methods
• describe the different requirements and recommendations found in the working environment legislation especially concerning medical controls, and be able to plan, document and communicate appropriate control programs considering quality assurance requirements
• describe relevant occupational medical research results and evaluate these critically in order to work with evidence-based methods

The main contents in this course includes health risks as a consequence of exposure to chemical, physical, and microbiological agents in working life. This can be divided according to the following:

• occurrence (gases, fumes, particles, dust/smoke, vibration, noise, ionising and non-ionising radiation, indoor -/outdoor climate etc)
• short-term and long-term health risks (poisoning, cancer, lung diseases, skin injuries/diseases, allergy/hypersensitivity, vibration or noise induced injuries, eye injuries/impaired vision, problems related to work in cold or hot environment etc
• preventive measures on an individual -, workplace - and organizational level including personal safety equipment
• the pregnant or breast-feeding worker and other with specific vulnerability
• focus will also be on statutory Medical controls in working life.

The teaching consists of a combination of distance education and scheduled campus teaching. The tuition forms at the campus teaching include lectures, seminars and group assignments. The distance education includes literature studies, group assignments, report writing, interview surveys etc

At the campus compulsory attendance at certain teaching parts can occur.

Examination takes place through individual, written examination, and a written assignment with oral presentation in seminars. The examination of the written assignment is assessed from both written contents and oral presentation.

The grading scale is Fail/Pass/Pass with distinction.

For passed grade attendance at compulsory lectures is required. The course director assesses if, and in that case, how absence can be compensated. Before student has participated in compulsory lectures or compensated absence in accordance with the instructions of Course Director the student's course results will not be reported in LADOK.

Limitation of number examination sessions
The student has the right to participate in six examination sessions. If the student has not passed after four examination sessions, the student is urged to visit the study adviser.

Every time the student participates in the same test counts as an examination session. Submission of blank exam is counted as examination session. Examination session to which the student has registered but not participated in will not be counted as an examination session.

Examination will be provided during a time of two years after a possible close-down of the course. After each course date, it will be offered at least six occasions for examination. Examination can take place according to earlier literature list during a time of a year after the date when a renewal of the literature list was made.

Course evaluation will be carried out according to the guidelines that are established by the Board of Higher education and based on evaluation routines within the Master's programme (one-year) in work and health.