Environment and Workplace Prevention Techniques

This degree course revolves around career-oriented content. It arose out of reforms (on the basis of Ministerial Decree of 22 October 2004, no. 270 and subsequent decrees) to the previous degree course called “Prevention techniques in the environment and in the workplace” (leading to the health and safety career of Prevention Specialist in the environment and in the workplace). It has been run by the Medicine Faculty since the 2005-06 academic year and is organised according to Ministerial Decree 509/99. These reforms not only came about from the need to bring together integrated courses already included in the previous course of study, but also to adjust the teaching loads of the various basic and specialist subject areas, which have evolved in different ways in recent years. The aim was also to adapt the programme to constantly evolving cultural, professional and working parameters within the field of prevention in the environment and in the workplace. As opposed to the previous course, English is now introduced in the 1st year in order to enable students to use the instruments of research methodology to greater effect from the outset of the course. In the new course, 15 university credits have been allocated to the professional scientific disciplinary sector MED/50 – Applied Medical Sciences. The Professional Internship involves 60 university credits (professional scientific sector MED/50 – Applied Medical Technical Sciences) and an internship project based on different professional experiences, aimed at acquiring skills related to the specific functions and roles of the profession: Opinions and Consultation, Supervision and Control, Investigation, Information, Training, Education, Management and Research. With effect from the 2011-12 academic year, the course has adapted its curriculum to meet the amendments introduced by Ministerial Decree 270/04, with the aim of ensuring that students not only acquire the relevant scientific knowledge but also specific professional skills that help to integrate them into the employment market. Following a meeting with the President of the Degree Course (Prof. Enrico Bergamaschi), the Local Health Authorities of Parma, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Piacenza formed a working group promoted by the Directors of the Greater Metropolitan Area Public Health Departments (AVEN). As a result, the health authorities were involved in defining the new course, evaluating training needs and monitoring career opportunities, as well as identifying the skills expected of new health professionals in order to define the required professional profile (Ministerial Decree 58/97) in light of the organisational and cultural changes in the Public Health system. Local connections and relations are crucial if graduates are to receive a university education that corresponds to the expertise required by the public and private sector. This is also in relation to the memorandum of understanding dated 14.02.2005 stipulated between the Emilia Romagna Region and the Universities of Bologna, Ferrara, Modena-Reggio Emilia and Parma, implementing Art. 9 of Regional Law no. 29/2004. This explicitly acknowledges the vital role played by training and research in the National Health Service. In the Emilia Romagna region, there are approximately 600 Prevention Specialists working for the Public Health departments of the Local Health Authorities, and for the Regional Environmental Protection Agency; these professionals represent the interface of a significant proportion of the prevention system working for workers’ health and safety, public hygiene, food safety and protection of the environment and people’s health. Therefore, for organizations whose mission is prevention and public health, a priority concern must involve guaranteeing the fundamental prerequisites needed to ensure the Degree Course corresponds to the technicians’ professional profile and to the latest core skill needs identified in the recent Document by UNPISI (the association recognized by the Ministry of Health as national representative for the profile of Prevention Technician in the Environment and in the Workplace – Ministerial Decree 14 April 2005 and Ministerial Decree 19 June 2006). The AVEN Public Health Department Directors, the Emilia Romagna ARPA Executive Director and their training representatives, have stressed the need for professional training that takes into consideration the organizational and cultural changes in Public Health and in the Prevention Plans guidelines, in order to guarantee healthcare professionals with the specific skills required by the workplace. The professional profile embraces very different contexts (air, water, soil, waste, protection of health and safety at work, food safety, public hygiene, industrial systems, veterinary science). This complexity makes it necessary to render a network of relations official through legislative and administrative obligations and agreements. The aim is to guarantee training that is comprehensive, and whose topics are integrated with each other as much as possible. It also sets out to invest in prevention by training professionals who are ready to become active participants in multidisciplinary teams dealing with health problems of the population and taking action on risk factors.