Use of NCITDistance learning in OH teaching and education :

Canadian experience

Dr Louis Patry MD FRCP (C)

Montréal Public Health Direction

McGill University Health Center

Printing and new technologies

From the pen to the computer

An evolution to improve the diffusion of knowledge!

The routes to India

Christopher Colombus 1492

Vasco de Gama 1499

A world to rediscover

New words Globalisation

Cyberspace

Cyberlearning

Cyberentreprise

Customer’s service: the new route to India

Luggage lost during a flight fromMontréal Toronto

India

?

Objectives of the presentation

To review the influences of the socio-economic changes on the practice of Occupational Health To describe the Canadian distance education and learning experience in Occupational Health To assess the place of the NCIT in the future needs of training in Occupational Health

Influences of the socio-economic changes on

the practice of Occupational Health

The occupational physician: a witness of the working conditions throughout the centuries

The industrial revolution : the working conditions in the textile

factories and mines

Industrial revolution : the beginning of mass production

Industrialisation and environment

New health problems

Psychoneurosis

Occupational crampsCraft palsiesOccupational palsiesProfessional spasmsTelegrapher’s cramp

The glorious years

The Americans with Disabilities Act

( ADA)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act ( OSHA )

New realities of Occupational Health Practice

NCIT revolutionGlobal economyIncreasing mobility of the industrial productionOutsourcing of Occupational health services Emergence of new Occupational health issuesThe changing of the workforce

Distance education training: a new teaching approach

From the traditional to the virtual class

Distance education learning

Modalities Self-learning

Modification of the professor-student link

Rigorous planning

Use of an information and communication system

Modification of the teacher’s role

Distance education learning: Canadian experiences

Canadian experiences

The development of occupational healthDistance education training

Summer schoolInteruniversity collaboration

U. LAVAL

U. HAMILTON U. LILLESummer school

McGill University

Experimentation of a distance education program

Self-learning Practicum (workshop)

Study guides

Study GuideOccupational

Health

Distance education program

McGill University

Internet arrival

Migration of the course content to a base computer training

Study GuideOccupational

Health

Distance education program

Canadian experiences in French speaking African

countries

Distance education in Africa

Distance education in Africa

Annaba

Kinshasa

Training to research in occupational health in French

African speaking countries

FORST Programme

FORST

Objectives

Experiment and establish a distance education training program in occupational health

Develop an innovative training approach base on Internet use

Establish a solid basis for sustainable collaboration in Ooccupational health

Teaching committee

(representative from each participating University)

•Regional coordinator (Benin University )

•Teaching coordinator (McGill U.)

Structure

Management Committee

Supervise the adaptation of

the course content

Collaboration to the choice of

teachers

Support the student learning and the

realisation of research project

FORST

Course content preparation

Adaptation of the McGill course content

McGill•Physical agents •Industrial Hygiene •Epidémioly •Ergonomic •Practice occupational Health •Chemical and biological agents

U. de Lille II•Professional disease•Toxicology

U. Hassan II Casablanca•Occupational safety practice •intensive workshop •1998

U. Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar

•Intensive workshop 2000

6 participating countries, 12 registered students

Morocco , Senegal, Guinea , Côte-d’Ivoire, Benin, New Caledonia

One diploma

Master degree in Occupational health MSc

McGill University

FORST

FORST: a class in action

FORST

Artisanal dyeing

Handloom weaving

Granite quarry

Results

Difficulties

Organisation: setting up the infrastructure

Technology : Computer and Internet use

Distance education modalitiesModification of the professor-student linkLearning by objectivesRespect of deadlines Lack of scientific articles in French.

FORST and communication vehicles

Difficulties with the postal system

Experimentation of NCITA difficult beginning

FORST

The NCITs :

The most important : a person to person communication !

FORST: outcomes of the project

New certificate in occupational health based on the FORST model

Integration of the FORST learning approach in the training program in occupational health Improvement of the abilities of the student to assess occupational health issues

African network in occupational health

Occupational health in the 21st century

Learning needs

Occupational Health in the 21st century

Ethnic and demographic changes

Transfer of mass production to the developing countries

New structures of the Companies

Globalisation

Improvement of the technology

The 2010 pyramid of age

Benin

France

Percentage of the working force among people aged between 55 et 64 year old (OCED)

Proportion of people older than 65 years old among the general population

(G8 countries )

2005 : 20 -30 %

2030 : 35–50%

2050 : 40-70 %

The most concerned countries are: Japan, Italy , France and Germany

OECD Strategy to improve employment for the over 50s

Lifelong learning Working promotionEffective re-employment services and supportImprove health and security at work Reinforce the measures to reduce discrimination at work

Impacts of a virtual working set-up

Modification of the organization at work

Increasing part-time work

Increasing insecurity at work

Job transfer

Future learning needs in Occupational Health

Mental health Work organisationRisk communicationManagement Diversity of the workforce Assessment Preventive approachesMultidisciplinary work

Training in occupational health

Few graduated students

The attractive power of training in Occupational health is weak

Mean age of the candidates is high

Physicians become interested in occupational medicine some years after graduating from medical school

In Canada the specialty in Occupational medicine will become a sub specialty of Internal and Community medicine

New framework training

Need for new skills

The training in Occupational health must be reviewed ! (National Academy of Sciences)

Development of innovative approaches of training in Occupational Health

Promotion of distance education training based on the NCIT use

Reinforcement of collaboration between universities.

Conclusion

Through the centuries Occupational health has been always modulated by the socio-economic challenges.

A future reality: an occupational physician or a nurse at work