Journal of Nursing and Health Studies

Where occupational medicine goes?

4^th Edition of International Conference on Occupational Health and Safety
May 28-29, 2018 London, UK

Hrvoje Lalic

University of Rijeka, Croatia

ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Nurs Health Stud

DOI: 10.21767/2574-2825-C2-005

Abstract

Occupational medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, industrial hygiene, occupational and sports medicine, protection at work, whatever it is called in different countries, this is an extraordinary important branch of preventive medicine. In some European countries, occupational medicine as a studying scientific discipline has lost its recognition, starting from health centres up to medical schools. The question to be asked is whether such an automatic negation of a new danger is positive, not only for the reason of the lost dignity, but also because of endangering community and environment. We have witnessed for a prolonged period of time the results of weakening of the occupational medicine. The traffic accidents and miss use of firearms have increased, as well as sudden deaths of young athletes at sports events, the number of work injuries and professional illness. Further question is the growing privatization and tendency of the total privatization of primary and specific healthcare, i.e. the whole health system except partially hospitals. The occupational medicine specialist at the open market losses the required neutrality and in order to keep the clients and survive, panders to contracted firms or to the workers. Furthermore, psychologists and psychiatrists that make a compulsory part of the occupational medicine teams, do inadequate work capacity assessments by overlooking specificity of the workplace. It is necessary to return dignity and independency to occupational medicine, so it can achieve its primary task without any type
of pressure - assessing work capacity. Trends of the modern occupational health services, visiting of working places, questioning and screenings have to be conducted but at the strong stationary occupational medicine centres, preferably at scientific educational institutions.
 

Biography

Hrvoje Lalic was born in Rijeka, Croatia in 1960. Medical school University Rijeka finished in 1983 and worked as general practitioner in the Health Center Rijeka for ten years.  Specialization in Occupational Medicine has done partially in Zagreb, Croatian capital city, in internationally famous School “Andrija Štampar” that is under WHO patronage and partially in Bologna, Italy at “Policlinic S´Orsola Malpighi, OM school for specialization. Scientific and educational career he built parallel with his practical work in OM surgery. He participated World Congresses, OM Congress in Moscow – plenary lecture, San Marino Italy, Dubrovnik and Hvar in Croatia etc. Invited lecturer at Trieste, Italy – 10 hours of lectures to medical students, doctors and professors and active participant in Erasmus Program, speaker – 10 hours of lectures in Umeä, Sweden, 10 hours in Bologna, Italy, this year (2017) in University of Wienna – 10 hours of lectures. First author of papers published and cited in international journals, tracked in Pub Med Medline, CC, SCI and Open Access. Now is working at the Dpt of OM Medicine Rijeka like a specialist of OM and Sports medicine and regular professor of  OM at Medical School University of Rijeka, Croatia.

Email:hlalic@inet.hr