The Views of Occupational Health Graduates Working in Kashan Iran on Compliance of Curriculum Content with Occupational Requirements

Abstract

Background & Objective: Evaluation of curriculum content is one of the main responsibilities of universities The graduates occupational competency to provide appropriate services to society depends on the achievement of education goals This study was carried out to verifying the compliance of curriculum content of the BSc course in occupational health with performance aspects expected of graduates working in Kashan Iran in 2013 Methods: This crosssectional descriptive study was carried out on 56 occupational health course graduates working in Kashan The subjects were selected randomly An authordeveloped questionnaire was used to collect data on the performance aspect of the curriculum content of this course Data were presented and analyzed using descriptive statistical methods Results: The application of the content of specialized courses and foundation courses in the workplace were high and moderate respectively The content of 711% of foundation courses and 300% of specialized courses were scientific knowledge Moreover the content of 157% of foundation courses and 545% of specialized courses were practical skills Ergonomics course had the highest application in practical skills and the management course had the lowest application in scientific knowledge The graduates expressed partial satisfaction with the course curriculum Conclusion: The curriculum content of the occupational health course is somewhat consistent with occupational requirements of its graduates However this does not seem sufficient Regular revision and modification of the occupational health curriculum in accordance with occupational requirements of its graduates is necessary

Keywords

• occupational health
• curriculum
• undergraduates
• occupational requirements