The Fulfillment of higher Competence Demands in Occupational Health Service (OHS)

Introduction
Three universities, and five universities of applied sciences, started courses aimed at deepening the competence of occupational health services (OHS) in cooperation with the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) in 2008. These master's level courses were designed for occupational health nurses and -physiotherapists.

Methods
The aim of this study was to answer the following questions; 1) Do OHS have competencies in the functional environment, management and development of OHS? 2) Are there differences between the competencies of private and public OHS? 3) Is the content of higher education still relevant to OHS' work?

The data were collected by sending a questionnaire to 40 public and 20 private OHS. The questionnaire focused on the main competence demands of master's level education. OHS could fill in the questionnaire as a team. The answer % was 100.

Results
The competence concerning the functional environment of OHS, which consists of competence in international, national and regional health policies, needs to be strengthened. However, both this and competencies concerning development of working methods and models were better in public than in private OHS's. Knowledge management and development of OHS needs strengthening in both sectors. Quality improvement and assessment of efficiency were in good state in private OHS. The latest information of occupational health does not reach OHS efficiently enough. In addition, further attention needs to be given to the skills in research and research methods.

Discussion
OHS needs to continually strengthen its competence concerning the functional environment, management and development. There is a difference between the competence level in public and private OHS. This study is unable to determine whether this is due to differences in how OHS package their services. The content of higher education still seems to be relevant to OHS' work.