Background: The Italian Society for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene (Società Italiana di Medicina del Lavoro e Igiene Industriale)--SIMLII--has taken a systematic approach to the topic of permanent education of occupational health physicians over the last 4 years, developing its own project entitled "SIMLII Permanent Education and Excellency Accreditation".
Objectives: The SIMLII Project, which is addressed to occupational health specialists and physicians authorized under Law 277/91, art. 55, is based on the participation of "obligatory" and "non-obligatory" educational activities and on assessment of professional activity. "Obligatory" educational activities are events organized directly by SIMLII and consist of a detailed study of the guidelines concerning specific occupational health topics. The "non-obligatory" events are those regarding occupational health that the physician chooses voluntarily, with accreditation by the Ministry of Health and/or by SIMLII. The occupational health physician who enrolls for the 3-year course must obtain a total of 180 SIMLII training credits in the 3 years (60 per year). Assessment of activity performed is made at the end of the 3 years of training according to criteria set out by SIMLII and approved by the membership, via a self-administered questionnaire.
Methods and results: The SIMLII Project has laid great emphasis on drawing up guidelines on topics specific for occupational health. These guidelines are developed by groups of experts selected by SIMLII and deal with topics that the occupational health physician most frequently encounters in the course of his/her professional activity. There are 405 participants in the first 3-year training course covering the whole of Italy. The aim of the Italian Society for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene, via excellency accreditation and drawing up of guidelines for particularly important topics, is to provide useful tools to satisfy the training requirements of its membership, to improve the quality of professional services and to emphasize the uniqueness and specific nature of occupational health within the medical specialties.