Three academics and one alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (UI), are four of the five winners of “The Best Young Researcher Award 2024” from the Japanese Society of Occupational Health (JSOH). The award is given specifically to researchers who are less than 40 years old. They are lecturers of the Occupational Medicine Specialist Study Program of the Department of Community Medicine FK UI, dr. Marsen Isbayu Putra, Sp.Ok.; participants of the FK UI Occupational Medicine Specialist Doctor Education Program (PPDS) dr. Oky Fauzul Zakina; and dr. Maria Franciska; and FKUI PPDS alumni dr. Bonnie Medana Pahlavie, MKK, Sp.Ok.
The award was given at the 97th International Conference of the Japanese Society of Occupational Health which took place at the International Conference Center Hiroshima, Japan (May 22-26, 2024). The conference was attended by more than 5000 participants from Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Prior to the announcement of the winners, the participants had gone through two stages of selection, namely the assessment of presentation abstract material that had been sent at the end of 2023 and the presentation stage during the conference. “The assessment was based on the abstract submitted at the conference. The abstract that I submitted was entitled ‘Development of Workplace Mental Health Promotion Program in an Indonesian State-Owned Oil and Gas Company’, this abstract is based on research conducted on the development of worker mental health programs that are in accordance with the needs and conditions that exist in the company,” said Dr. Marsen.
Furthermore, she said, the research found the need for mental health promotion aspects to form a mental health service in the company. This research emphasizes the importance of the in-depth interview process to explore the expectations and needs of stakeholders in a company so as to design a mental health program in the company.
Meanwhile, another research conducted by Dr. Oky (PPDS 2022) was entitled “Return to work program for police officers with work-related PTSD”. He said that the police are workers who are prone to depression due to high exposure to emotional trauma. On the other hand, the police are required to always be tough and not complain, both because of work demands and the stigma attached to the police.
In the study, Dr. Oky reviewed institutional-level interventions to help police officers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) return to work. Institutional support in the form of privacy preservation, ensuring the basic needs of workers are met during treatment, and a gradual return to work program tailored to the mental readiness of police with PTSD are the main keys to program success.
Similar to Dr. Oky, Dr. Maria Franciska (PPDS 2022) researched a person who returned to work after hernia nucleus pulposus (HNP) surgery with the title “Predictors of successful return to work after hernia nucleus pulposus surgery: A cohort retrospective study from Indonesia”. This study showed that successful return to work occurred in 40.7% of workers who underwent HNP surgery with a median time of 26 days postoperatively. Younger age, male, and minimally invasive type of surgery were positive factors for return to work. Meanwhile, high and medium education levels are negative factors for returning to work.
Dean of FKUI Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH, MMB, expressed his appreciation for the achievements made by FKUI staff and alumni at this international event. “Congratulations to colleagues from the Department of Community Medicine, especially the Occupational Medicine Specialist Study Program for the awards obtained. It is an honor, of course, as a pioneer of occupational medicine study programs in Indonesia, we should always show the quality of FKUI in the international arena. Moreover, this award is intended for young researchers under the age of 40. Hopefully this can be an encouragement for colleagues to be consistent and diligent in terms of research and publications,” said Prof. Ari.
