Voice disorders related to job stress in teaching: a case-control study

This case-control study aimed to test the association between voice disorders and job stress among public schoolteachers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The groups consisted of teachers with (n = 165) and without (n = 105) voice-related complaints. Both groups answered the questionnaires Conditions of Vocal Production and Job Stress Scale. Analysis of cases and controls showed comparable samples, differing only by vocal symptoms. There was a statistically significant difference between cases and controls in relation to job stress involving high strain (OR = 2.1;95%CI: 1.1-3.9), which places high demands combined with low job control. High strain in cases in this study represents the highest risk of physical and mental disorders for teachers. Loss of voice prevents teachers from continuing in their professional role, eliminates their professional identity, and jeopardizes their career.

Work organization and the health of bank employees

The Brazilian banking sector has undergone an intense restructuring process and taken a leading position in the incorporation of new technologies and organizational innovations. Computerization in the industry, in association with forms of work organization, has resulted in changes that reflect on the workers' health. Based on the theoretical and methodological frameworks of historical and dialectical materialism, this qualitative study investigates the work conditions of bank employees in order to identify the extent to which changes in work organization interfere with these workers' health. Data were collected through interviews held with 11 bank employees. In addition to physical sickening due to occupational diseases directly related to work intensification, the results also show an increased incidence of mental suffering and a feeling of loss of professional identity. Work-related frustration, instability and concerns related to psychological pressure resulting from the need to achieve goals predominated in the reports.

Da autonomia da boca: práticas curriculares e identidade profissional na emergência do ensino brasileiro da odontologia

Analisa como ocorreu a separação entre o ensino da medicina e o da odontologia no Brasil. Privilegia a institucionalização das políticas de ensino da odontologia no país como vertente produtora de identidade profissional. Políticas de ensino e práticas profissionais são interrelacionadas para mostrar como suas relações e sentidos mudam historicamente. Propõe que a autonomia do ensino da odontologia emergiu da necessidade de conformação do sistema de regulação das práticas de cura no Brasil e seu processo de instituição desenvolveu-se sob inspiração das políticas positivistas acerca do ensino livre. Práticas curriculares foram produzindo a subjetividade do cirurgião-dentista moderno e também da clínica por ele desempenhada.