ID: 769 Congress: The First International & 4th National Congress on health Education &

Background: Today, the life of refugees is in increasing danger and is an important topic for health systems in most of countries. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of January 2007, Iran was among world's top 10 refugee-hosting countries with 968,000 refugees. It is estimated that about one million Afghan refugees are living in Iran, while only 3-4 percent of them stay in the refugees' camps and the rest are scattered around the country. Iran's neighbor countries are facing with wars, terrorism activities and major natural disasters. These entire make Iran exposed to threat of refugees who might flee inside the country seeking for help. The health system as a main organ has the most responsibilities in this area. This course developed to increase the health sectors knowledge about refugee health care. Methods: A comprehensive literatures review has been done and then a curriculum has been developed that provides a comprehensive approach for providing health services for refugees. The three-day course was done in two dates (September and December of 2010). These courses consisted of 14 sessions and were based on interdisciplinary teaching and problem oriented learning. The participants provided by lectures and group works that were mainly to be used in relation to specific case studies. For each session we provided with session material consisting of session briefing, PowerPoint presentations and knowledge base. The case study was based on a real story situation that covered most parts of the refugees in Iran. The refugees who are staying outside the camps and might host the new arrival unregistered refugees. Results: About 40 focal points from several provinces of Iran participated in these courses. Session by Session evaluation showed that increasing knowledge and practices of all of participants about refugee health care. Conclusion: Considering to vulnerability of Iran about facing complex emergencies such as sudden entries of refugees, caring out such courses is essential.