Undergraduate Minor in Environmental Health
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
School of Public Health and Information Sciences
University of Louisville
Projected Start Date: Fall, 2018
Accreditation Requirement: None
Program Abstract
The Environmental Health minor is an18-credit undergraduate degree program offered by the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville. The environment around us affects individual health in a multitude of ways, which collectively translateinto large influences on public health. The Environmental Health minor will expose students to basic principles of how the environment affects health, how toxic materials are distributed in the environment, how environmental agents with adverse effects on health are measured,how these agents contribute to the burden of human disease, and how regulations pertinent to environmental health are devised and promulgated. Students will develop critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate environmental hazards and exposures, assess health risks, and formulate rational policy decisions. The Environmental Health minor can be pursued as a type of specialization within the field of public health, e.g. by Public Health majors, as adjunct preparation for other health fields, such as medicine or nursing, or as an applied field of basic science, such as biology or chemistry. The goal of the program will be to provide students with a solid foundation for further education or careers related to environmental health.
Linkage with University and Unit Mission and Strategic Plans
The proposed program supports the University and Unit strategic plans primarily through advancing the teaching mission of these entities. The program will contribute to the educational excellence of the University by providing a novel course of study including topics that are central to public health. We will focus on delivering technical content, providing exposure to relevant aspects of public health practice, and developing critical thinking skills necessary for students’ career success.
Need
The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts above average job growth in the field of environmental scientists and specialists (11% for the period 2014-2024, compared to 7% for all fields). In addition, Public Health is one of the fastest growing majors at the University of Louisville, highlighting the student interest in this field. Employment opportunities in the field of environmental health are available in private consulting firms as well as federal, state, and local governments. Training in environmental health may also be a useful background for medical fields owing to the broad spectrum of diseases influenced by environmental hazards.
Educational Program
Course of study
18 credits: 12 credits from required courses, 6 credits from electives
Course titleCredits
PHEH-301 Public Health and Our Environment3
PHEH-305Environmental Toxicology3
PHEP-441Epi Concepts and Methods for Public Health3
PHEP-310Environmental Epidemiology1
PHEH-315Environmental Health and Public Health Practice2
Electives6
Total 18
Electives
PHEH-320Environmental Policyand Risk Assessment in Public Health
BIOL-263Environmental Biology
BIOL-395Basic Pharmacology
BIOL-363Principles of Ecology
BIOL-372Evolutionary Ecology of Disease
BIOL-440Global Change Ecology
CHEM-425Instrumental and Statistical Analysis
CHEM-445Survey of Biochemistry
COMM-430Health Communication
GEOG-340Environmental Policy
GEOG-522GIS and Public Health
GEOG-540Geography and Human-Environment Interactions
GEOG-558Introduction to GIS
SUST-201Environmental Management
New Courses
PHEH-301Public Health and Our Environment. This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to, and overview of, key areas of environmental health. Students will gain an understandingof the interaction of individuals and communities with the environment, the potentialimpact of environmental agents on population health, and specific applications related to environmental health.
PHEH-305Environmental Toxicology. Basic foundation of toxicology will be covered with emphasis on how environmental toxicants affect health. Topics include basic principles of toxicology, survey of toxicants and their effects, organ-specific toxicity, regulatory toxicology, and development of critical thinking skills to assess health risks.
PHEP-310Environmental Epidemiology. This will be a 1-credit companion course that students will take concurrently with the existing Epi. Concepts and Methods (PHUN-441) course. Concepts introduced in the PHUN-441 course will be expanded upon using examples relevant to environmental health. Activities will include problem solving, and data analysis, and critiques of study designs. In addition, topics unique to environmental epidemiology, such as environmental monitoring and exposure assessment will be covered.
PHEH-315Environmental Health and Public Health Practice. Students will learn about the practice of public health as related to areas typically falling under the umbrella of environmental health, including assessment of environmental hazards in air and water, food safety, swimming pool safety, vector control, and emergency preparedness.
PHEH-320Environmental Policy and Risk Assessment in Public Health. The course will provide an overview of the development and implementation of environmental health policy at local, national, and global scales and the role of risk analysis. Case-examples will provide in-depth assessments of environmental health policy and specific risk analysis topics.
Course Sequencing (possible sequence for completing course of study in two years)
Course (credits)Semester
Public Health and Our Environment (3)Fall 1
Environmental Policy and Risk Assessment in Public Health (3) (elective1)Spring 1
Environmental Toxicology (3)Fall 2
Epidemiology Concepts and Methods for Public Health (3)Spring 2
Environmental Epidemiology (1)Spring 2
Environmental Health and Public Health Practice (2)Spring 2
1The minor will require 6 elective credits that could be taken any time; the Environmental Policy course is an option for 3 of these credits.
Prerequisites
We envision that the Public Health and Our Environment course will be a prerequisite for all the new courses we are developing for the minor.
PHEH-301Public Health and Our Environment: One semester of college laboratory science
PHEP-310Environmental Epidemiology: Concurrent enrollment in PHEP-441 Epi. Concepts and Methods
PHEP-441 Epidemiology Concepts and Methods: PHST-301 Quantitative Public Health, or MATH-109 Elementary Statistics.