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Department of Environmental Health Science 
Diane E. Heck, Ph.D.
Department Chair
**** New ****
Graduate Certificate in Industrial Hygiene
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• M.P.H
Program CurriculumNote: No new MPH students accepted after the Fall of 2008, pending a redesign of the program.
• Graduate Certificate in Industrial Hygiene• Program Course Descriptions
Environmental factors have a major impact on human health. We depend on clean
air, clean water, and a safe food supply to sustain ourselves. Activities in
agriculture, transportation, construction, energy production and use, and manufacturing
have a significant impact on the environment. Issues such as air pollution and
contamination of food or drinking water appear frequently in the news and require
the expertise of trained professionals to determine the source of the pollution
and implement preventive measures against occurrences.
Are environmental laws adequately enforced? Should ground beef be irradiated
to protect against E Coli contamination? Do the benefits from eating conventionally
grown produce outweigh the risks from pesticide residues? These are a few questions
that confront environmental health professionals.
Environmental health science is a multi-faceted field incorporating a variety
of professionals, including epidemiologists, toxicologists, clinicians, industrial
hygienists, policy analysts, attorneys, and molecular biologists. Environmental
health professionals typically hold positions in industry either in compliance
programs or as health and safety officers; in consulting firms performing environmental
monitoring; in not-for-profit environmental organizations as researchers; or
in government in the areas of inspections and permits, water quality, food, sanitation,
or air quality.
The Program in Environmental Health Science at the School of Public Health provides
the conceptual framework and practical tools to recognize and address environmental
hazards. Required concentration courses familiarize the student with issues of
air and water quality as well as pollution, environmental law, and risk assessment.
Students learn analytical and problem-solving skills as well as how to communicate
with technical and non-technical groups.
The following courses are all 3 credits, unless otherwise noted.
M.P.H. Curriculum - 46 credits
- Required core courses: 22 credits
Health Care in the United States
Health Economics
Behavioral and Social Factors in Public Health
Environmental Influences on Human Health
Introduction to Biostatistics
Introduction to Epidemiology
Thesis
Practicum (1 credit)
- Required concentration courses: 15 credits
Air Pollution
Pollution and Waste Management
Public Health and Water Quality
Fundamentals of Toxicology
Principles of Occupational Health OR
Industrial Hygiene
- For Practicum and
electives (9 credits): See Academic Advisor
A graduate of the MPH program in Environmental Health Science must satisfy the competencies listed below:
- Describe the features of water supplies, sources, and transmission systems
- Describe water management approaches for specific water quality problems
- Identify drinking water regulations and treatment requirements
- List the major airborne chemical constituents that pose a health risk
- Characterize the common sources of air pollutants, how airborne pollutants are dispersed, and strategies to minimize emissions.
- Identify the major airborne chemical constituents that pose a risk to human health.
- Demonstrate knowledge of manufacturing technology, process, and work operations and development, use, and interpretation of Material Safety Data Sheets.
- Describe the process of standard setting in occupational health and safety.
- Develop a model health and safety program, applying industrial hygiene techniques such as engineering controls, personal protective equipment, administrative controls, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, and recordkeeping requirements.
- Interpret regulations pertaining to the manufacturing, distribution, and disposal of chemical products and solid waste.
- Interpret the results of biological, chemical, and physical testing of air, water, and soil.
- Conduct a risk assessment of a given environmental exposure.
Graduate Certificate in Industrial Hygiene
The goal of the Industrial Hygienist is to keep workers, their families, and the community healthy and safe. They play a vital part in ensuring that federal, state, and local laws and regulations are followed in the work environment. The need for qualified industrial hygienists has never been greater. As concern about workplace and community health and safety has grown, so has the demand for professionals to evaluate working conditions and community exposure. The work of industrial hygienists has increased in importance as the legal ramifications surrounding employee and public health expand.
 Industrial Hygienists work to prevent illness or injury from hazards in industrial settings. However, they also work to prevent ergonomic injuries in the office; measuring noise levels at an airport; supervising the safe removal of lead, mold or asbestos; and in thousands of other settings. Industrial hygienists may sample air, soil or water to determine if there are harmful substances present.
New York Medical College School of Public Health offers a 15-credit graduate certificate that is designed to provide professionals with the skills required to function as Industrial Hygienists and to prepare them for certification. It provides an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to the management of safety issues in the workplace. Students completing this certificate will be prepared to either enter or advance in the field of industrial hygiene in a diverse array of workplace settings. Graduates will be prepared to function as Industrial Hygienists in both the public and the private sectors including industrial, corporate, public service, academic, and medical work environments.
Participants in this program may come from varied fields including industry, public health, law enforcement, hospitals and health care services. Completion of the Certificate in Industrial Hygiene will fulfill the coursework in Industrial Hygiene required for admission to the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) examination. Successful completion of this certificate will also provide training to prepare students to sit for certification examinations given by the Board of Certified Safety Officials (BCSP) and the Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists (CCHEST).
Required Courses: 15 credits
Environmental Influences on Human Health
Fundamentals of Toxicology
Industrial Hygiene
Safety Assessment and Engineering
Exposure Assessment and Monitoring Metrics
Information about certification:
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) - Certified Safety Professional® (CSP®) www.bccp.org
American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) - Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH); Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (CAIH) www.abih.org
Council on Certification of Health, Environmental and Safety Technologists (CCHEST) - Occupational Health & Safety Technologist®; Construction Health & Safety Technician® www.cchest.org
Course Descriptions
Health Care in the United States
This course provides comprehensive overviews of the American healthcare systems, their organization and financing. Lectures are structured to provide an understanding of the major stakeholders involved in health care and the critical health care issues. Discussion focuses on the changing delivery systems and the forces that are affecting them.
Introduction to Biostatistics
This course presents the fundamental statistical approaches employed in clinical and public health research. Lectures cover basic probability, common distributions, samples and populations, interval estimation, and inferential statistical approaches. Students learn how data are presented and interpreted in the professional literature by considering published articles, professional reports and public health data.
Introduction to Epidemiology
This course introduces students to the principles and practices of
epidemiology and provides them a population-based perspective on health and
disease. Students learn the basic measurements of frequency and association and
the methods employed in describing, monitoring, and studying health and disease
in populations.
Health Economics
This course explores the concepts of scarcity, social choice, rationing, resource
allocation, efficiency, investment, and market forces and their relationship
to health services delivery and health policy. A variety of analytical principles
and methods are examined and applied to issues including healthcare financing,
cost containment, regulation, access, insurance, productivity, and program evaluation.
Behavioral and Social Factors in Public Health
An overview and introduction to the way in which behavioral and social factors
contribute to health. The course covers a wide range of topics: theories of behavioral
science which have been applied to health behaviors; socio-cultural factors in
disease etiology and the role of social conditions and social policy in addressing
critical public health problems; individual, group, community, and technology-based
strategies for health behavior change; and current issues in behavioral science
for health promotion including its application to achieving the Healthy People
2010 goals.
Environmental Influences on Human
Health
This survey of the major environmental determinants of human health covers physical,
chemical and biological sources of exposure; routes of exposure in humans; etiology
of environmental disease and mortality; and the complexities of environmental
public policy. Topics include airborne pollution, contaminated water and food,
solid and hazardous waste, and risk assessment as a tool for regulation. Students
have the opportunity to tour a local public works facility.
Principles of Occupational Health
This course explores the historical background of work and health, recognition
and prevention of occupational disease and injury, hazardous exposures at the
workplace, including chemicals, ionizing radiation, noise, stress and shift work,
injuries and disorders by organ system, and considers selected groups or workers
such as agricultural and construction workers.
Industrial Hygiene
Designed to familiarize professionals with the methods used by industrial hygienists
in the prevention of occupational diseases, this course covers such topics as
the physical form of air contaminants, air sampling and analysis, engineering
controls and the preparation of survey protocols.
Public Health Engineering
Environmental, sanitation and engineering problems are explored. Topics include
communicable and non-infectious diseases, water and waste water treatment, solid
waste, food protection, vector control and noise.
Air Pollution
This course explores air pollution in terms of measurements and control, pollutant
dispersion, air quality standards and health effects. The legal and enforcement
aspects of air pollution control and the nature and quantity of atmospheric emission
from vehicles, incinerators and specific industries are reviewed.
Environmental Chemistry
Chemical processes occurring in the natural environment (air, water, soil) and
the alterations induced by humans, cities, transportation, agriculture, industry
and new technologies are examined as are control and preventive measures designed
to alleviate the adverse effects of hazardous chemicals.
Safety Engineering and Occupational
Health
This course focuses on current aspects of safety engineering and occupational
health, with emphasis on safety program management and evaluation. Course content
is directed toward areas covered by the Certified Safety Professional Board examination.
Ergonomics
This course focuses on ergonomics as a multidisciplinary preventive science concerned
with the design and redesign of work environments; work stations; machines; tooling;
office organization; selection of equipment and methods of material handling
based upon human characteristics and capabilities; and training employees in
using equipment and performing tasks in a more healthful and comfortable manner.
The course also focuses on the investigation of environmental factors such as
light, acoustics, temperature, humidity, and air quality, which affect employees
and the manner in which they conduct their work.
Exposure Assessment and Monitoring Metrics
Exposure assessment is an essential tool for understanding, managing, controlling, and reducing occupational health risks in large and small workplaces. Data from exposure assessments are used in improving conditions in the work place as well as in toxicology, epidemiology, and engineering studies. While important gains have been made in creating new methods and detecting even lower exposures for some substances and agents, numerous important challenges remain. For example, the benefits of exposure assessment are still not realized in many workplaces. Many substances, agents, and stressors lack exposure methods. Exposure data are not currently aggregated on a national basis to support improved priority setting for occupational health. This course focuses on existing techniques as well as the development of new approaches for the measurement and control of the same four broad stressor categories, chemical, physical, biological and ergonomic stressors in public and private
workplaces and environments.
Safety Assessment and Engineering
This course employs a case analysis method in examining advanced ergonomic topics,
safety design, disaster planning, safety performance evaluation, accident investigation
and analysis, and safety analytical methodology. Professional practice modules
are included.
Environmental Science
This course is concerned with the environment as it relates to public health.
It considers ecosystems as units of sustainability; finding a balance among population,
soil, water, and agriculture; pollution of air, water, soil, and food, as well
as its control. Attention is given to difference approaches to pest control,
water management, sewage management and treatment, and pollution from hazardous
chemicals.
Pollution and Waste Management
Principal man-made contaminants of air, water and soil stemming from habitats,
transportation, industry, and agriculture are examined. Also reviewed are water
and sewage treatment, recycling of resources, methods of treatment and disposal
of solid waste, and control and preventive measures designed to alleviate the
adverse effects of hazardous chemicals.
Environmental Toxicology
This course stresses basic concepts essential to the understanding of the action
of exogenous chemical agents on biological systems. Principles underlying the
absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of chemicals are discussed.
Toxicokinetics, specific classes of toxic responses, and experimental methods
used to assess toxicity are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on developing the skills
necessary to approach toxicology as a quantitative science.
Industrial Toxicology
This course presents toxicology of industrial products and materials, such as
metals, pesticides, hydrocarbon solvents, paints and plastics, and petroleum
products and petrochemicals, with emphasis on mode of action and risk assessment.
Toxicology testing methods, regulatory aspects of toxicology, use of toxicology
in industrial hygiene, product safety communication, and product liability legal
actions are discussed.
Environmental Epidemiology and
Risk Assessment
This course features the population approach to environmental and occupational
health problems. Epidemiologic research methods and study design issues are explored,
focusing on disease clusters, surveillance activity, characterizing human exposure,
biomarkers, summary risk assessment and communication. Public awareness, policy
implications and impact upon legislation are also addressed.
Public Health and Water Quality
This course addresses drinking water and waste water systems from a public health
perspective and closely examines the water quality regulations impacting these
two public works areas. The course provides an historical overview and includes
discussion of the health effects of water-related diseases. Water quality criteria,
water standards, regulations and physical-chemical technologies are examined,
along with regulatory monitoring and reporting, through the review of case studies.
Watershed and reservoir management, protection and storage, and household plumbing
are also examined. Field trips are arranged.
Environmental Law and Management
This course focuses on the process by which environmental laws and regulations
are enacted and applied to the work place and other areas. Case studies and current
legislative and regulatory proposals are examined to equip students with the
knowledge needed to interact with regulatory agencies and to impact the legislative
processes at the federal and state levels.
Genetic and Environmental Factors
in Human Disease
This course examines how environmental and behavioral factors influence disease
by affecting genetic and molecular mechanisms. Basic genetic concepts and methods,
such as, heritability, family studies, and pedigree analysis are presented. These
methods will be applied to examine the epidemiology of several chronic diseases
such as obesity, colon and breast cancer, and AlzheimerÕs disease. The
research linking environmental exposures, such as radiation and chemical mutagens,
to disease is critically reviewed.
Public Health Risk Assessment
This course applies the fundamentals of health and environmental risk analysis
to real world problems. Students will be required to draw upon their course knowledge
and work expertise to assign degrees of risk and to identify risk reduction alternatives.
They will be given the tools to develop a health risk assessment report.
Field Experience in Environmental
and Occupational Health Sciences
An opportunity to apply theory by working in an approved public health organization
or equivalent is provided to the student. Field work is supervised by a faculty
member who serves as liaison to the health organization.
Directed Research in Environmental
and Occupational Health Sciences
This course provides advanced study and research in an area chosen by the student
in consultation with the professor as well as opportunities for work on special
problems.
Tutorial in Environmental and
Occupational Health Sciences
This course involves comprehensive individual study of a specific topic, guided
by the professor.
Thesis
It is expected that the thesis will includes some independent research and
integration of skills acquired by the student through coursework. The thesis
includes formulation of research questions, methods to carry out the inquiry and
presentation of results of the research. Some theses may requires approval of
the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior ro initiation of any
thesis work. Students should work through their department chair/program
advisor to determine if their thesis will require IRB review. Students must
maintain regular contact with the program and thesis advisors during their
thesis work.
Practicum
All students pursuing an M.P.H. degree must complete a practicum. This is to ensure that students have an opportunity to apply in a public health setting, the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom. To fulfill this requirement, students will generally register for a one credit pass/fail course. Students who can demonstrate an exceptional practice experience prior to beginning their M.P.H. studies may apply for a waiver in writing eighteen months prior to graduation. Under the advisement of their faculty advisor and practicum coordinator, students must apply for the waiver in writing and attach accompanying documentation addressing the waiver criteria. The waiver application and documentation of the waiver criteria must be approved by the practicum waiver committee.
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