Public Health, MPH (Environmental and Occupational Health)

This is an introductory survey course, which will ensure that all public health students, within their first full year of study, are exposed to the fundamental concepts and theories that provide the basis for the body of knowledge in the field of public health. This course will prepare students to work in public health with a sound theoretical, conceptual, and historical basis for their work.

This course is designed to prepare the graduate student to understand and apply biostatistical methods needed in the design and analysis of biomedical and public health investigations. The major topics to be covered include types of data, descriptive statistics and plots, theoretical distributions, probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, and one-way analysis of variance. A brief introduction to correlation and univariate linear regression will also be given. The course is intended for graduate students and health professionals interested in the design and analysis of biomedical or public health studies; not intended for Ph.D. students enrolled in the Biostatistics Graduate Program.

The course will allow students to develop their understanding and knowledge of exposure assessment methods and the application of these methods to substantive issues in occupational and environmental health. The course emphasizes methodological principles and good practice, and highlights the many similarities and some interesting differences between occupational and environmental health.

• ENV 892/CPH 503 or equivalent introductory environmental health sciences course
• BIOS 806/CPH 506 or equivalent introductory biostatistics course
• Instructor permission

This course provides fundamental knowledge to the graduate student, or fellow who may be interested in pursuing a career in occupational health and safety. The course is also designed for safety, health, environmental and management personnel who have industrial hygiene effort, anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control. Topics include chemical, physical, and biological hazards in the workplace.

This course will introduce students to the principles and methods that are used to determine whether an adverse effect is a result of exposure to a specific agent. A primary purpose of toxicology is to predict human toxicity, and human health risk assessment relies heavily on toxicological data obtained from animal studies. This course covers basic mechanisms of toxicity as they pertain to whole organisms, organ systems, and specific toxic agents.

An introduction to safety in the general work environment with emphasis on selected OSHA safety regulations, human costs of injuries, safety programs and management, field trip work observations, risk assessment, hazard/risk communications. No previous experience or coursework in safety is required.

• ENV 892/CPH 503 or equivalent introductory environmental health sciences course
• Instructor permission

An introduction to environmental factors (including biological, physical and chemical factors) that affect the health of a community. The main focus will be the effects of exposures that have been associated with human health and environmental problems in the Midwest, specifically water and air pollutants related to animal feeding operations, arsenic in ground water, pesticides, herbicides, lead and radiation. The effects of global warming, ergonomic problems in the meat packing industry and occupational and environmental problems in health care will also be discussed.