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Environmental Health BSc (Hons)


Image: Environmental Health COURSE INFORMATION (2010 ENTRY)

3 years full-time or 4 years sandwich

School of the Built and Natural Environment
Ellison Building, Newcastle City Campus

Northumbria's Environmental Health degree is an exciting modern course offering an accredited honours degree that will set you on a path towards becoming a registered Environmental Health Practitioner.

Once qualified, you will be able to enter a tremendously varied and exciting profession which offers excellent prospects and the opportunity to work in disciplines such as public health, food safety and nutrition, environmental protection, housing standards and workplace health and safety.

Year 1
An exciting first year programme will introduce you to key concepts in environmental science, biology, microbiology, housing, public health, food science and environmental management. During this year you will also develop your skills across a range of areas in preparation for the rest of the degree course, for example in IT, report writing, laboratory work, presentations and field work.

Year 2
Having laid the foundations in the first year, the second year starts to tackle the key areas of environmental health such as pest control, housing and regeneration, pollution monitoring and control, health and safety, epidemiology and enforcement. A variety of approaches to delivery are adopted: for example you will be asked to present the prosecution case in a mock courtroom as part of the enforcement module; you will carry out a pest control inspection of a kitchen and you will prepare a health and safety audit of a workplace. A variety of specialist software is available to support the course, for example software to model and map dispersion of atmospheric pollutants, and to model the outbreaks of disease.

Placement Year
Whilst not compulsory, students are strongly recommended to arrange a placement in the third year. Most of our students go to work for local authorities; however there are also placement opportunities in government bodies such as the Health Protection and Food Standards Agencies, and in the private sector.

Final year
In this year there is an emphasis on independent learning; the biggest piece of work is the dissertation, which will give you the opportunity of producing some novel research in your favoured field of environmental health; previous topics have included air quality, regeneration, health promotion, licensing and food hygiene. In addition, there are several modules that explore the wider issues of environmental health, with a particular emphasis on how different agencies and groups can work together to make a real difference to peoples' lives.

N.B. This information applies to 2010 entry - if you are interested in 2011 entry, please contact us

ACCREDITATION

This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

CAREERS

Many graduates start their professional career working as Environmental Health Officers with Local Authorities, but there are also job opportunities in many other parts of the public and private sectors. Examples include the NHS, the Health Protection Agency, retailers, travel companies, food manufacturers and environmental consultancies.

OTHER INFO

Course Facilities
Well equipped lecture theatres, laboratories, IT suites and an excellent library all ensure that you will have a great learning environment.

Course Staff
The staff contributing to this degree have a diverse range of backgrounds; several are qualified environmental health officers, some have worked in industry and the public sector in environmental protection, and there are experts in food hygiene, public health, housing and law. In addition, we bring in guest lecturers from industry and the public sector so that the latest developments and innovations are fully covered.

Research
Many of the staff teaching on the degree have topical research interests in environmental health. Recent projects include: evaluations of the Safer Cities initiative and the ‘Scores on the Doors’ approach to rating eating establishments; modelling of industrial pollution in Thailand; and an investigation of the environmental risks posed by pesticide use in Cambodia.

Conferences
When you join the course you will receive free student membership of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and as such will be entitled to attend courses and conferences in the region and nationally. These are exciting events that cover the latest developments in environmental health practice and also afford the opportunity for networking with colleagues in the profession.

Further Study
Once qualified, there are a variety of opportunities for postgraduate study, for example the Masters degree in Public Health. Northumbria University is also currently developing a series of awards that will give credit to projects carried out in the workplace; these can be range from Postgraduate Certificates to PhDs.

COURSE MODULES


Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4


 

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Northumbria University has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information published is accurate at the time of publication. However, the University gives no warranty or representation as to the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information.



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