Environmental Health Minor

College of Public Health

Department of Environmental Health

Environmental Health Program Information

P.O. Box 70682
Johnson City, TN 37614
Tel. : 423-439-5243
Fax : 423-439-5230
Email: pattonc@etsu.edu 
 

Accredited by: The National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council

Statement of Purposes, Goals, and Objectives
The need for a healthful environment is common to all peoples and to all communities. The needs for environmental health services are complex because of changes brought about by economic and technological advances. There is an increasing need for technical personnel in the field of environmental health. The many problems brought about by economic and technological advances require a comprehensively trained specialist in environmental health.

The educational objectives of the department are to provide the student with an opportunity to:

1. Develop an understanding of
   1. the chemical, biological, physical, and social factors which affect the health of the community;
   2. relevant concepts from the social and behavioral sciences; and
   3. the environmental health systems.
2. Become proficient in
   1. identifying community environmental health needs;
   2. information collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination; and
   3. environmental monitoring, analysis, and management.
3. Acquire skills in the application of the above techniques and knowledge necessary for solution of environmental health problems.

Degrees and Concentrations
At the undergraduate level the department offers the Bachelor of Science in environmental health degree. The programs leading to this degree are the environmental health concentration, which has a public health orientation, and the occupational health and safety concentration. In addition, the department offers a minor in environmental health and a minor in safety.

At the graduate level, the department offers the Master of Science in Environmental Health (M.S.E.H.) and the Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences.

The Department of Environmental Health also offers a minor in Emergency/Disaster Response Management. This minor is offered jointly with the Department of Health.

Graduate Study
Admission to the graduate program requires a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution of higher learning. Majors pursue studies with emphasis in the specialist area or the administrative area. Further information on graduate programs is contained in the Graduate Catalog.

Environmental Health Minor Program Information

The objective in offering this minor is to enable students to find a wider selection of employment opportunities. For example, the students may wish to major in biological sciences, chemistry, criminal justice, physics, geography/geology, health science, technology, and pre-med or pre-engineering. A minor in environmental health will broaden their knowledge and augment their chances of employment in their chosen field. If employment is not available in their chosen field, they may be employed in environmental health/public health protection types of work.

A student with a major in the sciences and a minor in environmental health has an enhanced opportunity of finding employment in some industrial settings. As an example, the chemical industry needs environmental control personnel who are trained in chemistry.

Preprofessional majors, who choose not to or are unable to continue in professional school, will be much better prepared to seek employment within a federal, state, or local public health agency.

Admission Requirements

In addition to meeting the requirements for admission to the university, applicants must apply to the Department of Environmental Health. Students must have an overall GPA of 2.30.

Environmental Health Minor: 22 Credit Hours

A minor is a secondary area of study outside of the major program of study with a structured curriculum composed of at least 18 semester credit hours of which at least 9 hours must be at the 3000-level or above.

• EPID 3080 - Principles of Epidemiology (3 credits) * and
• ENVH 3040 - Environmental Sanitation (3 credits)

Note:

*Prerequisites must be completed prior to enrollment.