Environmental Health Risk Assessment

Risk assessment, a process developed in 1983 by the National Academy of Sciences, provides the framework for most current studies of environmental health concerns. As a student in this certificate program, you will be provided concentrated graduate education that will enable you to:

  • Specify/measure the magnitude, duration and route of human exposure to selected hazardous environmental/occupational agents.
  • Describe methods for quantifying dose and specify how this knowledge can be used to estimate probability of developing environmental/occupational disease outcomes.

Academic Requirements

15 credits (11 credits in core courses and at least four credits of electives in your chosen area of interest). A certificate program coordinator will be assigned to assist you throughout the program.

Required Courses

  • EOH 2181 Risk Assessment Practicum (2 credits)
  • EOH 2175 Principles of Toxicology (3 credits)
  • EOH 2504 Principles of Environmental Exposure (3 credits)
  • EOH 2122 Transport and Fate of Environmental Agents (3 credits)

Electives

  • EOH 2180 Introduction to Risk Sciences (1 credit)
  • BCHS 2572 Risk Communication (3 credits)
  • EPIDEM 2110 Principles of Epidemiology (3 credits)
  • EOH 2309 Environmental Health Chemistry (3 credits)

Note: A statistics course is not required, however experience in statistical applications will assist the you in understanding some of the program concepts.

Admissions

Candidates must meet the general Pitt Public Health admission requirements.

  • A baccalaureate degree with a QPA of at least 3.0 with coursework in the basic sciences
  • GRE scores, with a performance level of at least 1,000 (combined verbal and quantitative)
  • A minimum of a 3.5 analytic writing score 

How to Apply

This program is managed by the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.