My name is Zena Lynch and I'm the Programme Director for the MSc in Environmental Health
and the MSc in Public and Environmental Health Science.
The MSc in Environmental Health is designed for students who would like to become an environmental
health officer in the EU or the UK.
It covers topics such as food safety, occupational health and safety, housing-based issues, and
public health issues.
The MSc in Public and Environmental Health Science is designed for international students.
It’s largely the same as the MSc in Environmental Health; the only difference is that the students
study something called ‘Chemical and Biological Incident Management’ which looks at issues
such as oil spills and the environmental impact and effect of that type of issue on the environment,
and there's also slightly less UK legislation in the MSc Public and Environmental Health
Science.
But both of the courses are designed for students that are interested in going into vocations
around environment and public health into the future.
The entry requirements for the MSc in Environmental Health and the MSc in Public and Environmental
Health Science are a 2:2 in a science-based subject or a geography-based subject.
For international students we also look at a minimum of 6.0 on the IELTS score.
We are looking for very motivated students to come onto the course and those that have
a real passion for the environment.
Both the MSc in Environmental Health and the MSc in Public and Environmental Health Science
are accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and on completion
of the courses the students are able to apply for graduate membership of the Chartered Institute
of Environmental Health.
The courses are based on health prevention – that is the fundamental basis of the courses.
So we’re looking at issues around food safety, so the recent crisis around horsemeat getting
into the food chain, that sort of issue we look at, and things like food and nutrition
we look at on the food safety module.
On the housing module we’re looking at things like housing and health and the effects of
housing, for instance, on more vulnerable communities.
For occupational health and safety we’re looking at workplace health and safety and
in some cases students go on actually to become specialists in these particular fields.
So what we’re training you up on these courses is giving you a basic understanding across
the broad realm of environmental health functions.
The courses are largely taught.
The teaching on the courses can be up to four days a week and there's also self-led study
on the courses.
One of the unique selling factors of our course is that we have very close connections with
professionals in the field and so we have a lot of people from outside who are actually
working within the field of Environmental Health and Public and Environmental Health
Science who come into speak to our students.
And what that does is bring alive the course in terms of having real life case studies
for students to look at, and it’s also – the teachers on the course are also experienced
in the field and they can bring their experience to bear on the course as well.
The teaching staff on the course are all qualified environmental health professionals and they
have years of experience that they also bring into the classroom.
The MSc in Public and Environmental Health Science and the MSc in Environmental Health
train people up towards various careers including a career as an environmental health officer
usually working in local government in the UK or working for a consultancy or for a private
business.
We have students that have gone onto work for largescale companies such as Asda and
Tesco on the food side and for other largescale companies on occupational health and safety.
We also have students that go into non-governmental organisations.
One of our international students this year became the lead on Action on Hunger for Kenya
– so we were delighted about that.
Also students go into careers around disaster management, and we have a student who leads
on disaster management in Brazil as well.
Some students also go towards the army and navy for careers and there are careers in
that area as well as careers within government and non-governmental organisations.
The University of Birmingham is the only Russell Group University that offers these courses.
Students from our courses are very successful.
A 100% of our UK students last year either got placements or jobs and international students
went onto do all sorts of varying and interesting careers.
Some of our students also have gone onto do PhDs in a specialist area of, you know, a
specialist subject based on an interest area that they’ve picked up from the course.
The University of Birmingham also offers fantastic facilities.
We've got really good lab facilities, computer facilities.
Our courses also take students out onsite so there's a good opportunity to do some fieldwork
as well.
So what's my favourite thing about teaching at the University of Birmingham?
I'm very passionate about the environment and public and environmental health and I
want to be part of a process that helps with community developments and improving communities’
health and wellbeing.
The students that I teach on this course are extremely motivated and hardworking and we
have fantastic debates in class about these subjects.
I also am so pleased that the students are so successful in terms of their careers and
I like to think that I've been a small part of that process.