Environmental Health Informatics Certificate

 

The Environmental Health Informatics (EHI) Certificate from the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, provides a comprehensive background of the major Environmental Health Informatics themes such as data mining, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and quantitative risk management.

Intended students for the EHI certificate program include:

  • Public and environmental health professionals with a bachelor's degree and work experience who wish to upgrade their skills in this field;

  • Graduate students with some coursework in natural or physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering, who wish to enrich their educational profile in the multidisciplinary field of EHI;

  • Individuals desiring to pursue a shorter and focused course of study in EHI with an option to apply for the full Master of Public Health degree program at a later date if they fulfill all the School of Public Health requirements; and

  • Professionals outside the United States wishing to enhance their environmental health informatics skills.

Program Competencies

The EHI certificate program involves a four-unit course of study based on four environmental health information management courses.  The certificate program is directed to develop the following competencies:

  • to understand and apply the tools and analytical methods common to the informatics field and to communicate and collaborate with environmental health experts who have different perspectives and priorities;

  • to gain an operational understanding of the most widely used data mining, GIS, and risk assessment software packages, understand their limitations, and appreciate their potentials;

  • to consult and communicate effectively with stakeholders concerned with environmental health, including the public, interest groups, and regulatory bodies, by means of informatics visualization tools;

  • to be able to conduct risk assessments to determine the implications of setting toxic exposure thresholds at various levels; and

  • to critically review existing risk-based environmental standards/guidelines, and the rationale supporting them, in order to determine the objectives and the desired outcomes of the new standards.

The online courses comprising the EHI certificate program are the following:
  • HPA 465:  Health Information and Decision Support Systems. This course serves as the introductory course for the EHI Certificate.

  • HPA/EOHS 564:  GIS Applications to Environmental and Public Health.

  • HPA/EOHS 565:  Data Mining Applications to Environmental and Public Health.

  • EOHS 572:  Risk Management.

For more information about the certificate contact: Dr. Michael Cailas, EHI Certificate Director at:  mihalis@uic.edu

You can download the application form at: