Environment and Public Health

Offered by Rutgers University in close coordination with the New Jersey Department of Health, the Environment & Public Health (EPH) program presents a unique and intensive overview of the applied sciences, regulations, and techniques that a licensed Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) in New Jersey should know. Since 1956, EPH has enabled earners to sit for the NJ REHS licensing exam and prepared them for entry into the demanding field of environmental and public health. Earner has spent 6 hours a day in class (5 days a week) for more than 200 hours total learning about topics that include: epidemiology, public health sanitation, food safety, septic systems, environmental pollution, drinking water and wastewater treatment, public health microbiology (communicable diseases), regulations and enforcement of health codes, and other public health concerns. After the classroom portion of the course, earner was placed at a New Jersey health department and, under the supervision of a licensed REHS or Health Officer, where they were required to complete 200 hours of hands-on training that includes food establishment inspections, epidemiological investigations, air and noise pollution investigations, stream, lake, and groundwater monitoring, inspections of pools and youth camps, septic design plan reviews and system inspections, investigating public health nuisances, disease outbreak reporting and investigation, report preparation and writing, testifying in court.