Overview

This stream provides multidisciplinary training in the advanced methods necessary to undertake epidemiological research on the relationships between health and the environment. Students will develop an understanding of the social, economic and political contexts which underlie the establishment of priorities and the selection and evaluation of policy responses.

Objectives

By the end of this stream students should be able to demonstrate ability to apply knowledge of the core disciplines of public health, consisting of statistics; epidemiology; health economics; and social research, to real health problems. In addition, they should be able to:

• describe the principal concerns in environment and health (pollution of air, water, and land; the urban environment; sustainable development; risk perceptions)
• interpret and evaluate risk assessments and risk management strategies as applied to environment and health concerns
• show a theoretical and practical understanding of the design and analysis of studies in environmental epidemiology
• analyse the political and social contexts in which an environment and health policy is made, the factors that lead to policy change, and in particular, the role that research plays in policy change
• show competence in critically evaluating and communicating research evidence in relation to environment and health issues