APTR convened a working group of members from public health and preventive medicine programs to address concerns that the lack of a CEPH competency focused on environmental health may have the unintended consequence of diminishing MPH programs and schools from offering courses and tracks in environmental health. 

While we acknowledge that this was not the intent, in an era when environmental changes represent a tremendous threat to public health, APTR believes that every public health education program must include environmental health curriculum.  We understand that CEPH expects the new competencies would be applied to environmental health content, however, APTR is concerned that schools and programs are eliminating environmental health courses because there is no longer a requirement to have a course in each of the “five disciplines”, and environmental health courses are being replaced with those that fall in line more concretely with the new competencies. 

APTR is exploring strategies to support public health programs that wish to maintain or enhance environmental health course work in their curriculum. These include advocating for a revision of CEPH foundational competencies to explicitly include Environmental Health and writing articles for publications.

In our preliminary communications, CEPH has expressed support of the important role to be played by APTR and willingness to collaborate with APTR on efforts such as sharing best practices on environmental health that fit with the new competency changes.

Authored Publications:

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Ecosystemic Theory, Practice, and Policy: Training Recommendations for Environmental Public Health

• Yuri Jadotte, MD, MPH; Public Health and General Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York and The Northeast Institute for Evidence Synthesis and Translation (NEST), School of Nursing, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey

• Rosemary M.Caron, PhD, MPH; MPH Program, Department of Health Management & Policy, College of Health and Human Services, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

• Gregory D.Kearney, DrPH, MPH, REHS; Environmental and Occupational Health Program, Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina

American Journal of Public Health 

Addressing Gaps in Public Health Education to Advance Environmental Justice: Time for Action

• Carly R. Levy, Master of Public Health Program, School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

• Lynelle M. Phillips, Department of Public Health, School of Health Professions, University of Missouri

• Carolyn J. Murray, Department of Public Health, School of Health Professions, University of Missouri

• Lindsay A. Tallon, Department of Health Management and Policy, Master of Public Health Program, College of Health and Human Services, University of New Hampshire

• Rosemary M. Caron; Department of Health Management and Policy, Master of Public Health Program, College of Health and Human Services, University of New Hampshire