PG Diploma in Environmental and Occupational Health Launched by IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched an interesting and unique PG Diploma course in Environmental and Occupational Health. The initiatives have been taken by the School of Inter-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies of IGNOU. The new programme intends to focus on the assessment of the risk factors related to public health in association with the chemical, biomechanical, biological, psycho-social and physical hazards in built and natural environments.

The objective of this PG Diploma Programme is to aim at different concepts in relation to the general environment, workplaces’ environment, valuation of health risk assessment and related hazards. The course also intends to provide a solution for the different characteristics of environmental health, epidemiology, occupational hazard management, health management and policy and environmental health promotion.

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In order to be eligible for the PG Diploma programme, aspirants need to have a passing certificate of 12th Board with Science stream. A graduation degree in any discipline is also compulsory for the course. The new launched IGNOU course will be a three years programme which will be disseminated in the English language. Candidates will have to pay a sum of Rs. 6,600 as registration fee to get enrolled for the course.

After the completion of the degree, a number of employment opportunities will pop up for the passed out candidates. Some of these opportunities include different respectable profiles like that as a risk assessor, food safety experts, health specialists, environmental consultants, occupational health professional, etc. Different agencies, institutions and organisations hire these professionals for full time or short-term basis. Candidates can further apply for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), local health agencies, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), environmental consulting firms, health care organization, hospitals, non-governmental organizations, etc.

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Candidates gaining learning experience through this course will work in close contact with the health practitioners, policy makers and researchers for the purpose of development, supervision and evaluation of health policies, practices and programmes related to the healthy environment. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, it is mandatory to set up Occupational and Environmental health centres at factories or units prone to involve in hazardous activities along with their classified specialists deputed on a full-time basis. The field needs urgent filling of competent and trained professionals in order to serve the discrete functionalities of the health centres.