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Master of Science in Environmental Health Sciences


COURSEWORK AND EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS

Requirements for the M.S. degree may be satisfied in one of two ways:Environmental Toxicology Poster

  • Plan I — The student completes the core program with all grades of B or above and, under the direction of a faculty advisor, prepares a thesis that is acceptable to the thesis committee.
  • Plan II — The student completes the core program with all grades of B or above; prepares a scholarly paper based on individual study in an area of toxicology under the supervision of a faculty member, and satisfactorily passes the written comprehensive examination at the M.S. level.

Plan I requires a minimum of 5 quarters and generally 7 quarters to complete. Plan II takes 4 quarters to complete.



Curriculum »

The core course requirements are given below for Plan I (original research thesis) and Plan II (comprehensive examination):

Plan I

Two of:    
     EHS 202 Principles of Environmental Toxicology 4 units
     EHS 206A Target Organ Toxicology A 4 units
     EHS 206B Target Organ Toxicology B 4 units
One of the following 2 introductory statistics courses:
     PUBHLTH 207A Public Health Statistics I 4 units
     EPIDEM 204 Biostatistics 4 units
EHS 264 Intro to Environmental Health Sciences* 4 units
One of:
     EPIDEM 200 Epidemiology 4 units
     PUBHLTH 206 Public Health Epidemiology 4 units
EHS 298 Environmental Health Sciences Seminar 2 units per quarter
Approved electives, 8 units selected from the pool below

*EHS270 may be substituted with the approval of the advisor if the student already possesses a background in environmental health sciences.

Total units required:  40, plus enrollment in EHS 299 for thesis research (usually 2 units in Winter and Spring of first year and 10 units in subsequent quarters)

 

Approved Elective Pool*
EHS 201 Case Studies in Environmental Toxicology 4 units
EHS 204 Neurotoxicology 4 units
EHS 212 Inhalation Toxicology 4 units
EHS 220 Industrial Toxicology 4 units
EHS 269 Air Pollution, Climate and Health 4 units
EHS 270 Human Exposure to Environmental Contaminants 4 units
EHS 275 Environmental Modeling and Risk Assessment 4 units
EHS 294 Occupational Health Psychology 4 units
EHS 203 Psychosocial Occupational Epidemiology 4 units
PUBHLTH 260 Human Exposure Modeling 4 units
PUBHLTH 276 Toxic Chemicals in the Environment 4 units
MBB 203 Nucl. Acids Structure and Function 4 units
MBB 204 Protein Structure and Function 4 units
DCB 231B Cell Biology 4 units
PATH 225 Molecular Mechanisms of Disease 3 units
ANATOMY 203A,B  Human Microscopic Anatomy 6 units
PHYSIOLOGY 206A,B    Introduction to Medical Physiology 11 units
PUBHLTH 283 Geographic Information Systems 4 units
EPIDEM 205 Environmental Epidemiology 4 units
PUBHLTH 265 Advanced Environmental Health Science 4 units

*additional courses may be added to this pool upon approval of the Program Faculty

 

Plan II

Two of:    
     EHS 202       Principles of Environmental Toxicology 4 units
     EHS 206A       Target Organ Toxicology A 4 units
     EHS 206B       Target Organ Toxicology B 4 units
One of the following 2 introductory statistics courses:
     PUBHLTH 207A       Public Health Statistics I 4 units
     EPIDEM 204       Biostatistics 4 units
EHS 264       Intro to Environmental Health Sciences* 4 units
One of:
      EPIDEM 200 Epidemiology 4 units
      PUBHLTH 206 Public Health Epidemiology 4 units
EHS 298 Environmental Health Sciences Seminar 2 units per quarter
Approved electives, 8 units selected from the pool above.

*EHS 270 may be substituted with the approval of the advisor if the student already possesses a background in environmental health sciences

Total units required: 35 plus enrollment in EHS 290 for scholarly paper research (usually 4 units in Spring of first year), comprehensive examination and scholarly paper
 

Plan I — Advancement to Candidacy, Advising, and Sample Program »

ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY- PLAN I:

The Master’s student in Plan I is required to write a thesis based on research the student has done under faculty supervision in the area of Environmental Toxicology or Exposure Sciences and Environmental Epidemiology.  A committee of three faculty members is appointed to guide the student through the research problem and determine when a sufficient amount of work has been completed satisfactorily.  At that time, the student presents the research results to the committee; after successful presentation of the results, the student can advance to candidacy for the Master of Science degree.  The student must advance to candidacy no later than one quarter before the quarter in which the degree is expected to be awarded. Plan I requires a minimum of 5 quarters and usually 7 quarters to complete.

ADVISING - PLAN I:

The first-year MS student in Plan I and all first year doctoral students are expected to get involved in a research project at the earliest possible time, usually in the first quarter of the program.  When a student is unsure of where to work, that student is encouraged to take advantage of the research rotation option.  A rotation will consist of up to one quarter residence in a laboratory/research group of the student’s choice; two or more rotations per academic year are possible.  Professors will be responsible for acting as an advisor/mentor to the student and instructing the student in proper research procedures, experimental design, and data analysis/scientific interpretation.  If the entering student is sure of the area in which he/she wants to work, a research rotation is not necessary.


SAMPLE PROGRAM FOR MASTER'S STUDENT - PLAN I:

Year 1, Fall EHS 202
4 units    
PUBHLTH 206
4 units    
EHS 298
2 units   
EHS 299
2 units  
Year 1, Winter     EHS 206A
4 units
PUBHLTH 207A
4 units
EHS 298
2 units
EHS 264*
4 units
Year 1, Spring Elective
4 units
Elective
4 units
EHS 298
2 units
EHS 299
2 units
Year 2, Fall EHS 298
2 units
EHS 299
10 units
Year 2, Winter and Spring
(if needed to finish thesis)

EHS 202 Principles of Environmental Toxicology
EHS 206A,B Target Organ Toxicology A,B
EHS 264* Environmental Health Sciences I
EHS 298 Environmental Health Sciences Seminar
EHS 299 Research Problems
PUBHLTH 207 Public Health Statistics
PUBHLTH 206A

Graduate Epidemiology in Public Health

*EHS 270 may be substituted with the approval of the advisor if the student already possesses a background in environmental health sciences

Plan II — Advancement to Candidacy, Advising, and Sample Program »

ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY - PLAN II:

The Master’s student in Plan II is required to write a scholarly paper based on individual study the student has done under faculty supervision.  The student must also pass a written comprehensive examination based on the course work in the specific focus area taken.  After completion of the examination, the student can advance to candidacy for the Master of Science degree.  The student must advance to candidacy no later than one quarter before the quarter in which the degree is expected to be awarded. Plan II takes 4 quarters to complete.


ADVISING - PLAN II:

The first-year MS student in Plan II is expected to get involved in individual study of a specialty area in environmental health sciences at the earliest possible time, usually in the first quarter of the program.  The student works under the supervision of a faculty member, who is generally also their first year advisor, and is given credit for this work under course EHS 290 Independent Study in Environmental Health Sciences. The product of this independent study is the scholarly paper. The comprehensive examination is always held at the beginning of summer quarter.


SAMPLE PROGRAM FOR MASTER'S STUDENT - PLAN II:

Year 1, Fall EHS 202
4 units  
PUBHLTH 206
4 units  
EHS 298
2 units  
EHS 290
2 units
Year 1, Winter   EHS 206A
4 units  
PUBHLTH 207A
4 units  
EHS 298
2 units  
EHS 264
4 units 
Year 1, Spring Elective
4 units
Elective
4 units
EHS 298
2 units
EHS 290
2 units  
Year 1, Summer Comprehensive
Exam 
   


EHS 202 Principles of Environmental Toxicology
EHS 206A Target Organ Toxicology A
EHS 264* Environmental Health Sciences I
EHS 298 Environmental Health Sciences Seminar
EHS 290 Independent Study in Environmental Toxicology
PUBHLTH 207A Public Health Statistics I
PUBHLTH 206 Graduate Epidemiology in Public Health