Environmental Health Engineering Theory and Practice/About

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About

This wikibook is aimed at undergraduate environmental engineering students, though the material may provide a useful review for practitioners and graduate students in environmental engineering as well as professionals in related fields including civil engineering, chemical engineering, and public health. Typically, this wikibook would serve as a text for an Introduction to Environmental Health Engineering course, which might be taken by most students as a technical elective in their senior year. If we imagine environmental engineers as T-shaped professionals, this elective would contribute to the horizontal of the T to create breadth of knowledge and exposure to interprofessional education.

Engineers as Healthcare Professionals

US Navy 050329-N-6665R-086 Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey W. Bledsoe, a U.S. Navy nurse assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), entertains a Dili child with his stethoscope
US Navy 050329-N-6665R-086 Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey W. Bledsoe, a U.S. Navy nurse assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), entertains a Dili child with his stethoscope

One way to use this wikibook is through the lens of explaining how engineering technology can be used to promote wellness and health in the individual, population, and community. It begins with theory - the foundational concepts of exposure and associated risks. This is followed by modern rules of thumb for practice, organized into core and additional areas of interest. Next, areas of emerging interest are described, and finally, case studies provide concrete examples of discussion among professionals who are known to learn best through engaging material in the context of practice. Throughout this wikibook, the importance of interprofessional education is emphasized - where two or more healthcare professions learn together. It may be strange to consider engineers as healthcare professionals, yet the code of ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers (and other engineering societies), includes an important point, namely, engineers must be, dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.

Each page corresponds approximately to the notes from one lecture.

Authors

Authors of this book include Daniel Oerther.

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