Job Description and Educational Needs of Different Levels of Environmental Health Graduates

Introduction: Substantial changes in living trends of societies, promotion of health, and changes in environmental health officers’ (EHOs) duties and responsibilities are the main reasons that educational programs in this field do not correspond with their job description in the real context and according to the real needs of the society. Therefore, the educational courses of this field should be revised. The goal of this study was to determine the job description and the educational needs of EHOs in order to coordinate their educational programs with their real job duties. Methods: In this descriptive study, a questionnaire was mailed to 383 graduates and personnel of environmental health in Isfahan Province, to declare their educational needs and job activities based on their frequency. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and test/re-test, respectively. The data analysis was performed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics. Results: The EHOs working in Isfahan province, with technician, bachelor and master degrees, declared 31, 38, 26 types of activities as their job duties, respectively. Their most common duties were residual chloride measurement in water, monitoring public places, and investigating complaints, which were the same as their educational needs. In postgraduate level, the most important duties included management, supervising environmental health affairs, teaching and research. Conclusion: Technicians and bachelors of environmental health are conducting similar job activities which correspond with their mentioned educational needs. It is recommended that educational programs for environmental health be revised according to their real job activities and educational needs. It is also suggested to coordinate the educational programs with the needs of their future job such as continuing the education, and different job options, in order to increase their efficacy.