Department of Environmental Health

Overview

Bahir Dar University (BDU) as academic institutions established by merging the two former higher education institutions; namely the Bahir Dar Polytechnic (established, 1963) and Bahir Dar Teachers’ College (established, 1972), on May 6, 2000. It is one of the largest Public Universities in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with more than 45,000 students with a motto of “Wisdom at the Source of the Blue Nile”.

College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) under BDU was established in September 2007. The college has five schools/directorates (Medical Education and Services (MES), Public Health Education and Services (PHES), Health Sciences Education and Services (HSES), Laboratory Education and Services (LES), and Pharmacy Education and Services (PES). 

The college comprises two campuses: Tibebe Ghion and Felege Hiwot. Tibebe Ghion. Campus hosts MES, SHES, LES and PES schools while Felege Hiwot hosts PHES and an In-service Training Center. 

The School of Public Health Education and Services (PHES) under the college has six departments: Environmental Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Health System Management and Health Economics, Public Health Nutrition and Dietetics, and Reproductive Health and Population Studies. 

The Department of Environmental Health was initially established as a coordinating unit under the School of Public Health to offer graduate training in the Master of Public Health (MPH) in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (MPH in WASH). The first cohort of the program began in 2018. Later, in 2021, the department expanded its academic offerings by launching MPH and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs in Environmental health.

Vision:

The Department of Environmental Health, under the School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, is committed to contributing toward the realization of Bahir Dar University's vision to become one of Africa’s leading research-intensive universities and the first choice in Ethiopia by 2030.

Mission

As being part of School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, BDU, the department share the mission of the university that is vested in with the following missions:

  • Promote advanced research and innovation on the basis of the country’s requirements;
  • Produce graduates with relevant professions and necessary competences (knowledge, skills and attitude) to respond to the national labor market requirements to eventually ascertain the global competitiveness of the country;
  • Improve lives through evidence-based and transformative community engagement;
  • Enhance demand-driven and problem-solving technology transfer

Objectives

The objectives of the department are to act, engage and produce; 

  • Environmental health leaders capable of applying critical thinking and reasoning to conduct rigorous research to the complex practical problems 
  • Professionals able to teach, advise and lead postgraduate students in Environmental and Global Health and health sciences training institutes 
  • Professionals who are able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding that Environmental health issues are embedded in political, socioeconomic, and historical issues. 
  • Professionals that demonstrate a range of research principles, methodological concepts, and analytic tools including research design, qualitative and quantitative analysis, measurement systems for substantive critiques of the policy and research literature, and analytic techniques; 
  • Professionals with communication skill necessary to provide effective leadership in environmental and public health policy and practice. 

Academic Programs

Currently, the department trained students with the following programs 

  1. MPH in Environmental Health
  2. MSc in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
  3. PhD program in Environmental Health
  4. MPH in Global health (under curriculum development/review)