The Advanced Practice Environmental and Occupational Health (APEOH) graduate certificate is designed for post-baccalaureate professionals across all disciplines and for current graduate and professional students at the University of Washington. This program aims to enhance your expertise in environmental and occupational health nursing.
If you’re interested in the Work and Health Traineeship, which is a part of the APEOH program, you can find detailed information about the traineeship and its funding options below.
Environmental exposures contribute to over a quarter of the global disease burden, with children facing a significant portion of this risk. Nursing plays a crucial role in tackling these issues across individuals, families, communities, and populations—especially when equipped with the right tools and support to address the root causes of disease and disability.
Occupational settings, where people spend considerable time, are a key area where health is impacted by environmental factors. Poor worker health results in billions of dollars in losses for businesses each year. Nursing has a longstanding tradition of promoting health and wellness, preventing illness and injury, and safeguarding workers from both work-related and environmental hazards.
In this graduate certificate program, you’ll explore various aspects of environmental and occupational health, from health disparities and social determinants to specific factors like water quality or work stress, and methods such as quantitative risk assessment.
While many APEOH graduate certificate classes include some distance learning methods, there are some classes that require in-person classroom attendance.
Programs of study generally require one to three days of study or clinical practicum weekly. Classwork and fieldwork placements are individualized and developed with a faculty adviser. Clinical practice experiences are offered in urban and rural locations.
In addition to selected class work, students will complete a capstone experience of three or more credits involving mentored research or clinical experience. This experience is negotiated between you and your graduate certificate faculty adviser.
At the end of the program, the graduate will:
- Appraise and integrate frameworks and approaches across disciplines, including nursing, environmental and occupational health sciences, epidemiology, built environment and urban planning, and public policy to examine associations between environmental, including workplace, factors, and health outcomes.
- Utilize scientific evidence and skills in professional practice to promote healthy and safe environments and workplaces for all.
- Provide leadership to address environmental and occupational health disparities at local and global levels.
Individuals interested in focusing on occupational health and safety can apply for the Work and Health Traineeship, a subset of the APEOH program.
The traineeship is able to offer a quarter of funding to some applicants through the Northwest Education and Research Center (ERC) Training Grant, distributed in the quarter they complete the capstone course. To qualify for the funding, applicants must be eligible to receive federal funding. Funded trainees will be expected to follow the center’s trainee requirements, including taking the Responsible Conduct of Research training and attending center events.
Anyone interested is strongly encouraged to contact apeoh@uw.edu for details.
The Advanced Practice Environmental and Occupational Health (APEOH) graduate certificate can be done as a stand-alone certificate OR concurrent with a University of Washington graduate degree.
To apply, you must meet one of these criteria:
- Domestic applicants with either a bachelor’s or graduate degree who want to pursue the graduate certificate as a stand-alone program.
- Current University of Washington graduate students who wish to complete the APEOH graduate certificate alongside their existing degree.
- International applicants with a previous graduate degree (for the stand-alone program) or those currently enrolled in a University of Washington graduate degree program.
Additionally, you must:
- Have a minimum 3.0 GPA (on a four-point scale) for the last 90 graded quarter credits
- Meet the Essential Behaviors for Graduate Certificate students
New applicants or re-applicants
New applicants and those re-applying to our programs will apply through the UW Graduate School.
You will need to:
- Order transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended. While we accept unofficial transcripts for initial review, you must provide official transcripts if you’re admitted and decide to enroll in the program.
- Ensure that any degrees earned are clearly listed on the transcript, including the date the degree was conferred.
- For degrees from institutions outside the United States, upload an official transcript translated into English along with a detailed credential or transcript evaluation.
- You don’t need to submit a separate foreign transcript if you attended a foreign university through a study abroad program and the credits are included on your home institution’s transcript.
In addition, you’ll need to provide:
- A resume
- A goal statement
- Two letters of recommendation
- Proof of English proficiency if English is not your first language
- An optional statement
Apply As a New Applicant or Re-Applicant
Current UW PhD in Nursing Science or DNP students
Current UW PhD in Nursing Science or Doctor of Nursing Practice students should submit:
- A “Goal Statement” as your letter of intent describing why you are interested in obtaining the APEOH Graduate Certificate and how you will use this training to inform or enhance your advanced nursing career (refer to the online application or instructions for the prompts), and
- An academic recommendation, such as one from a class instructor, academic advisor, or supervisory committee chair, who can speak to your interest in and ability to complete this graduate certificate program. This recommendation should be sent to sonapply@uw.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Work and Health Traineeship program is able to award one quarter of funding to three students annually. Funds are distributed the quarter the student completes their capstone project. If you are eligible to receive federal funding, you will be considered for funding when applying to the program.
The Work and Health Traineeship is a subset of the APEOH certificate. All Work and Health students will earn an APEOH certificate but will have received more specialized training and coursework than students in the general APEOH certificate program. Additionally, only Work and Health Trainees can qualify to receive a quarter of funding.
Funding is limited to students with US citizenship or permanent residency. However, graduate students who can’t receive the funding but are interested in the program can complete an unfunded traineeship.
According to the UW Graduate School’s website, “There are no restrictions on credit sharing between a graduate certificate and a graduate degree program.” However, no credit sharing is allowed between multiple graduate certificates.
The program is open to both PhD students and professional students who feel like the traineeship would benefit their academic or professional work, as well as, for professionals with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The program timeline is flexible. However, most students will need at least three quarters, as the program includes core courses typically offered in Autumn and Spring. If you are interested in the program, but are concerned about finishing it on time, we encourage you to reach out to the program director.
The program is state funded, so students can use their exemption for qualifying certificate classes in accordance with the Registrar’s guidelines.