They Think It’s All Over

So, final exams yesterday so it is now all over.  Well, sort of.  I still have a 12,000 word dissertation to submit by Friday 15th April 2010.  But apart from that it is all over.  Except the ELP.  But that is the easy part, isn’t it?  I will just waltz into a paid placement tomorrow, won’t I?  So, it’s all over.  Oh yes, nearly forgot.  Professional exams.  But they are soooo far away they don’t count.  So, finally, it is all over.  Of course I may have a resit or two; didn’t do terribly well in the food practical so I expect to be seeing more fish ‘n’ fruit in September.  But apart from all that it is over …….

What to do next.  I am still in need of a dissertation subject (answers on an email please …).  In terms of a placement to complete my ELP I am going to try a slightly different route.  Instead of a ‘typical’ placement at a local authority I have secured myself a full time job as a Health and Safety Advisor.  It is only a temporary contract but I am hopeful that this role will ensure I can complete the H&S intervention areas.  With my previous work in the Army and a short attachment to a local authority’s food safety team I hope to complete that intervention area too.  At present I am looking at the Health Protection and Development intervention areas too, wondering whether my work will cover these areas.

I remember attending an ELP briefing a few years ago.  The chap from the CIEH was actively encouraging potential EHPs to think ‘imaginatively’ when looking for evidence for the various intervention areas; he was quite keen to promote the idea that one does not need to work at a local authority to do the ELP.

Perhaps this chap was rather prescient and has seen that the future is more self-regulation.  The EH professional will certainly undergo a number of changes in the next few years, especially with public sector cuts and a freeze in council tax.  Other issues that may affect us include ‘sunset clauses’ in new regulations; changes in the civil liberty related rules that may affect surveillance and powers of entry; restructuring of some local councils suspended; changes in food labelling; changes in the green issues such as paying people to recycle; and more emphasis on preventative aspects of public health.  As I have said before, I am potentially entering a profession that will have changed dramatically during my training period.

Anyway, with no exams to revise for or assignments to write up I am free in the evening now.  So what am I to do?  I am at a loss!