Why is the Directory of Student Training Opportunities (DSTO) important for students?

Why is the Directory of Student Training Opportunities (DSTO) important for students?

By Nick CheungJanuary 20, 2023Advice, Environmental Health, Exclusive, News

Last week we looked into the Directory of Student Training Opportunities (DSTO). In summary, these are a list of training opportunities provided by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) to help students complete their Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) Portfolio. Today we look into how Environmental Health (EH) students can benefit from the DSTO.

What is the EHP Portfolio and why do I need one?

The Chartered institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) welcomes their new second step on the pathway to Qualifying as a Registered EHP. Once you have obtained your accredited BSc or MSc Environmental Health qualification, the EHP Portfolio is the next step you must go through to become a registered EHP.

The portfolio is an opportunity for environmental health students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills gained through your environmental health degree and practice this in a workplace scenario. An EHP Portfolio consists of interventions in each aspect of EH:

Environmental Protection
Food Safety
Health & Safety
Housing & Communities
Public Health

Your gateway to a career in Environmental Health

Julie Barratt, President of the CIEH shares an illustrative example of how the DSTO will work. In this example, “Caring Council” and “Sam” are fictional entities.

Caring Council has listed a training opportunity for a Housing Multiple Occupation (HMO) Inspector to join their team, and Sam is an environmental health student seeking practical work experience to complete her EHP Portfolio.

“Sam Student is completing her EH Portfolio and is keen to carry out an inspection of an HMO. Her own employer cannot offer the opportunity, or perhaps she doesn’t have an employer and is piecing together experiences so she consults the DSTO, looking for opportunities to inspect an HMO that are convenient to her. She finds the Caring Council opportunity that suits her needs perfectly, sends an email directly from the DSTO page to the officer hosting the opportunity and makes arrangements to attend and accompany the officer to undertake an inspection which satisfies her EHP Portfolio requirement.” ~ CIEH: Pushing careers forward in 2022 with the CIEH Directory of Student Opportunities

Your portfolio steps to success

Your employer will assign a workplace supervisor to support you.
Your portfolio will take a minimum of 6 months. The period starts at the point of enrolment, even if you are using historic information.
Your completed Portfolio will be signed off by your employer,
1. then assessed by the CIEH, who will take 6 weeks for completion.
You can apply for your Professional Discussion (PD) with the CIEH, after achieving a pass grade for your portfolio.
Congratulations you are now a qualified EHP!

A word from the Ketan Dattani, CEO of Buckingham Futures

“Providing training opportunities will prove to be a very practical way of identifying ideal candidates for opportunities that they might have available. There is value in it for everyone: it’s a win-win for students and employers alike.”

Environmental health students who are CIEH members can log in and view the list of opportunities here:
The Directory of Student Training Opportunities

Next Issue

We stress the importance of providing opportunities for students. Employers are key players for the DSTO, providing the opportunities for students to take on work experience. Next week we provide guidance for employers to promote their opportunities on the DSTO.

Nick Cheung ~ Marketing Executive

Buckingham Futures HQ

We are dedicated to providing our exceptional recruitment and consultancy services to you. With our team of specialist recruitment consultants, they will be able to assist you in your queries and job hunt.

Give us a call on 020 8125 4321 or email your CV to info@buckinghamfutures.com and let’s have a chat!