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Chapter 2 REGISTRATION FOR SANITARIANS
Registration for Sanitarians, a means of proving competency, had its roots in a place, a time, and an idea - an idea based on a need and a vision.
From about 1930, the idea of achieving legislation that would specify education and experience requirements for "public health inspectors," subsequently called "sanitarians," was the motivating force behind the efforts of the California Association of Sanitarians. That association, however, was not successful in pushing such legisla tion through the state government, and when the association became the National Association of Sanitarians in 1937, legislated registration was still one of the main objectives. It was achieved in California in 1945, the first. Even before passage of the California law, the National Association of Sanitarians (NAS) began to Register Sanitarians under a Board of Examiners. In 1937, the first 152 applicants answered questionnaires which gave the Board a tool with which to evaluate the educational backgrounds and work experience of the current inspector work force. Although the Board's evaluation of the responses showed that a majority of the applicants had above average academic instruction, it also showed no formal process of education by which these people had reached their levels of occupation. The survey showed that 74 percent of the respondents had five or more years of actual work experience. Even with these positive indicators, there was still a long way to go in setting the standards, the purpose of, and public confidence in the growing profession. In 1937, a study by Grace L. Loye, completed at the University of California, published as The Sanitarian and His Duties by Edwards Brothers Publishing Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan, documented the duties, knowledge and skills required in the "increasing complexity of inspectional tasks and multiplicity of problems" facing sanitary personnel. It confirmed the growing awareness of the need for adequate stan dards of measurement and training - the basis of registration and certification. The demand for education grew through the years because of the need for a qualified workforce in a rapidly expanding program for sanitarians and a rapid growth in scien tific research, information and methods. By the end of NAS' first decade, the old "police" image of the sanitary inspector had changed to one of a "civil servant" capable of meeting higher standards of qualifications and performance. In a paper presented at the 1939 NAS convention, A. Harry Bliss reviewed the activities to date and called for "establishing an adequate educational and practical standard of qualification for all sanitarians," something the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) already supported and recommended through the public health program of the Social Security Act of 1937. The American Public Health Association (APHA) had proposed a definition of the term "sanitarian," and the education, training and experience required for their use. A bachelor's degree was recommended as the educational requirement. An APHA member in the Western Branch believed, however, that those who were already in the workforce could be recognized as '' sanitary practitioners'' through the use of a special examination in lieu of APHA' s recommended degree requirement. A. Harry Bliss recommended in his 1939 paper that a NAS committee be appointed to work with APHA's Committee on Educational Standards to set up definite standards for sanitarians. NAS also studied methods of certification established by the British
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