Internship Project

Internship Project

This course is a combination of completing the 120 internship hours and completing an internship project. The internship itself is required to be associated with an organization that focuses on population, community or public health. The site must be approved by faculty and all internship hours logged. During the internship experience, you will complete several activities that will be associated with your Capstone and include the creation of the following:

An annotated bibliography (due in Module 4) of 25 different sources.
A survey or focus group questionnaire to solicit feedback about the quality of your project related to a public health care organization with a minimum of 10 responses (due in Module 6).
A final project with practical implications to educate the public or public health professionals on a public health topic (due in Module 8).

This internship field experience provides an opportunity to synthesize all that you have learned into a practical project that seeks to educate the public or public health professionals on a public health topic or to change a crucial public health process. During this course, you will focus on your weekly internship hours (roughly 20 hours a week) and on creating a project (brochures, slides, poster, process change proposal, etc.), formulating a survey to gather feedback from reviewers on how to improve the project, and doing a thorough review of published literature relating to the content of your project. You may also spend some of the expected 120 hours on this project interviewing public health professionals, observing public health professional roles, and interacting with the public to make sure that your project meets current expectations and culture. This internship experience prepares you to use the knowledge learned in the coursework in a practice environment. You will work closely with your instructor and organization to construct a meaningful experience, based on your passion and available resources.

Examples of acceptable Internship activities:

Analyzing course objectives and linking them to the Internship activities or Capstone Project
Phone calls with Faculty and Preceptor to review the Internship or Capstone Project topic, survey questions, QI project study designs, objectives and direction for Internship or Capstone Project
Meetings with consultants and content experts to learn about approaches for addressing the problem
Attending courses, classes or interviews and/or attendance at meetings that inform the Internship or Capstone Project
Presentations to stakeholders/individuals of interest related to the Internship or Capstone Project
Topic development, planning and Internship activities or Capstone Project design development
Conducting a needs analysis/SWOT analysis related to the Internship or Capstone Project idea
Poster, podium, workshop, or conference presentations related to the Internship or Capstone Project
Presentations development related to a policy, procedure or process improvement
Proposal development related to health care reform or policy, procedure or process improvement
Workshop, conference, or webinar attendance when directly related a quality improvement or safety initiative or project
Grant or funding proposals for the project
Direct care, interviewing and consulting with patients, family members and others directly related to the Internship or Capstone Project
Policy work relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Policy work relating to public health practice
Policy and procedure review relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Projects-relevant tool development relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Review of literature
Creation of an annotated bibliography
Windshield survey related to the problem
Gathering statistical data related to the problem
Leadership role preparation at the internship site – working directly on the project with site preceptor mentor, budgeting, gathering data, providing education, or direct client care
Developing a digital tool or code book
Providing education to the individuals who will collect and de-identify data
Meeting with statistician – exploring appropriate statistical testing
Data analysis relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
In-depth work/mentorship/collaboration with experts from public health, as well as other disciplines
Meaningful student engagement within practice environments – learning new skills that are not within the student’s current scope of practice
Building and assimilating knowledge for public health practice at a high level of complexity
Serving on organizational boards of directors or committees
Participation in medical humanitarian activities relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Shadowing health care administrators or other leaders
Serving as an officer of a professional public health organization
Volunteering at legislative/political events relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Serving as an advocate for populations & communities (6)
Attendance at health fair or healthcare activities relating to the Internship or Capstone Project
Participate in media events relating to the Internship or Capstone Project

During this 8-week internship, you may spend 40 hours to do a thorough review of literature to create your annotated biography, perhaps 10 hours to develop your survey, 30 hours completing any of the activities listed above and 40 hours to create, evaluate and revise a change in process, slide presentation, public health brochures, etc. You must keep an ongoing record of dates, time spent on activities, and activities done on project—for submission in week 8.

In Module 4, you will be expected to submit an annotated bibliography of at least 25 sources pertaining to your topic. This bibliography will be used to inform your literature review section in the next course, MPH590: Public Health & Health Education Capstone.

In Module 6, you will submit a copy of your intended survey or focus group questionnaire. You will also need to submit a list of your reviewers.

In Module 8, you will be expected to submit artifacts to demonstrate that your mastery of one of these activities (or another approved by your instructor).

Examples of potential internship project artifacts include, but are not limited to:

Create educational material for the public on a topic or topics of need for dissemination in your community (posters, brochures, flyers, etc.)
Create an educational activity for the public or public health professionals on a topic or topics related to public health (PowerPoint slides, Prezi, interactive games, etc.)
Develop a health fair to educate the public. (presentations and visuals used to carry out the educational fair)
Develop a disaster plan for a health care facility or public health venue. (presentations and visuals used to carry out the educational fair)
Create of an advocacy process or program to influence public policy related to a public health issue
Create an action or intervention plan based on epidemiological data
Create a change in process about an environmental or other public health issue. (Document the changes and how it would affect the public)