Graduate Programs - Practice Experience Requirements

All M.P.H. students are required to complete a practicum as part of their degree requirement, and will receive three credits for the practicum. The minimum time for a practice experience is 200 hours. Many agencies and organizations require a longer commitment of 400 hours. Practice experiences may be paid or unpaid. Placements are arranged in consultation with the student's faculty advisor of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) Office of Public Health Practice and Outreach. The advisor reviews the student's interests, preferences, financial factors, experience and skills, and is usually able to arrange for interviews with a suitable organization directly or through another faculty member.

Practice experiences promote professional development and afford the student the opportunity to:

1. Cany out a project useful to the organization which at the same time provides an opportunity to refine professional skills.
2. Meet regularly with a field proctor trained in the discipline that the student is majoring in who can guide the experience and serve as a role model.
3. Attend appropriate meetings, seminars, and classes, and to learn about the work of other relevant organizational personnel.
4. Receive payment by the organization for work performed.
5. Experience the nature of applied Public Health.
6. Apply classroom knowledge to practical problems.
7. Discover additional skills to be obtained or strengthened.
8. Recognize the political context within which health activities are conducted.
9. Acquire job references from health professionals who can speak to the one's abilities in a practical context.
10. Explore opportunities for thesis topics based upon the needs of the organization.
11. Occasionally obtain a position within the organization when relevant openings are available upon graduation.

The practice experience should represent a meaningful public health experience. This includes activities such as studv design and/or data collection and analvsis , involvement in the development of planning and policy documents, planning and executing public health prevention programs, and laboratory and field studies.

The practice experience supervisor evaluates the student's performance and returns a Practice Experience Supervisor Report to the faculty advisor. The student is required to submit a Practice Experience Student Report Form to the faculty advisor and to attach a copy of any work produced for the organization. The faculty advisor’s signature on the student’s report signifies successful completion of the requirement. It is the responsibility of the student to assure that a Practice Experience Supervisor Report Form and a Practice Experience Student Report Form signed by the faculty advisor are filed promptly in his/her Public Health academic folder.

Please see Forms and Policies for current forms.