Internships

Public health internships are professional learning experiences within established, health-related organizations that provide students with meaningful, practical work experience in the field of public health.

Students participating in public health internships apply the public health knowledge they have gained in the classroom to their internship experience, where they develop practical public health skills and advance their understanding of public health disciplines and careers.

Internship positions may be paid or unpaid, and students may apply to earn academic credit for an internship experience. Students wishing to earn academic credit for a public health internship must fulfill the criteria described below.

Earning academic credit for a public health internship

Students participating in a public health internship may apply to earn academic credit for their internship experience. The credit application form must be submitted no later than the first day of classes in the semester or term for which the credits are sought. 

If the credit application is approved, students will be enrolled in the Public Health Internship course (PUBHLTH 398) for the approved number of credits. Earning PUBHLTH 398 credits requires successfully completing the internship, as well as an online, asynchronous Canvas-based course, which includes the required academic course work associated with earning academic internship credits. 

Internship credit limits: 

• Students may apply a maximum of nine internship or independent study credits towards their coursework requirements for the Public Health Sciences major. Up to three of these credits may be counted toward the Public Health elective requirements, and up to six of these credits may be applied toward the Public Health Focus Area.
• Students may apply a maximum of 18 internship credits toward their undergraduate degree requirements. 

Eligibility criteria:

• To be eligible for PUBHLTH 398 credit, internship positions must be offered through an established, health-related organization, and students must have a designated, on-site supervisor and a structured set of public-health related learning objectives and responsibilities associated with the position.
• Students must have earned a minimum of 45 credits by the internship start date. In-progress credits are not counted towards this requirement.
• Students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
• Students may not earn academic credits for an internship experience during a semester in which they are carrying a credit overload.
• Students may not earn PUBHLTH 398 credit for internship hours already completed; academic internship credit is not awarded retroactively.
• Students must complete and submit the credit application materials listed below. These materials are reviewed by the University’s Office of Career Development & Professional Connections, and by the Public Health Sciences Program Director, Dr. Sofija Zagarins.

Internship Credit Application Guidelines

1. Credit Application Deadline:
   The internship credit application form is open for submissions during class registration periods, and closes after the first day of classes.
2. Pending Internships:
   If you have applied or interviewed for an internship but have not yet had confirmation that you were awarded the position, you must still submit internship credit application by the first day of classes to be eligible to earn academic credit for the position.
3. Late Submissions:
   If you miss the credit application deadline, you must email the Public Health Sciences Program Director, Dr. Sofija Zagarins (zagarins [at] umass [dot] edu (zagarins[at]umass[dot]edu)), to request a late submission. Late submissions are only allowed once per student, and must be submitted within a month of the start of the semester or term for which credit is sought.

Credit Application Materials and Instructions

To apply to earn PUBHLTH 398 credits, students must submit the PUBHLTH 398 Credit Application Form, as well as an Experiential Learning Request form in SPIRE. 

Click here to access the PUBHLTH 398 Credit Application Form 

• This form is open for submissions during class registration periods, and closes after the first day of classes.

Click here to access directions for submitting an Experiential Learning Request in SPIRE

• Log in to your student account on SPIRE.
• Click on the Academics Tile.
• Under the Forms and Academic Requests tab, choose Experiential Learning Request, then click the Create a New Request button. 
• Fill out the form, noting that items marked with an asterisk are mandatory fields.
  • For PUBHLTH 398 credits, please Sofija Zagarins (zagarins [at] umass [dot] edu) as your faculty sponsor.
  • Enter the following course information:
    • Subject area: Public Health
    • Catalog number: 398
    • Class number: Leave this field blank
• Complete the UMass Field Experience Risk Acknowledgement Form and upload it with your SPIRE request. When completing the form, click the fillable box in the third paragraph and fill in any known risks specific to your placement.  If you aren’t aware of any, then type in the following phrase:  “Other Industry-specific hazards” in that box.