DrPH HPAL – Applied Practice Experience (Internship)

The DrPH is the highest professional degree in public health and is designed to advance an individuals’ skills and competencies. The program is designed to prepare graduate students for senior level administrators, applied policy researchers, and public health educators with a goal to protect and improve public health. Graduates may pursue careers in leadership positions in a variety of public health settings. The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) requires that each DrPH student be able to demonstrate the DrPH competencies through a practicum experience in addition to the coursework, qualifying exams and dissertation. All DrPH HPAL students regardless of their previous experience will complete the field practicum course for six (6) hours of course credit for completing 400 hours in an agency where students engage in real-world projects involving public health challenges and take responsibility for the successful completion of at least one project.

DrPH Applied Field Placement Competency Objectives

Upon completion of the 400-hour applied practicum, the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate mastery of evidence based public health decision making and capacity to translate general and discipline specific empirical knowledge into effective public health practice and solve real-world public health challenges;
• Demonstrate leadership, independence, and originality of the project with a significant public health impact both to the organization and the field of public health;
• Develop a written and oral report summarizing results of the project and recommendations for action.

PUBH 8684 Course Objectives are:

1. Apply skills and knowledge gained in coursework in public health agency setting contributing in a significant way to fostering public health improvements.
2. Assess public health competency mastery as evidenced by project guidelines.
3. Collect data following recognized criteria.
4. Analyze data, interpret results and communicate with professional/scientific communities.
5. Discuss findings with agency and academic members through journal publications/reports etc.

Students are eligible to enroll in the DrPH HPAL Applied Field Practicum after they have completed the interdisciplinary courses, concentration and elective courses. Students may enroll in the Applied Field Practicum concomitantly with their elective course. Students will identify a minimum of five (5) competencies total three (3) foundational and two (2) concentration competencies that are clearly assessed through this course. Students must choose as one of their five competencies, a foundational leadership competency or HPAL concentration competency #4 as one of the competencies.

Grading

The work project may be a single project or a set of related projects that demonstrate a depth of competence. The practicum must be discipline specific, appropriately planned, supervised and evaluated. Students must have completed the interdisciplinary courses and concentration courses in HPAL before registering for PUBH 8684, the six (6) hour applied DrPH field practicum course. A final grade will be awarded by the field practicum advisor/faculty instructor based upon the practice mentor/faculty instructor’s evaluation and the student’s final product.

Agency Practicum Sites

Students should investigate practicums that provide them opportunities to practice their doctoral level public health skills. Students will work with their faculty instructor to seek out public health organizations and agencies for completion of their applied field practicum.
Examples of appropriate practicum sites include but are not limited to federal public health agencies such as the CDC, HRSA and NIH, state and county departments of public health, federally qualified health centers, community based public health organizations, non-profit health care organizations, private health care industry organizations and other organizations involved in public health work.

The practicum should take place within an organization external to the student’s school or program so that it is not merely an academic exercise, but application of learning to a “real world” setting. The field practicum may be conducted at a variety of public health practice settings. The agency and project proposal must be approved by both the agency leadership and the faculty instructor. In addition, a University Affiliation Agreement must be fully executed prior to the beginning of the field practicum.

DrPH HPAL students who may be currently working in a public health organization and can perform the field practicum at their current place of employment; however, the practicum must be beyond or something other than their current work duties, allowing for the application of advanced (doctoral) level public health knowledge and skills to be applied in the practice (real-world) setting.

Preceptor Requirements

The student onsite agency mentor or preceptor will have training in public health at the professional level, be in a top leadership position and ideally have at a minimum a Master’s in Public Health or closely related field, with substantial experience in public health at the professional level. Ideally, the preceptor will have a degree beyond the master’s level. The preceptor will meet with the doctoral student on a regular basis; the student’s current employer supervisor may serve as the preceptor. During the course of the 400- hour field practicum there must be at least three meetings (initial, midterm and final) evaluation meetings between the doctoral student, agency preceptor and faculty instructor.

DrPH Applied Field Practicum Roles & Responsibilities

DrPH Student: Identifies practicum site, community preceptor, faculty instructor, and ensures that all arrangements – including learning contract completion and electronic signatures – have been completed before registration. Student then completes the practicum as outlined in the learning contract and participates in the practicum course throughout the semester. The student maintains ongoing contact with the faculty instructor throughout the field placement course. The student maintains time log of hours worked and submits to the faculty instructor on a biweekly basis.

Agency Preceptor: Works for the organization where the student will complete the practicum. They will mentor the student throughout the practicum experience. The community preceptor should be in a leadership position with substantial experience in public health and be able to provide an experience that will allow the student to develop or further develop as a leader in public health. The community preceptor should be able and willing to work with the faculty instructor; and be able to and willing to devote sufficient time to the field practicum to ensure appropriate and comprehensive evaluations. The agency preceptor will provide the day-to-day supervision throughout your practicum and complete an evaluation of your performance at the midterm and at the end of the semester.

Faculty Instructor: This is a faculty member teaching in the DrPH HPAL concentration. Often, students choose their academic advisor, but this is not a requirement. The faculty instructor provides guidance for the student as they develop their learning contract and throughout the practicum experience and communicates with the community preceptor as needed. The faculty sponsor assigns the student’s grade based on the preceptor’s evaluation of the student’s performance and completion of the practicum course project graded by the faculty instructor.

Program Procedures

While it is desired that the practicum requirement be completed in one semester, some instances may require that practicums last longer than one semester. Students must register for the six- hour field practicum course and follow the timeline established and agreed upon by the faculty instructor, agency preceptor and doctoral student as part of the integrated learning contract. The doctoral student will clearly document the plan in the Practicum Description Agreement in order that all parties are in complete agreement.

It is advised that doctoral students begin working on their Practicum Description with their faculty advisor/instructor the semester prior to the semester they wish to register for PUBH 8684.

Registration

Prior to registering for the applied field practicum course (PUBH 8684), the doctoral student will complete the Practicum Description and Agreement Proposal consisting of the following:

• A current resume or CV;
• A description of the proposed project (it should address a public health change);
• Goals or Aims;
• The public health issue and background of the problem justifying its significance (i.e. how this work will promote public health and well-being of the population that it will address) (appropriately cited);
• The expected project(s) outcomes or expected results;
• Outline that includes all aspects of the project(s) including timeline, deliverables and student, faculty and preceptor’s roles;
• Competencies that will be addressed through the practicum experience that clearly outlines how the competencies will be achieved as evidenced by the final project(s).
• Fully Executed University Affiliation Agreement with the precepting agency and ECU.
• Please be aware that some agencies may require criminal background check, drug screen and orientation modules prior to the beginning of your field practicum.

Students will identify a minimum of five (5) competencies total (three (3) foundational and two (2) concentration competencies that are clearly assessed through this course. Students must choose as one of their five competencies, a foundational leadership competency or HPAL concentration competency #4 as one of the competencies.

The faculty instructor and preceptor must approve the practicum description and agreement form prior to the student registering for the practicum.

Deliverables

During the practicum, students should complete a monthly reflection due by the 5th of each month of their practicum to describe the progress to date. These reflections will be reviewed by the student’s faculty instructor. In addition, the preceptor will complete a midpoint and final evaluation of student performance. The student will complete a leadership self-assessment in addition to their preceptor and faculty instruction at both the midterm and final evaluation. All three parties will meet to discuss assessment scoring for achieving final consensus on student leadership competency mastery. At the conclusion of the practicum, the doctoral student will develop a written paper that outlines the project (s) aims, introduction, background, methods, results, discussion and conclusion that explains the contribution to field of public health. The student should also include a reflective component that expresses how the applied practicum experience has demonstrated mastery of the five selected competencies. Upon field placement completion, the student will complete a preceptor evaluation. The student will prepare a poster and give a 25-30-minute presentation presented to their doctoral colleges, faculty instructor and agency preceptor/staff. This final presentation will be held at the end of the course semester. In addition, the preceptor will complete an evaluation of the field placement experience and engagement with the DrPH HPAL program.