MPH Internship Profiles – Jordyn Volkan

Concentration: Health Administration

Field Placement Site: North Carolina Dept. of Health and Human Services: Division of Public Health

At the NCDHHS, my preceptor and I worked alongside with some employees at the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) to develop the Healthy North Carolina 2030 indicators and then set targets for each indicator. I had the opportunity to attend each meeting involved in this process since I began my internship. My project was to understand the process of how the indicators and targets were set based on an accreditation process. I presented this process and information to health directors across NC with an employee from the NCIOM. Throughout my internship, personally, it was difficult transition from classroom settings to application settings. However, my preceptor challenged and guided me on how to apply the knowledge from classes to real-life application.

To future students, I recommend finding an internship that takes the right step toward reaching your goals after finishing school. If you are unsure, find an internship that has a broader perspective on public health to open pathways to other doors, which is like what I chose.