INTRODUCTION

In order to provide an opportunity to apply public health skills in community settings, all Master of Public Health (MPH) students enrolled in the Community Public Health Program at NYU are required to take E33.2360, Internship & Seminar in Public Health. The internship serves as the culminating experience for the program. The public health internships are carefully planned, highly supervised and critically evaluated. Experiences are selected that reflect the mission of the Community Public Health Program and meet the individual learning and career needs of students while responding to real community public health issues as articulated by the internship sites. Preferred internship projects are those that provide opportunities for students to continue the teaching-learning process, service and research activities. During the internship, students are able to gain greater understanding of their responsibilities and enhance their level of competence as public health professionals. Students are to choose a project that allows them to demonstrate competence in public health skills such as:

• Analytic/Assessment Skills
• Policy Development/Program Planning Skills
• Communication Skills
• Cultural Competency Skills
• Community Dimensions of Practice Skills
• Basic Public Health Sciences Skills
• Financial Planning and Management Skills
• Leadership and Systems Thinking Skills

Internship & Seminar in Public Health: A Brief Overview for Students, Faculty and Community Agencies is designed to assist agency personnel, students, and faculty through the MPH internship experience. This overview outlines the internship goals and objectives, the placement requirements, the roles and responsibilities of the internship team agency and the policies, procedures and expectations for students enrolled in the internship course. This Overview Guide is divided into three parts:

• Part I details the goals and objectives of the internship
• Part II details the internship placement procedures
• Part III details criteria for agency sites
• Part IV provides remuneration for agency preceptors
• Part V outlines the TOP TEN roles and responsibilities of the Agency Preceptor, Intern and Internship Director.

The current Overview Guide to Internships in Community Public Health is adapted from A Guide for Students, Faculty, and Community Agencies.

Part I: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INTERNSHIP

The goals for the internship experience are consistent with and reflect the overall goals of the Community Public Health Program. While each area of specialization is unique, the following are general goals for the internship:

1. To provide practical situations where students can apply the theoretical concepts from coursework into practice settings, strengthen existing skills and apply public health core competencies in a new setting and/or on a public health topic or population of interest.
2. To provide experiences that allow students to analyze, synthesize and utilize the knowledge and skills expected of Master-level public health professionals.
3. To provide an environment that encourages students to integrate learned behaviors, research and community service activities.

Since core competencies for public health are fundamental to delivering core public health services, the objective of the internship fieldwork experience is to ensure hands-on exposure and practice in the core competencies in public health which are divided into the following eight domains:

• Analytic/Assessment Skills
• Policy Development/Program Planning Skills
• Communication Skills
• Cultural Competency Skills
• Community Dimensions of Practice Skills
• Basic Public Health Sciences Skills
• Financial Planning and Management Skills
• Leadership and Systems Thinking Skills

The objectives of the internship seminar are to:

1. Identify methods for describing and analyzing the structure and governance of public health organizations.
2. Identify and apply methods used by organizations to improve the health of their target populations.
3. Describe factors that lead to the effectiveness and stability of national or international public health organizations.
4. Determine requirements of information, personnel, time, and equipment needed to implement programs that address public health needs.
   

Part II: INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT PROCEDURES

Students should choose internship sites that fulfill any one of several possible goals: (1) to aquire new skills (2) to strengthen existing skills or to apply competencies in a new setting and/or (3) to work with a public health topic or population of interest. Students should approach the internship as an unparalleled learning opportunity and pick a site accordingly.

An agency and project should be identified at least one semester before registering. Students should discuss with their academic advisor and the Internship Director possible internship sites. In preparation for this discussion, the student prepares the following:

• CPH Internship Pre-Registration Form
  
• Updated resume
• Internship Learning Contract
  
• Copy of most recent NYU transcript

Students are responsible for getting appointments at the internship sites of their choice. The resume, a statement of purpose and objectives should be carried to the interview. If the internship site and student are a match, the Internship Learning Contract must be signed by the Academic Advisor, the Internship Director, and the Agency Preceptor. This form must include a description of the internship experience which describes the intern's project and his/her role in the agency.

After reviewing the internship description, the internship placement will be confirmed by the Internship Director, after which time the student will be provided with an access code to register. Students will not be able to register for the course without the access code. The Internship Director will be available to assist students throughout this process, however students are ultimately responsible for securing their own internship project.

Part III: CRITERIA FOR AGENCY SITES

Internships are carefully planned, highly supervised, and evaluated practical experiences required of all students in the MPH Community Public Health Program. The following criteria are used in selecting sites for placements:

1. Willingness of the agency to provide a graduate-level internship.
2. Types and quality of experiences the agency is able to offer.
3. Conducive environment for teaching-learning, service, and research.
4. Ability of the agency to provide adequate and suitable supervision for the intern, preferably a public health practitioner (efforts are made to select and use sites that can provide preceptors with a public health background).

Part IV: REMUNERATION FOR AGENCY PRECEPTORS

As an agency preceptor who agrees to supervised a NYU student in a field or internship course, we would like to thank you by awarding you a 3-credit course in one of the NYU Schools listed on the application form, or the equivalent monetary value in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies' (SCPS) non-credit courses. Credits may not be shared or split among supervisors. Tuition credit is not transferable to other site employees. The person who receives the award must have actually supervised the NYU student.

Agency Preceptors will receive additional information and instructions at the time students are matched with the internship agency.

Part V: Top 10 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The planning, conduct, and evaluation of the internship experience for each student involves several persons. The roles and responsibilities of each are outline below.