Internship & Applied Practice Experience

Internship

Engage in a professional public health setting for a long-term, mentored experience.

The internship is an opportunity for students to apply the skills they’ve developed as a first year student in Health Behavior & Health Equity in a work setting, explore career preferences and goals, and create connections in the field. Health Behavior & Health Equity interns are typically responsible for several key projects where they can take a leadership role and make an impact on an organization’s work with the support of their preceptor and partners.

The internship typically occurs in the summer between the first and second year in the program, when students can spend 8-12 weeks at an agency in the fulfillment of at least 252 hours. Internships are a graduation requirement for all Master of Public Health (MPH) students. Health Behavior & Health Equity students earn a credit reduction for completing this requirement, which reflects the amount of hours worked and reduces the overall credit hours needed to complete the degree. 

Students can complete their internship in any setting that can provide support for this learning experience in the application of public health concepts and competencies.

Applied Practice Experience (APEx)

Engage in public health practice activities that result in the creation of products that showcase skills and benefit public health practice.

The Applied Practice Experience (APEx) component of the curriculum promotes students’ professional development by exposing them to real-world public health activities, settings and practitioners and working collaboratively on mutually beneficial products. APEx provides an opportunity for students to showcase skills they learned in the classroom, based on their own professional goals as well as identified needs of a practice organization, in the creation of products that may be shared with prospective employers.

There are two key differences between the APEx and Internship requirements:

• The APEx requirements must be fulfilled in a setting that is non-academic, or if academic, work on a project that has a non-academic partnership.
• The key element for this requirement is the creation of at least two products that reflect the application of at least 5 competencies. The APEx experience is not tied to a specific number of hours worked at an agency.

Fulfilling the Requirements

The majority of Health Behavior & Health Equity students will fulfill their APEx through their internship, taking advantage of the length of the internship to build rapport, understand an agency’s needs, and create products that further the agency’s mission in addition to the student’s goals.

However, Health Behavior & Health Equity students do have the option to complete multiple different experiences, or combine work between these experiences towards their overall requirements. At times the best fit for a student is to complete their APEx through a course or co-curricular engagement and focus on different skills in their internship. In this event, the internship will still result in important deliverables for the agency and professional development for the student.

Regardless of how you choose to complete the requirements, Health Behavior & Health Equity students have an array of opportunities to consider in all work sectors and around the world. 

Resources for Planning your Practice Experiences

Practice experiences are an important aspect of the MPH curriculum, and the department of Health Behavior & Health Equity has established the Office of Foundational Learning and Practice to promote partnerships with the practice community, develop opportunities for students, and work with students to determine options that are a good fit for their interest.

The Michigan Public Health Careers team are a valuable resource to help students search for and secure experiences that further their professional goals. They host a variety of employer visits and networking opportunities throughout the year as well as host an internal job posting portal for SPH students, and lead workshops on professional development topics essential to success in the field of Public health.

Each student in Health Behavior & Health Equity is assigned a faculty academic advisor who will support their training, professional development and degree progress throughout their time in Health Behavior & Health Equity. These advisors also play a key role in supporting students in identifying suitable practice experiences,negotiating projects and responsibilities, and aligning these to appropriate competencies.

Examples of Health Behavior & Health Equity Products and Activities