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University of Washington

Timetable

Timetable - for all except Occupational Medicine,Madigan PMR, and those students applying for a general waiver. PCMI students, see PCMI Timeline.

First quarter of enrollment

Washington State Background Check, Self-Disclosure Forms - To comply with Washington State law regarding the Child/Adult Abuse Information Act, all students must complete this form. If not received from the department/program student coordinator, the form can be found online at:

Blood-borne Pathogens Training - Students will receive blood-borne pathogen training through their departments. Training must be completed before the start of the practicum fieldwork.

HIPAA Training
Students will receive HIPAA training through their departments. HIPAA training must be completed during the student's first quarter.

Immunization Requirements - All MPH students are required, as a condition of our MPH Practicum Affiliation Agreements with training sites, to report to Hall Health for an immunization review during the first quarter of enrollment. Hall Health will forward a report of immunization status directly to your department/program student coordinator. This is handled through your department/program.

MPH Practicum Prerequisites Form or MPH Practicum Prerequisites Form for PCMI Students- MPH students are required to complete a MPH Practicum Prerequisites Form and return the completed form to the program student coordinator. The program student coordinator will verify that immunizations review, blood-borne pathogens training and background check requirements have been met. The program student coordinator will forward the form to the MPH practicum coordinator to enter student data in to the practicum database.

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Prior to start of Fieldwork:

PRACTICUM PLACEMENT
Students are required to complete a minimum of 120 hours of practical fieldwork in a public health practice setting. Students should complete a program assessment/evaluation or program planning/management project. Students are encouraged to view their practicum in a broad sense, and to negotiate a practicum placement that will allow them to be involved in as many aspects of the project as possible.

***Please note: All students, including those who hold a clinical degree can conduct a practicum in a clinical setting (ex: hospital, community health center, etc.), but students are not allowed to conduct any clinical work during their practicum project.  The practicum project must be public health focused. This rule was established and approved by the MPH Practicum Steering Committee.

For an assessment/evaluation project, these areas would include: identifying a relevant issue to assess/evaluate, or understanding how the issue was identified as an important public health concern for the agency to address; reviewing the relevant literature; developing or understanding the study design; data collection, analysis and/or interpretation; planning/managing resources (human, financial) to complete the project; writing up the results/findings of the assessment/evaluation; determining the implications of the findings and developing recommendations; and presenting the results.

For a program planning/management project, it would include: assessing the need for an intervention or understanding how the need was identified; developing/understanding the goals and objectives for the project; a review of relevant literature; designing the project (or understanding the design of the project) including an implementation plan and a monitoring/evaluation plan; implementation of the project; project review/ monitoring/evaluation; developing a final product for the project (e.g., training module, report, etc.).

Recognizing that all students may not be able to be involved in all aspects of a particular project, project descriptions can assist the student in expanding their fieldwork experience. However, if possible, the practicum placement should involve the development and application of skills in several areas. Public health practice involves the application of many skills that complement a student’s main area of academic training.

MPH Practicum Learning Contract
The MPH Practicum Learning Contract serves as a proposal for the project and outlines work to be undertaken during the field placement. The student works with the site supervisor and with a faculty advisor in developing the MPH Practicum Learning Contractt. The MPH Practicum Learning Contract must be completed and returned to the MPH Practicum Coordinator before beginning the field placement.

Affiliation Agreement/Statement of Understanding/Letter of Understanding
One of these agreements will be completed for all MPH practicum sites. This legal agreement between the University of Washington School of Public Health and the Site, outlines expectations as to the conduct of all parties, the resources to be provided and the liability to be assumed. The agreements must be initiated prior to students beginning their field-based placement. The MPH practicum coordinator will initiate the correct agreement with sites with information from the MPH Practicum Agreement form.

Student Agreement for Practicum Placement in a Foreign Country
For students who intend to conduct a practicum in a foreign country, a Student Agreement for Practicum Placement in a Foreign Country is required and must be on file before the student begins their field placement. Upon receipt of the student’s completed MPH Practicum Agreement form, the MPH practicum coordinator will generate the agreement and notify the student when it is ready to sign.

Site Supervisor Handbook and Evaluation Form
A Site Supervisor Handbook and evaluation form will be sent to student’s site supervisor after the MPH Practicum Agreement form is received by the MPH practicum coordinator.

HUMAN SUBJECTS REVIEW – some practica will require completion for a Human Subjects Review.

When is a Human Subjects Review Required?
Many times clinicians, teachers, faculty or staff have duties that involve interviews, and yet projects are not research. For example, a department may want to evaluate a program. Or a faculty member may conduct evaluation procedures for an agency. However, the intent of the department of faculty member is not to collect data that will be published as research.

If a student is requested to conduct interviews or focus groups as part of their training, it is not necessarily research. However, some students conduct interviews or focus groups with dual purposes: to perform assigned tasks as part of a training program, and to use the data collected for the research component of their master’s program. Then it is research. The intent of the student is to gather data for the purposes of research. Often the student/investigator will design study instruments or interview protocols to address their hypothesis. Participants should be informed about the research and consented, and the project should have Human Subjects review.

The critical factor is whether the student is doing “solely” public health practice versus doing “both” public health practice and research. If the latter is the case, then Human Subject review is required.

If students are uncertain as to whether their practicum will require review, it is recommended that they consult their faculty advisor.

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After completion of practicum fieldwork

Practicum Assignment

1. The purpose of the assignment is to have the student reflect on the practice experience. This is an opportunity for the student to describe what was done, what was learned, and to place the experiences within the context of the organization, the community and the MPH program. The student should think creatively about his/her contribution to the profession and the professional value of the placement.

2. Poster Presentation
Completion of a Power Point poster presentation is required. The poster is to be designed as a completed poster on one (1) slide. Submit the Power Point poster via email to the MPH practicum coordinator. The following components are to be included in the poster:

1. Heading: the name of the organization, project, or public health issue
2. Student’s name, department, school, university and contact information
3. Text:

  • Name and location of the organization
  • Mission, goals and objectives of the project
  • Description of the population served or program participants
  • Quotes from directors, staff or participants
  • Description of the internship project, including results or findings
  • Critical analysis of or reflection on how practice and theory are integrate

Please note: The use of the SPH Poster Template is required. Templates can be found at http://sph.washington.edu/practicum/ppposter.asp

All posters will be made available to students, faculty and community agencies. They will also be displayed at the annual Spring MPH Practicum Reception.

The MPH practicum coordinator will postersize the student's poster for display at the annual Spring MPH Practicum Reception.

For complete instructions on how to create a poster using MS Power Point, see the following website: http://sph.washington.edu/practicum/ppposter.asp and http://sph.washington.edu/practicum/perfect%20Poster.ppt

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MPH PRACTICUM FINAL CHECKLIST
After the student has registered for the practicum course, the MPH Practicum Final Checklist will be sent by email or to the student’s department mailbox. Upon practicum completion of the written assignment and Power Point poster, the student will email a copy of their assignment and poster to their faculty advisor and to the MPH practicum coordinator. The student will then submit the checklist along to their faculty advisor. The faculty advisor then assesses the project and annotates on the checklist that the assignment was received and credit was given.

The student will forward the signed checklist to the MPH practicum coordinator. Verifying that the written assignment and poster have been received, the MPH practicum coordinator will sign the checklist and forward it to the department so the grade if credit can be recorded.

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Please direct all questions regarding the practicum program to:

Rene' M. Lucas, MPH Practicum Coordinator
Dean's Office
School of Public Health
Box 357230
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-7230
(206) 685-8904