Students should review the following description of the practicum forms and deliverables before completing them. Visit Forms and Documents for downloadable forms and other resources. See Alternative Practicum if you are a qualifying concurrent degree student or resident.
Pre-Site
Prerequisites
Learning Contract
MPH Foundational Competencies
On-Site
Midpoint Review
Site Supervisor Evaluation
Post-Site
Site Products
Practicum Examples
UWSPH Written Assignment
UWSPH Visual Assignment
Online Faculty Evaluation and Practicum Credit
Alternative Practicum
Pre-Site
Prerequisites
Practicum prerequisites need to be completed by all MPH students during the first quarter in their program.
- Please upload the prerequisite form, which can be found on the Practicum Forms and Documents page to the Dropbox.
- Do not upload the individual certificates of completion to the Dropbox.
- Ensure that ALL three boxes are checked on the form and that it is signed by your Department/Program Staff Adviser
Learning Contract
The Learning Contract outlines a proposal for the work to be undertaken during the practicum placement that must be approved and signed by the student’s Site Supervisor, Practicum Faculty Adviser, and MPH Program Director before the start of the practicum placement (See Forms & Documents for the current Learning Contract Form). It requires each MPH student to describe the nature and scope of the practicum work, including the products for the site (see sample activities and products), how the products meet five (5) of the 22 MPH Foundational Competencies, and how they align with the needs of the public health organization.
Note: A maximum of ONE (1) competency can be selected from the “Evidenced-Based Approaches to Public Health” section, which helps direct students toward choosing practice-oriented competencies and developing tasks that lead to a practical solution.
In the example below the student selected one research-oriented competency [4] from the “Evidence-Based Approaches to Public Health” section, and four practice-oriented competencies.
Must be signed by all parties (typed signatures do not count)
- Written Signatures
- Electronic Signatures
Student Name: Leah Neff Warner
Practicum Organization: Kitsap Public Health District
Practicum Project Title: Sparking Conversation in a Community Health Assessment, Jefferson County, Washington
View Leah's Project Description, Competencies, and activities >>
Practicum Project Description
I will work with the Kitsap Public Health District in their provision of assessment and epidemiologic support to the Jefferson County Community Health Assessment (CHA). My specific role will be to support the qualitative methods of the CHA, which are new to the assessment this year. My activities will include designing key informant interview and focus group questions, conducting 10 interviews and 3 focus groups, analyzing the data, presenting key findings, and integrating them into the broader CHA report. My contributions support the agency’s needs by increasing their capacity to include qualitative methods and engage community partners to result in an inclusive, representative understanding of Jefferson County’s health. This project aligns with my professional goals by expanding my experience in local public health services, developing my skills in qualitative methods, and prioritizing health challenges unique to rural, underserved settings and diverse populations.
Practicum Competencies and Activities
COMPETENCY [2]: Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.
● Work with the CHA team to identify qualitative methods and develop data collection questions and materials appropriate for Jefferson County.
● Explain the strengths, limitations, and reasons for selecting certain qualitative methods in the health assessment.
COMPETENCY [6]: Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels.
● Develop questions for key informant interviews and focus groups that explore ways in which health inequities manifest in Jefferson County.
● Analyze the data from the discussions to identify experiences, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs that relate to health inequity.
COMPETENCY [7]: Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities’ health
● Identify key informants and stakeholders and facilitate interviews and focus groups for qualitative assessment of Jefferson County’s health needs.
● Identify and describe themes present in the transcripts.
COMPETENCY [19]: Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
● Communicate the purpose of the qualitative activities and key results to participating Jefferson County community leaders and members.
● Adjust my approach as needed to communicate culturally-appropriate and professionally-relevant content.
COMPETENCY [22]: Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue
● Apply a systems thinking perspective to understanding the context, connections, and barriers affecting health needs in Jefferson County.
● Apply systems thinking frameworks when analyzing transcripts to identify themes that may contextualize findings from the quantitative assessment.
● Describe linkages, building blocks, and actors in the Jefferson County health system and articulate ways in which the health system dynamics relate to the qualitative findings in the CHA.
On-Site
Midpoint Review
1. Student reflects and documents changes to the practicum mid-way through the experience in the Midpoint Review.
2. Contact the student’s Practicum Faculty Adviser or SPH Manager of Experiential Learning if guidance or assistance is needed.
Site Supervisor Evaluation
1. Site Supervisor evaluates student’s practicum activities, including a minimum of two products for the site, and professional attributes in the Site Supervisor Evaluation.
2. Site Supervisor reviews the evaluation with the student, providing the student with an experience similar to performance evaluations that typically occur in the workplace.
Post-Site
Site Products and UWSPH Written and Visual Assignments
Each student must submit a minimum of two practical, non-academic work products, produced in the practicum setting and for the practicum setting, that demonstrate individual competency attainment. Examples of suitable work products include project plans, grant proposals, training manuals or lesson plans, surveys, memos, videos, podcasts, presentations, spreadsheets, websites, photos (with accompanying explanatory text), or other digital artifacts of learning.
In addition, each student must submit a written assignment and a visual assignment for UWSPH. If one of the work products for the practicum setting is visual, students may use it to fulfill the UWSPH visual assignment with permission from the student’s Practicum Faculty Adviser and Manager of Experiential Learning.
Visit Practicum Examples for appropriate practicum activities and site products.
UWSPH Written Assignment
This assignment must be typed, using Arial 11 point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, and page numbers.
Cover Page: Practicum Project Title, Name of Student, Practicum Organization, Practicum Site Supervisor, Practicum Faculty Advisor, Practicum start and end dates
1. Introduction (150-250 words)
a. How did you get involved with your organization?
b. Why this organization? What attracted you to it?
c. What problem(s) were you asked to address through your practicum experience?
2. Organization analysis (250-500 words)
a. What is the purpose/goal of your organization (or team)?
b. How does your organization fit within the greater structure of public health?
c. What policies could be developed to reduce the need for services provided by your organization? (Focus on upstream solutions and structural changes that could fix/reduce the problems your organization/team is solving.)
3. Project description (250-500 words)
a. Describe your experience with and products for the organization.
b. How will the resulting information, activities, and products be used and by whom?
c. What did you learn about the problem(s) from your practicum experience?
d. What would you recommend to the organization’s leaders based on your practicum experience?
4. Self-evaluation of competences (500-700 words)
a. Explain how you met the five CEPH competencies through your practicum experience.
b. Describe any unexpected accomplishments or challenges, as applicable.
c. How could have your practicum experience been made better?
d. Who are the contacts you have developed for future work as a public health professional?
e. What would you recommend future students to prepare for their practicum? For example, I am glad I did X; I wish that I had done Y differently.
5. Conclusion
a. What impact did your practicum experience have on you as a public health student and future public health professional?
UWSPH Visual Assignment
The visual assignment prepares students for the annual practicum symposium and other academic and professional conferences. View SPH branding page for a complete list of templates and logos. Students typically submit a poster for the UWSPH visual assignment. However, if a student submits a visual product for the site, they may submit the visual product in place of the visual assignment. In most cases, UWSPH accepts the following visual products: poster, video, infographic, and PowerPoint (Nutrition requires their students to create a poster for their visual assignment). Email the Manager of Experiential Learning to confirm.
For posters:
● Students can set up their poster with this Poster Template (pptx), or use any design program such as Illustrator, Publisher or InDesign to design their poster.
● Posters must be 36" x 24" size.
● All posters are required to have the UWSPH logo.
Online Faculty Evaluation and Practicum Credit
After a student submits required site evaluations, site products, and UWSPH written and visual assignments, the Manager of Experiential Learning will notify the student’s Practicum Faculty Adviser to complete an online evaluation.
The Practicum Faculty Adviser will evaluate the students’ work and assign a score assessing the attainment of each of the five MPH foundational competencies selected by the student.
| 5 | Excellent |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Adequate |
| 2 | Poor |
| 1 | Unacceptable |
Alternative Practicum
The MPH Alternative Practicum Fulfillment Form is intended for MPH students pursuing the following concurrent degrees: MD/MPH, MSW/MPH, OEM Fellows, and Preventative Medicine/Public Health Residents. Students should email the completed alternative practicum form and two work product for the alternative practicum site to Janice North, Manager of Experiential Learning, and copy the Departmental Adviser. (See Forms & Documents for the current Alternative Practicum Form)