Virtual practicums within an MPH program: a career development case study

More Diverse and Equal: Insights on Moving From "Real-Life" to "Remote" Practicum Experiences and Career Development From Undergraduate Global Public Health Students During COVID-19

A key facet to typical undergraduate or graduate global public health programs is an applied practice experience (a practicum) that culminates in shared results and public presentations (e.g., research posters, conference and working papers, needs assessments). Requirements vary by program but may be between 80 and 200 hours of experiential learning. While not required by all undergraduate programs in global public health, a practicum occurs as part of a semester of coursework or internship experience after students have declared the major/minor or have completed an expected number of courses. Some students report that the practicum experience, while essential to their career development and future opportunities, presents certain challenges in terms of access. Practicum opportunities can be rife with assumptions that social networks, privilege, and implicit bias affect and even predict the ability to secure an effective, doable, and career-advantageous project. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that much of the applied and experiential aspects of a practicum were necessarily shifted from "realworld" experiences to virtual and "remote" contexts. This article highlights insights from students enrolled in undergraduate global public health programs who were planning "real-life", more "traditional" practicum experiences, and had to necessarily move to "remote" and online engagement. These cases suggest that participation in virtual fieldsites is seen as legitimate, fulfilling for students and stakeholders, and can increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the public health curricula; fostering best practices in career development.

Learning from Graduate and Undergraduate Public Health Virtual Internship Experiences with State Title V Agencies During COVID-19, Summer 2020

Background

Since summer 2014, the National MCH Workforce Development Center has placed students from MCH public health graduate (Centers of Excellence and Catalyst) and undergraduate (MCH Pipeline) programs, all funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, in summer internships with state and territorial Title V agencies. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Title V MCH Internship Program was offered virtually.

Participants and Methods

This manuscript includes quantitative and qualitative data from 2017 to 2020 generated by both Title V MCH Internship student interns (n = 76) and their preceptors (n = 40) with a focus on a comparison between the 2020 virtual year and the 2017–2019 years.

Results

Evaluation data from the 2017 to 2020 Title V MCH Internship Program from both students and preceptors revealed the implementation of a robust and successful internship program in which students increased their confidence in a variety of team, mentorship, and leadership skills while gaining direct exposure to the daily work of state Title V agencies. However, students and preceptors identified more challenges during 2020 compared to previous years.

Conclusions

The COVID-19 Pandemic was both a disruption and a catalyst for change in education. While there were clearly some challenges with the pivot to a virtual Title V MCH Internship Program in summer 2020, students were able to participate in meaningful internship experiences. This success can be attributed to the ability of the internship sponsor to engage in best practices, including extensive planning and provision of ongoing support to the students. Going forward, it is recognized that virtual internships may facilitate access to agencies in distant locales, eliminating issues related to housing and transportation. When both virtual and in-person relationships are available, those responsible for internship programs, including the Title V MCH Internship, will need to weigh these type of benefits against the potential missed opportunities students may have when not able to participate in on-site experiences.

Public health practicum: a scoping review of current practice in graduate public health education

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study are to (1) identify Graduate Public Health (GPH) programmes with an integrated practicum, (2) determine current practice for practicum design and (3) use the information to make recommendations to inform the design of Public Health Graduate programme practicums.

DESIGN

Scoping review.

DATA SOURCES

Academic Ranking World Universities 2019 was used to identify top 10 institutions in each geographical hub offering GPH programmes. Each GPH programme website was searched for practicum information.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

GPH programmes offering a practice-based component as a requirement in their curriculum.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

One reviewer screened GPH websites for eligibility and extracted data. Verification of data for accuracy and completeness was done on 10% of the sample by the second author. Data were compiled into an Excel file and were analysed to describe the duration, timing, credit, contact hours, preceptor requirements, prerequisites, objectives, deliverables and methods of evaluation of the practice-based component.

RESULTS

Out of the 108 GPH programmes screened, a total of 35 programmes were included. There was a significant variation in required practicum duration ranging from 4 to 16 weeks. Only 31% specifically outlined prerequisites to be completed before the initiation of the practicum. More than half (57%) had a published list of core competencies. A majority of practicum did not provide criteria for appropriate preceptors (63%) and their responsibilities (66%). All programmes listed assessment criteria however the majority (57%) did not specify if the practicum was graded or a for-credit component.

CONCLUSIONS

The integration of practical components into curricula is inconsistent. This research resulted in 14 recommendations intended to guide GPH practicum design. We propose that this study be used as a tool to spark a global dialogue about best practices in GPH education through the identification of common practices and opportunities for improvement.