Internship Requirements
The Aspen University Master of Public Health (MPH) program requires that all students complete three credits of internship experience prior to graduation. Students complete their internships at various sites, and they work on substantive projects that both contribute to their growth as future public health professionals and help advance the mission of the sites at which they are placed.
The goals of the Internship are to:
- Build and strengthen students’ public health practice skills.
- Increase students’ comprehension of and analytical skills relevant to the field of public health.
- Provide students with the opportunity to contribute to the field of public health in a substantive way.
- Build students’ professionalism.
The experience provides students with the opportunity to gain professional experience and apply knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to real-world public health settings and real-time public health issues. The Internship Experience is critical to students’ academic and professional development and their ability to become competent in the practice of public health. All MPH students are required to complete the MPH Internship MPH 580. There is no exception.
Students must have completed a minimum of 12 credit hours in the MPH program before enrolling in the Internship. The Internship is 3-credit hours and requires a minimum of 120 hours of Site experience. The OFE manages the coordination and approval to begin the MPH Internship course. Students must obtain an approval from the OFE prior to enrollment in the Internship course.
During the orientation, the MPH Internship Faculty will provide the student with the Internship Manual. The student may select any site of their choosing that meets the requirements. The student is responsible for contacting the site and arranging for the Internship in advance of the Internship semester.
1. MPH students are expected to identify an organization and establish an agreement to complete the internship. The internship is subject to approval by the student’s Academic Advisor and the Internship Coordinator. A student is allowed to fulfill the internship experience in his/her place of employment based upon specific guidelines to promote optimal learning for students in such circumstances:
a. The internship responsibilities are outside the scope of their current duties and responsibilities.
b. The Site Preceptor is not the student’s current supervisor.
2. Once the student has identified a practice site the student must develop a detailed work plan, including specific/customized learning objectives to be accomplished during the internship in consultation with the Site Preceptor/Supervisor. The work plan will include learning objectives of the internship and must be approved by the Site Preceptor, Academic Advisor, and Internship Faculty before starting the internship. The goal of this process is to ensure that both the student and the internship organization benefit from the arrangement.
a. The student will complete at least 120 hours of internship within the selected organization during the semester of enrollment in the Internship course.
b. Throughout the Internship, the student is required to keep record of the Internship Time Log.
c. If necessary, the faculty may request a site visit or a teleconference with the Site Preceptor during the internship.
d. The Internship Faculty will assign a grade of Pass/Fail after evaluating the student’s overall performance.