MPH Practicum
All students must complete an MPH Practicum—an applied learning experience during which you will draw on what you’ve learned from your coursework to engage in real-world public health practice with a community-based organization.
Practicum experiences come in all shapes and sizes. You might evaluate public health programs for local public health departments, design communications campaigns for nonprofit organizations or develop quality-improvement initiatives for safety net hospitals.
The practicum can also come in many different formats. Some students participate in their practicum in-person, others participate virtually, while others take more of a hybrid approach.
Regardless of the experience or format, you will work under the mentorship of a preceptor, who is a professional at the practicum site. Over at least 145 hours, you will complete specific deliverables, which are for the site’s benefit and demonstrate your understanding of chosen MPH competencies. You will submit a copy of these deliverables at the end of your practicum experience. Upon completion of all practicum assignments and taking into consideration the preceptor's evaluation, you'll fulfill the requirements of the practicum.
The MPH Practicum is a meaningful experience where you can apply skills learned in the classroom and develop new skills that will be useful in your career. Throughout the experience, administrators at Brown are here to support you. Dr. Michael Harvey, Director of Applied Learning will share his public health expertise and will evaluate your completed practicum portfolio.
Follows Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accreditation guidelines.
Integrated Learning Experience: GPHP 2900
During the final course in the online MPH program, known as the Integrated Learning Experience (ILE), you will conduct a literature review to investigate a public health challenge aligned with your interests. Here, you will apply the knowledge and skills acquired during your MPH. Your findings will be submitted as a scientific article suitable for submission to a public health journal, along with a poster presentation. The ILE is the equivalent of a thesis or capstone paper.
In the first phase of the ILE, you will develop your project by identifying a research question and designing a methodological plan. The second and most extensive phase will focus on carrying out the research and preparing a scientific manuscript between 3,000 and 4,000 words in length.
In the final phase, you will focus on research dissemination by completing your paper and poster presentation.
These deliverables will position you to contribute meaningful scholarship to your chosen field.
Examples of ILE Paper topics
- The Perceived Barriers to Healthcare Access Among Refugee Women in the United States
- Racial and Ethnic Representation in Randomized Controlled Trials for Overweight and Obesity
- The impact of dry needling on the pressure pain threshold in chronic pain patients
- Perceptions of PrEP use during pregnancy amongst peripartum women and medical providers in the US
- Impacts of Vegan Diet on the Health and Performance of Endurance Runners: A Systematic Review
