Timetable

• Distinct Requirements for:
  • Extended Degree Program
  • Occupational & Environmental Medicine Residents & Preventive Medicine Residents (Madigan)
  • Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI) Program
    • Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI) Timeline
• General Requirements for All:
  • Blood-borne Pathogens Training
  • HIPAA Training
  • Immunizations
  • Entry Codes
  • Car Insurance Coverage for UW Students
• Timetable
  • First Quarter of Enrollment
  • Prior to start of Fieldwork
  • After Completion of Practicum Fieldwork
    • Practicum Written Assignment & Power Point Poster
    • MPH Practicum Final Checklist

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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
• Blood-borne Pathogens Training
• HIPAA Training
• Immunizations
• Requirement
• MPH Practicum Prerequisites Form

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 - 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
• MPH Practicum Agreement Form
• Affiliation Agreement/Statement of Understanding/Letter of Understanding
• Student Agreement for Practicum in a Foreign Country
• Site Supervisor Handbook and Evaluation Form
• Human Subjects Review

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.

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 Agreement Form
The MPH Practicum Agreement 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 Agreement. The MPH Practicum Agreement 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 Community Medicine 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 Written Assignment & Power Point Poster
• MPH Practicum Final Checklist
  

Practicum Assignment

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. The following outline is a guide.

The practicum assignment has four (4) sections:

1. Organization Profile & Analysis
The Organization Profile is intended to reflect the student's understanding of the site based on their experience. It will be made available to future students considering the organization as a potential practicum site. Information to be included:

a. Name and location of the organization, division or department in which the student worked
b. Site supervisor's name and title
c. Project supervisor's name and title, if different
d. Student's position in the organization with a brief explanation of why the student chose this agency and project
e. Mission/purpose and goals of the practicum site/organization
f. Organizational structure, e.g. organization chart, departments, qualification or background of key professionals, if appropriate
g. Programs and services offered
h. Population(s) served including pertinent demographic/census information
i. Relationship of this organization to other regional, state or national organizations, if appropriate
j. Factors determining policies and programs and the ability of the organization to fulfill its mission such as trends, recent changes Internally or externally that might enhance or hinder the ability to proceed as planned

2. Project Description
The practicum experience may focus on either an assessment/evaluation project or on a planning/management project. The option selected will depend on the student's interests and skills. Students choose either Option A or B (listed below).

It may be a plan for a project, or it may reflect the project as it was implemented. An appropriate substitution might be a completed document or report for the agency along with a very brief summary addressing the questions below. This assignment must be handed in before credit for the practicum is given.

* Note: If the practicum project requires a significant departure from the format for the assignment, the student must arrange an alternative assignment with the Faculty Advisor.

Option A. Assessment or evaluation project.
1. Problem/issue statement: What is the problem or issue to be addressed by the project? How and by whom was it identified? Why is it a problem? Why should it be addressed? What question(s) is the project expected to answer? Why is the agency/organization interested in doing this project?

2. Literature Review: A brief review of the relevant literature should be discussed. Complete citations of source materials must be included.

3. Method for investigation: What approach will be used to inform or resolve the problem: What research design will be employed? Why is the design appropriate to answer the question(s) posed for the project? What data will be generated, collected, analyzed, reported? What methods will be used for data collection? For analysis?

4. Plan of work: What resources will be required to complete the project (time, personnel, funds, computer, etc.)? What specific tasks must be completed: What is the expected time required for each task? What preliminary activities will be required (e.g. human subjects' review, acquiring permission for use of data, acquiring adequate sample of cases, etc.) and how will they be planned for in the time estimate? The plan of work should include a project milestone chart (i.e. describing when specific tasks will be completed), and task matrix (i.e. describing who will be responsible for completing each task).

5. Uses/application of project: How will the information generated by the project be used and by whom? What decisions will it inform?

6. Final product: What will the final product of the project consist of, e.g. a written or verbal report? For whom will it be presented? When will it be complete? If appropriate, the final product may be developed as a manuscript to submit for publication or as a thesis proposal. If a final product is completed it should be handed in to the faculty advisor. However, the final product does not supplant items 1-5 above.

Option B: Planning/management project
1. Problem/issue statement: What is the problem or issue to be addressed by the intervention? How and by whom was it identified (e.g. staff, board, community, clientele, etc.)? Why is it a need or problem? What data have been used to document the need?

2. Goals of the planned intervention: What does the agency/organization expect to accomplish by implementing the change? What evidence or rationale supports (or does not support) the goals or expected outcomes?

3. Literature review: Relevant literature should be critically reviewed and discussed. Complete citations or source materials must be included.

4. Method of intervention: How will the intervention be implemented? Who will be involved (e.g. board, staff clientele, a community advisory panel, etc.)? What data will be collected and by whom? What is the evidence/data that the method of intervention is appropriate to the goals specified?

5. Implementation plan: What resources will be required to implement the intervention (time, person power, funds, physical plant or equipment, etc.)? What is the expected time frame for implementation? What preliminary activities are required (e.g. organizational support, community support, licensing or accreditation requirements, funding, etc.)? How will these hurdles or issues be dealt with? The paper should include a project milestone chart, describing when specific tasks will be completed.

6. Impact of the intervention: What factors, internal and external to the agency, will be affected by the intervention (e.g. staff, the community, clientele, competitors, etc.): How are they likely to respond? What impact will these responses have on the intervention?

7. Monitoring and evaluating the intervention: How will the success or failure of the intervention be judged? What is the plan for monitoring the progress (e.g. data to be collected, reporting process, etc.)?

8. Final product: What will the final product consist of, e.g. written or verbal report? To who will it be directed/presented? When will it be completed? Students are encouraged to develop the final product as a manuscript to submit for publication if appropriate.

If the student prepares a written implementation plan, evaluation document, or other materials as part of the practicum, those items should be handed in to the faculty advisor. But this item does not supplant items 1-8 above.

3. Self Evaluation of the Practicum Experience
The evaluation is a reflection by the student on the practicum experience itself. The evaluation may be made available with permission, to students, to students considering a practicum at the site in the future. Areas to be addressed include:

a. How successful the student was in achieving the learning objectives and scope of work
b. How could this practicum experience have been made better?
c. Key competencies and skills the student developed
d. Any unexpected accomplishments
e. Impact of the experience on the student's personal and professional development
f. Resources and contacts the student developed for future use
g. Recommendations to future students preparing for a practicum: What would the student do differently? What was the student glad s/he did?

4. 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. The poster presentation should be submitted 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 and contact information
3. Text:

Please note: Design your posters in Power Point. In Page Setup, under Slides Sized For – choose 35mm slides.

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://depts.washington.edu/mphpract/ppposter.html and http://depts.washington.edu/mphpract/perfect%20Poster.ppt .

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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 and Community Medicine
Box 357230
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-7230
(206) 685-8904