Host A Public Health Student
Thank you for your interest in hosting a public health student!
Fill out our form to become a preceptor and host an OHSU-PSU School of Public Health intern.
Best Practices For Precepting Students
Orient and Onboard The Students
Provide students with an orientation to the organization. Recommendations on orientation topics include data privacy and protection policies, any needed background checks before they can start work, HR paperwork needed for the organization (especially if paid) and any virtual or physical access the intern will need to perform their duties
Creating an onboarding plan that includes an intro to the department and program the project is housed under, details of the project the intern will be working on, organizational culture information (e.g. how people in the organization communicate on a daily basis – chat software, emails, meetings, etc.), and clarifying with students what technology you will provide for them or what they need to provide for themselves.
Set Expectations Early
An important tip for a successful Practice Experience is setting clear expectations from the start. Expectation-setting enables students to understand what’s expected of them so that they can perform at their best. Having this conversation collaboratively between the Preceptor and student helps prevent unmet expectations, creates a relationship based on open communication, and helps facilitate any changes in work products that may need to happen along the way.
Communicate With School of Public Health Faculty
If issues arise with the student you are hosting or the Practice Experience, reach out to one of the Practice Experience contacts below.
| Director of Applied Learning | Jamie Jones | jljones@pdx.edu |
| Biostatistics PE/IP Coordinator | Byung Park | parkb@ohsu.edu |
| Epidemiology PE/IP Coordinator | Sarah Siegel | siegels@ohsu.edu |
| Environmental Systems & Human Health PE/IP Coordinator | Tawnya Peterson | petertaw@ohsu.edu |
| Health Management & Policy PE/IP Coordinator | Neal Wallace | nwallace@pdx.edu |
| Health Promotion PE/IP Coordinator | Bradley Wipfli | bwipfli@pdx.edu |
| Public Health Practice PE/IP Coordinator | Jamie Jones | jljones@pdx.edu |
Requirements for Precepting MPH Students
Review and Sign the Learning Agreement
Preceptors assign and approve deliverables, provide feedback on the goals, tasks, and deliverables of a student’s learning agreement, and sign off on the final learning agreement.
Students are tasked with drafting their learning agreements. It’s the student’s responsibility to map public health competencies to goals, activities, tasks, and deliverables (work products), as well as seek out and integrate Preceptor feedback and approval.
Final Learning Agreements are approved by the Preceptor and the PE Coordinator. For Epidemiology and Biostatistics students, a Faculty Advisor’s approval is also required.
Provide Supervision
Approve Student Presentation Slides
Recommendations for Preceptors
1) Attend Oral Presentation
Preceptors (and any staff working with the intern) of MPH students are encouraged and welcome to attend the graduate student oral presentations. It helps you see the Practice Experience experience from the student’s perspective and see how they were able to meet their MPH competencies.
2) Complete The Preceptor Survey
Preceptors are asked to complete the SPH Practice Experience Survey. This feedback is used to evaluate if we are preparing our students for their Practice Experiences, their careers, and if we are sufficiently preparing and supporting you to host students.
3) Support Students in Building Their Professional Networks
An important piece of the Practice Experience is to expand the professional network of students as they embark on their public health careers. This can happen in a number of ways. We recommend inviting students to team meetings and broader organizational meetings, as well as introducing them to your people in your network.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to your frequently asked questions about precepting MPH students by clicking the question below.
What types of professional settings are appropriate?
Professional settings may include governmental, non-governmental, non-profit, industrial, for-profit settings, and appropriate university-affiliated settings (such as university health promotion or wellness centers)—anywhere public health happens. To be appropriate for applied practice experience activities, university-affiliated settings must be primarily focused on community engagement, typically with external partners. The practice experience may also be completed within a student’s own work setting.
The intention of Practice Experience experiences is that the work is not merely an academic exercise, but an application of learning to a “real world” setting.
How many hours does the MPH Practice Experience require?
Students are required to complete 160 contact hours (this does not include time they spend on their academic deliverables). We recommend that PEs happen over two terms, which is approximately 8 hours per week. If a student is completing their PE over one term, they will work approximately 16 hours per week. However, there is flexibility in hours per week and over how many terms a PE is completed based on the needs of the site, project, and student.
What are the examples of the deliverables (work products) that students can develop for their Practice Experience?
A non-exhaustive list of examples of deliverables includes a data collection plan, interview transcripts, survey, health communication materials, GIS maps, project plans, grant proposals, training manuals, lesson plans, surveys, memos, videos, podcasts, presentations, spreadsheets, websites, photos (with accompanying explanatory text), or other digital artifacts of learning.
Deliverables must demonstrate MPH competencies; should be mutually beneficial to your project, the organization, and the student; and indirectly or directly serve the community.
What types of work or work products will not be approved for a Practice Experience?
Due to the graduate-level, public health focus of the Practice Experience, there are types of work and deliverables (work products) that are not allowed. Some examples include providing childcare, providing clinical services or any 1:1 client-based work, administrative work (internal meeting minutes, scheduling, etc.), solely entering data, solely translating documents, fundraising or development work, or implementing existing curriculum.
If you have any questions, please contact the Director of Applied Learning, Jamie Jones (jljones@pdx.edu).
What School of Public Health paperwork is required to host an intern?
Paperwork that you will interact with includes the student’s learning agreement, and possibly an affiliation agreement or IRB application/addendum.
Students are tasked with drafting their learning agreements. It’s their responsibility to map public health competencies to goals, activities, tasks, and deliverables. Your role in the learning agreement is to co-develop/assign roles and responsibilities to the student; co-develop/assign and approve deliverables; provide overall learning agreement feedback; and sign off on the agreement.
Your organization may need a non-clinical Affiliation Agreement if the intern is unpaid or receives a stipend. Students doing Practice Experience experiences at OHSU or PSU do not need an affiliation agreement. If you are unsure if you need an Affiliation Agreement, please email Andrew Wyman at wymaa@pdx.edu
Do students have academic prerequisites before they can start their Practice Experience?
MPH students are required to complete their core MPH courses (Intro/Est. and Hypothesis Testing for Applied Biostatistics, Epidemiology I, Concepts of Environmental Health, Health Systems Organization, Principles of Health Behavior).
MPH Biostatistics students are recommended to have a broad knowledge of various statistical data analysis methodologies and skill set to perform data analysis, summary results, interpretation of findings, and dissemination because their PEs are more data-analysis oriented. MPH Biostatistics students may be asked to start their PEs after completing a minimal level of biostatistics required courses (2 or 3 classes), and recommend courses, such as Linear Model, Categorical Data Analysis, Design and Analysis of Survey Data, and Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis.
Likewise, the PE opportunities MPH Epidemiology students tend to engage in are also very data management and analysis heavy. As such, it is recommended students have taken EPI 536: EpiData Analysis & Interpretation before registering for their PEs. Because EPI 536 is the fourth epidemiology methods course in the series (and builds on skills learned throughout EPI 512, 513, and 514 as well as BSTA 511, 512, and 513), it is also recommended that students have completed this course work before beginning their practice experience.
What are the academic deliverables for the student?
Academic requirements for the MPH students are a learning agreement (due before the PE starts), mid-way progress report, portfolio (which includes the PE work products, which should exclude any confidential information), oral presentation (which preceptors are invited and encouraged to attend!).
The academic deliverable Preceptors interact with are the learning agreement and oral presentation slides. We ask that preceptors provide feedback on the student’s roles/responsibilities, development/assignment of PE deliverables, and overall learning agreement approval. For the oral presentation slides, we ask that preceptors review and approve to prevent the sharing of information the organization does not want shared externally.
When do the School’s academic terms start?
Fall term: Last week of Sept
Winter term: Second week of Jan
Spring term: First week of April
Summer term: Second week of June
Please confirm the start dates by visiting the OHSU and PSU Academic Calendar pages:
NOTE: Most students do their PE over winter and spring terms, BUT students do their PE throughout the calendar year.
What Master of Public Health Programs does the School offer?
The OHSU-PSU School of Public Health offers six Master of Public Health Programs with concentrations in various areas of expertise:
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology
- Environmental Systems & Human Health
- Health Systems, Management, & Policy
- Health Promotion
- Public Health Practice
If you are interested in learning more, please visit our Masters of Public Health page.