Undergraduate Internships

Regardless of your specific major in the School of Public Health, an internship experience is an important and required part of the curriculum.  The School of Public Health supports all students in gaining practical experience related to the work they are interested in pursuing by enrolling in the PHE 404 Internship.  Each concentration area will require a minimum of 4 credits (120 Hours) of internship experience.  PSU will allow a student to register for up to 12 credits of internship, so the student does have the option to complete more.  Internships may be paid or unpaid; initially, students may feel like they don’t have the time or money to “work for free” in an unpaid internship.  However, internships are a very important part of linking theory with practice and laying the groundwork for landing the job you want after college and/or getting into a graduate or professional school. We encourage all students to begin volunteering/gaining a variety of experiences related to their health related interests early in their education.  

Completing an internship offers the following benefits:

• You gain important experiences that make you more attractive to employers, as well as graduate and professional schools
• You have the opportunity to try out different kinds of work related to your field of study, which will help you decide what you want (and don’t want) to do with your degree
• You have an opportunity to network professionally. Unpaid internships often lead to paid employment, either at the place you intern or through the connections you make with people working in that field or industry
• You have a chance to cultivate professional references within your field that will be important for future job and/or graduate or professional school applications
• Gaining hands on experience demonstrates your professionalism and your genuine commitment to your field, which will also impress employers and graduate and professional schools

Make sure that you are on our School of Public Health listserv, as this will supply you with many potential opportunities of interest. 

Email either Jane or Belinda, the School of Public Health Internship Coordinators, regarding your ideas for internship sites well in advance of your final year at PSU. 

For a brief overview of the undergraduate internship please view the power-point orientation. This is NOT a complete guide to the internship.  Students should thoroughly read through all of the internship packet below.  This orientation will only give you a quick introduction to the internship process. If you are interested in any of these sites or seeing a list of other available sites, please contact one of the following people for more information:

Internship Packet