To: Site Supervisor Responsibilities for the Practicum of The

To: Site Supervisor Responsibilities for the Practicum of the

MPH Program in Public Health Practice Practicum (PHP)

From: Kathryn B. Tracy, DrPH, MPA, Director of the PHP Practicum

On behalf of the University of Massachusetts School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) and the MPH Program in Public Health Practice (PHP) Program, thank you for supporting an MPH student in the applied practicum experience. Included here are the obligations and responsibilities of practicum students, as well as your responsibilities as a site supervisor. As Director of the PHP Practicum and Instructor for the course, I welcome you to contact me at any time with questions or concerns. My email is and personal cell phone number is 413 587-2665.

Students enrolled in the MPH in Public Health Practice program who are employed full time in a public health or health care-related field, are permitted to reduce the standard 180-hour requirement for an MPH Practicum to 120 hours. The 3-credit Practicum is required for the MPH in PHP. Once a student completes the public health core, s/he can enroll in the Practicum. Students select at least five (5) of the following fifteen (15) Public health Practice competencies as their educational goals for the Practicum:

Public Health Practice Competencies

·  Describe the origins of current public health and health care dilemmas

·  Examine and evaluate current health policies and propose recommendations for change

·  Create a work team to develop, pilot-test, or implement a policy/practice change

·  Design a planning or evaluation process to monitor and improve an area of concern

·  Understand best practices in community and population health behavioral change

·  Research and propose an innovative new approach to health promotion

·  Create a work team to develop, pilot-test, or implement a health behavioral intervention

·  Apply epidemiological methods to data to answer a public health question

·  Interpret study findings from research literature and apply that knowledge to a public health or health care problem

·  Design a study or develop a research protocol to address a public health problem

·  Employ appropriate quantitative or qualitative methods to analyze data on a public health or health care issue

·  Evaluate outcomes of current practice, programs, research, policies, or procedures

·  Explain the influence of environmental factors on the public’s health

·  Participate in a work teams to address problems in public health and health care

·  Summarize regulations and laws in public health

Because you know the organization --its mission and work styles and methods-- the competencies selected as goals should be a collaboration between you and the student; this will help the student focus on the appropriateness of the competencies to the needs of both the student and the site where the practicum takes place. The student commits to her or his goals for the practicum by submitting both the Scope of Work form and the Practicum Proposal at the outset of the semester; be sure to ask the student to provide you with a copies of these completed documents.

At the conclusion of the Practicum, we need you to evaluate the student’s performance using the Site Supervisor Evaluation form. The form asks about the student’s achievement of competencies, fulfillment of time commitments, meeting work deadlines and deliverables, and other measures. Your evaluation is a major component of the student’s final grade, along with a ten (10)- page Practicum Report, which includes any material such as surveys, reports, educational pamphlets, or presentations that the student developed during the Practicum. The student also submits at succinct 10-slide power point presentation and student evaluates her/his own work using the Student Evaluation of the Practicum form. All these forms appear on the UMass website at http://www.umass.edu/sphhs/online/online-mph-practicum-requirements.

The practicum work may take place either at the student’s current worksite or at an outside public health or health care setting. If students choose their place of work, the practicum project needs to be something new and entirely separate from their current duties. The work itself can, however, be accomplished during normal working hours if that meets the needs of the organization, you as the site supervisor, and those of the student.

If the student chooses a current work setting for conducting the practicum, the following guidelines obtain:

·  The practicum cannot be part of the student’s job description at present.

·  It has to be something new that will help the student achieve identified goals.

·  There needs to be an individual on-site to serve as site supervisor, who is willing to advise the student and supervise the work.

·  The work of the practicum may be conducted during normal working hours if approved by the site supervisor and the organization’s administration.

If the student plans to conduct the practicum outside the current place of work, these guidelines obtain:

·  The practicum site is an organization, agency, or community group that provides services relevant to the public’s health.

·  The site and the work proposed allows the student to develop and apply public health theory, skills and competencies.

·  The organization’s management team exhibits a willingness to provide support, including a workspace, if appropriate, for conducting the practicum.

·  The Practicum site is a good match for the student’s needs and interests.

Here are suggested attributes and actions that Site Supervisors should have:

·  Substantial professional experience within the organization.

·  Working knowledge and practical experience in the practicum content area.

·  Ability to assist the student in identifying goals, tasks and activities, and evaluation methods for the practicum.

·  Commitment to helping the student by holding regularly-scheduled meetings.

·  Willingness to bring the student to professional meetings and encouraging presentation of the work if appropriate.

·  Interest in introducing the student to co-workers and key players in the organization, explaining the organization’s structure and function, and introducing community stakeholders.

·  The Site Supervisor Evaluation form completed to assess the student’s performance in the practicum at the end of the semester.

·  Interest in providing recommendations where needed to the Dean of the School and PHP Practicum Director on ways to improve the practicum experience.

School of Public Health and Health Sciences Dean Marjorie Aelion, Associate Dean Dan Gerber, PHP Practicum Director Kathryn Tracy, and all of us in the Public Health Practice program are grateful for your generous support of our MPH students. Thank you for volunteering your time and energy to help our students receive this valuable practicum experience. We wish you the best of luck during this semester and continued success in your work.

6 January 2016

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