| |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Global Health Practicum
An integral part of the Global Health track experience is the 6-month overseas practicum, a continuous 6 month experience, beginning during summer after the first year in residence at Mailman and ending after the fall semester of the second year. The practicum is designed to put classroom concepts into context and to give students the international experience necessary to pursue further work at and beyond U.S. borders. The practicum will consist of two parts—an internship position with a local university, government entity, or NGO; and a preceptorship with an on-site Columbia University faculty member or organization supervisor.
The Internship
Ideally, the internship site chosen should strengthen students’ abilities in all or most of the following areas:
-
Technical Expertise: Skills obtained through the internship should be tangible, developing the students’ professional skill set in ways that will be seen as beneficial to the international public health community (e.g., program planning; use of statistical software; advanced data collection and analysis skills; community advocacy and organizing; project evaluation; grant writing, etc.);
-
Public Service: Provision of hands-on service provision to local communities is encouraged and should be integrated into the internship experience whenever possible. This may include participation in outbreak investigations or on-site program evaluation;
-
Cooperation: Projects should foster a high level of cooperation among the student, her preceptor and the larger community and its leaders, demonstrating the multilateral nature of effective health promotion; and
-
Language: Ideally, the practicum experience should provide language immersion (or significant exposure) in both administrative and field duties.
The Preceptor
The on-site preceptor functions both as an internship advisor and as a link to Columbia, coordinating and supervising day-to-day work, aiding students in assuring the success of their stay abroad and seeing to it that the objectives and goals that students set out are being met. Most importantly, the preceptor should be involved in securing data for use in writing the Master’s thesis, Master’s Integrative Project or Capstone Paper. Both during and after completion of the practicum, the preceptor will submit written evaluations of students' progress and performance.
The Sites
Global Health Track students have carried out practicum projects with organizations in Africa; South Asia; Eastern Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and at the U.S.-Mexico border. In the fall of the first year, students are presented with the Track's list of pre-arranged, structured, supervised practicum sites and projects offered through several international organizations. A student may also secure her/his own practicum experience with an international organization, provided that the project fulfills the Track's learning objectives.
Mailman School of Public Health Capstone Requirement Links
Department of Environmental Health Sciences Practicum Requirements
Department of Epidemiology Practicum Requirements
Department of Health Policy and Management Practicum Requirements
Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health Practicum Requirements
Department of Sociomedical Sciences Practicum Requirements
