Saint Louis University School of Public Health

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Saint Louis UniversitySchool of Public Health

• Master of Public Health Program
• Orientation to the Practice Experience

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MPH Practice ExperienceStatement of Principle

• Critical component of the curriculum
• Integrates classroom learning into experiential
  learning
• Planned, supervised, and evaluated experience
• Improves competence in public health practice
• Opportunity to work with experienced professionals

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Nature of the Degree

• What is unique about the MPH degree?
• Practice-based
• Focus on public health and community settings
• Geared toward those who want to be practitioners
  of public health in public, private or community
  settings

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10 Essential Public Health Services

• Monitor health status to identify community
  health problems
• Diagnose and investigate health problems and
  health hazards in the community
• Inform, educate, and empower people about health
  issues
• Mobilize community partnerships to identify and
  solve health problems
• Develop policies and plans that support
  individual and community health efforts

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10 Essential PH Services (contd)

• Enforce laws and regulations that protect health
  and ensure safety
• Link people to needed personal health services
  and assure the provision of health care when
  otherwise unavailable
• Assure a competent public health and personal
  health care workforce
• Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and
  quality of personal and population-based health
  services
• Research for new insights and innovative
  solutions to health problems

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(No Transcript)
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Why Does This Degree Have a Practice Experience?

• Increase competencies in public health practice
• Reinforce learning in public health
  concentrations
• Apply principles and theories
• Learn about the public health environment and
  about what practitioners do on their jobs
• Build job skills

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Competencies for the MPH Practice Experience
(Domains)

• Translation and Dissemination
• Leadership
• Communication and Informatics
• Systems and Critical Thinking
• Health Policy and Law
• Ethics and Professionalism
• Cultural Competence
• Management
• Program Planning
• Public Health Biology

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Core Concentration Competencies

• Biostatistics
• Behavioral Science/Health Education
• Environmental/Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Joint Concentrations

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Prerequisites for the Practice Experience

• A minimum of 18 credit hours, including at least
  6 credit hours in the students concentration
• Completion of Practice Experience orientation and
  preparation sessions and materials
• Completion of IRB/HIPAA traininghttps//www.citip
  rogram.org/default.asp

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Requirements for Completion of Practice Experience

• Register for CMH 594-01 (Practice Experience in
  Community Health)
• Signed and approved Practice Experience Agreement
  and Learning Plan
• Completion of Midpoint Review with Practice
  Experience Advisor and Preceptor
• Completion of 360 contact hours (9 weeks, if done
  full time)
• Completion of final Practice Experience
  Evaluation forms/activities
• Submission of all required Practice Experience
  Forms to Practice Experience Coordinator

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Qualities of an Excellent Practice Experience
Preceptor

• Public Health experience
• Relevant educational background
• Experience within the organization
• Interest in mentoring a student
• Time to spend with student
• Organization supports practice experience

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What Makes a Good Public Health Practice
Experience?

• Appropriate setting in public or private
  organization
• Experienced preceptor
• Opportunity to learn and apply new knowledge
• Evaluation of the experience
• Presenting what was learned to mentors and peers

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Recent Settings for MPH Internships

• St. Louis County Health Department
• Anheuser Busch Company
• Washington University School of Medicine
• St. Louis Asthma Consortium
• Susan G. Komen Foundation
• Barnes Jewish Health System
• BJC HealthCare
• American Lung Association
• Missouri Family Health Council

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FORMS

• All forms available for download on the SPH
  website at Current Students ? Internships ?
  Required Formshttp//publichealth.slu.edu/info/
  students.htm
• Be sure to use forms for the new program (since
  Summer 2006)

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Evaluation of a Community-Based CVD Risk
Reduction Program Susie P. Health Practice
Experience Dates June 1, 2003 April 30, 2004

• St. Louis City Health Department
• The city health department is responsible for
  maintaining the health of residents of the city
  of St. Louis through prevention activities, such
  as pest and insect control, education, lead
  abatement activities, etc. The department does
  not provide medical services.
• Received funding from the Missouri Foundation for
  Health to establish a coalition of organizations
  (Healthy Heart) that would provide a
  comprehensive approach to reduce the risk of
  cardiovascular disease in three underserved zip
  codes.

• Progress was steady, with frustrations trying to
  get organizations to help me identify Health
  Heart members, and success when things fell into
  place.
• The greatest challenge was that during the last
  year, the city pulled the funding for the project
  and ended all related programs.
• We contacted each Healthy Heart client who had
  begun to participate in the impact evaluation to
  inform them that the programs would no longer
  exist.
• We strongly encouraged the city health department
  to contact all healthy Heart members. Like many
  big cities, St. Louis has a history of providing
  programs for a short period and then
  discontinuing them. This has contributed to the
  lack of trust that residents have for health and
  public health providers.

Practice Experience Progress and Challenges

• My Role in Project
• Responsible for the quality assurance
• Assisted in the development of the interview
  tools
• Conducted interviews
• Transcribed interviews
• Assisted with the development of a report of
  findings to the coalition
• Responsible for the impact evaluation
• Assisted in the development of a survey to assess
  knowledge and behavior change
• Collected baseline data on 80 participants
• Developed a database of survey items

• Public Health Context
• Zip codes chosen for Healthy Heart were the three
  with the greatest morbidity and mortality related
  to cardiovascular disease. Data are CVD and other
  health problems are regularly collected by the
  health department. In 2001, the department
  published its first Understanding Our Needs
  report, which illustrates health problems and
  disparities by zip codes. This is an example of
  assessment.
• Assessment of individual knowledge and behaviors
  pre and post participation in Healthy Start
  served as a way to demonstrate that participants
  were benefiting from the program.
• Policy and program development
• Healthy Heart was a coalition of organizations
  designed to make changes an the individual level,
  as well as system (coalition), and ultimately
  some community changes (fruit and vegetable
  trucks.)
• The city health department served as the convener
  of the coalition.
• Healthy Heart was designed to reduce CVD among
  residents in three zip codes by assuring that
  those residents were informed in ways to prevent
  its onset.
• To assure coalition and program success, a number
  of quality assurance and process measures were
  put into place.

• Facilitates collective information sharing,
  discussion and problem solving.
• Working with community organizations was
  challenging. I learned that many do not trust
  the evaluation process. Knowing that, I was able
  to communicate what I needed from them in a way
  that was non-threatening. I educated
  organizations about how the information would be
  used.
• Adheres to principles of confidentiality of
  information and/or client data and models
  professional behavior toward organization
  clients/constituents.
• I wrote the IRB (exempt) application, which
  includes a section on confidentiality. I assured
  all clients (and organizations) of
  confidentiality and informed them of how the data
  would be stored and used.
• Demonstrates ability to identify and set
  priorities among alternatives.
• Because I was in charge of this aspect of the
  evaluation, it was my responsibility to assure
  that all aspects would be achieved. I used the
  time line as a guide for myself to prioritize and
  achieve the tasks that needed to be accomplished.
  I was able to improve my time management skills
  through this process.

Competencies Achieved

• Healthy Heart
• Identified existing and established new
• Nutrition, physical activity and smoking
  cessation education classes
• Physical activity classes (aerobic, weight
  training, swimming)
• Planned to provide a fresh fruit and vegetable
  truck in neighborhoods.

• Evaluation Plan
• Process/systems pre-post-post evaluation of
  coalition activities
• Process/quality assurance
• Year two interviews with individuals who used
  the services
• Year two interviews with providers
• Impact (Year three)
• Changes in knowledge related to cardiovascular
  disease prevention
• Changes in physical activity, nutrition and
  smoking