A Regional Public Health Field Placement Program: Making an IMPACT

Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, made provisions in its Public Health Training Center cooperative agreements for field placements. This article describes best practices and lessons learned establishing and managing the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health promotion practice 2014-03, Vol.15 (1_suppl), p.71S-79S
Main Authors: McCormick, Lisa C., Hites, Lisle, Jenkins, Crystal, Chauvin, Sheila W., Rucks, Andrew C., Ginter, Peter M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Education, Public Health Professional - organization & administration
Fieldwork
Health
Practice placements
Preceptorship
Program Development
Program Evaluation
Public health
Public health policy
Public Health Practice
Social services
United States
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Summary:Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, made provisions in its Public Health Training Center cooperative agreements for field placements. This article describes best practices and lessons learned establishing and managing the South Central Public Health Partnership's Interns and Mentors Program for ACTion (IMPACT) Field Placement Program, which was initially funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Centers for Public Health Preparedness Cooperative agreement in 2002. The IMPACT program is based on a six-step process that has been developed and refined over its 10-year history: (a) identifying field placement opportunities, (b) marketing field experience opportunities to students, (c) selecting students seeking field experience opportunities, (d) placing students with practice partners, students with practice partners, (e) evaluating student progress toward field experience objectives, and (f) evaluating the program. This article describes the program's structure and processes, delineates the roles of its academic and practice partners, discusses evidence of its effectiveness, and describes lessons learned from its decade-long history. Hopefully, this information will facilitate the establishment, management and evaluation of internship and field placement programs in other Public Health Training Centers and academic public health programs.
ISSN:1524-8399
1552-6372
DOI:10.1177/1524839913509269