Master of Public Health Program, Northwestern University Page 1 of 4

MD/MPH Chicago FIELD EXPERIENCE:

Process and Application Instructions for 2013-2014

The Field Experience (FE) is an opportunity for students to gain experience in the practice of public health. MPH students in the combined degree MD/MPH program are required to participate in the FE during the summer after the first year in the Program. Students complete their FEs at one of two sites: a Chicago community site or an international site. This is the Process and Application Instructions for those students planning to work at a Chicago community site.

Students must have completed all of the core course requirements, or be concurrently enrolled in them, before beginning the Field Experience project. Core courses include:


• PH 301 Behavior, Society and Health
• PH 302 Intro to Biostatistics
• PH 303 Environmental Health Science
• PH 304 Intro to Epidemiology (or MDM-II for MD/MPH Students)
• PH 420 Intro to Health Management

TIMELINE and CHECKLIST FOR MD/MPH STUDENTS

*** The student may NOT BEGIN a project until completing the steps below and receiving written APPROVAL (by e-mail) of the application by the Professional Experience Committee***

Step 1: By October 18, 2013 Students complete and submit MPH STUDENT FE PROFILE FORM to .

Step 2: Before November 27, 2013 Students are expected to schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Bishop (phone: 312-503-2614, cell: 312-375-0390, fax: 312-908-9588, email () during the fall quarter, 2014 to discuss FE ideas, sites, and proposals.

Step 3: By January 6, 2014, the student prepares the first draft of the FE 3-5 page proposal and submit to Dr. Bishop for her review and comments. Address Dr. Bishop’s comments in the second draft. Both student and preceptor must “sign-off” on the final version of the application prior to submitting to the Professional Experience Committee (PEC). See Section I.

Step 4: By February 14, 2014, submit completed FE application (including proposal) to

MPH Program, Department of Preventive Medicine

633 N. St. Clair, Suite 1800, Chicago, IL 60611

A completed application includes:

a.  The 3-5 page proposal. See Section I.

b.  The “Field Experience (FE) Application Form” signed by the student and the preceptor.

c.  If applicable, a copy of the NU IRB approval letter (or application submission to the IRB). See Section F.

d.  If applicable, other supporting documents, such as consent form, questionnaire, etc.

e.  A copy of CITI Certification. See Section E.

Step 5: The student receives approval from the PEC (via email) or revises and resubmits application as necessary.

Step 6: Once proposal is approved by the PEC, the student registers for Pub Hlth 410 for Fall quarter 2014.

Step 7: Perform FE.

Step 8: At the end of FE,

p  Present poster at September 2014 FE poster presentation.

p  Write 5 page analytic paper according to guidelines in Section K.

p  Complete Professional Experience Evaluation Form (student)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A. Field Experience criteria and goals

The goals of the FE are to

·  introduce the students to ongoing work related to public health,

·  provide a hands-on opportunity to participate in this work, and

Criteria for approving a FE include the

·  program appropriateness for learning during a short period, e.g., summer experience;

·  topic appropriateness for student’s level of knowledge;

·  topic relevance to understanding the links between medicine and public health;

·  the emphasis on a public health field experience rather than a research project, although data collection and analysis can be part of the experience.

B. The Field Experience must include

A public health-relevant project involving no less than 200 contact hours. MD/MPH students complete the FE in one block.

1.  A poster presentation of the field experience in September after the project --- date/time determined by the MPH Professional Experience Committee (PEC).

2.  A 5-page analytic paper, submitted at the time of the presentation. See Section K.

C. Field Experience Coordinators

The FE process is administered and coordinated by the Professional Experience Team:

Ø  Coordinator and Vice Chair, Virginia Bishop, MD, MPH – Dr. Bishop helps the student identify the site and project. Contact info: office phone: 312-503-2614, cell: 312-375-0390, fax: 312-503-5656, email: .

Ø  MPH Program Coordinator, Ms. Tameka Mann– Students submit the final FE proposal for PEC review to Tameka Mann. Contact info: phone: 312-503-4539, fax: 312-503-5656, email: .

Ø  The Professional Experience Committee (PEC) – The PEC is comprised of at least four additional MPH faculty members and a student from the M1 and M2 MD/MPH classes and a freestanding MPH student. The PEC oversees the selection, conduct, and evaluation of Field Experiences and Culminating Experiences, including sites, projects, and preceptors. Karen Sheehan MD, MPH chairs the Professional Experience Committee, which gives final approval of sites/preceptors and projects. Contact Dr. Sheehan at: .

D. Community Field Experience Sites

Students in the combined MD/MPH degree program will be matched with one of the approved Chicago Community Sites.

E. Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI)

Northwestern University requires all students to complete training on the protection of human subjects before the student can be involved in any research involving human subjects. If the FEs involve human subjects MD/MPH students are required to complete the web-based Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI) before they can start their professional experiences. The course consists of about 14 modules that can be done over a period of days or weeks. Most modules take only 10-20 minutes to complete. Contact Maureen Moran to discuss IRB needs at or 312-503-0500.

Click here for more information on how to complete CITI training, the passing score, certification, etc.

To access the CITI course, go to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative site.

A NU Certificate of Completion will be mailed to you approximately 3 weeks after completion of the training and your name will be added to the NU IRB Web site list of people who have completed the training. A copy of the certificate will be kept in your professional experience file. FEs will not be approved by the PEC until an NU Certificate of Completion is on file.

F. IRB Review and Approval

If the FE will involve human subjects in a research project, approval must be received by the NU Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB application and review process can be time-consuming, and should be initiated as early as possible. Visit the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects for information about the NU IRB process. ALSO, refer to the NU IRB Guidelines for MPH Professional Experiences Involving Human Subjects Research. If you are still unclear about the IRB process, please consult with the MPH Associate Director, Ms. Maureen Moran at or 312-503-0500.

G. Method of assessment of students

The value of the FE and the student’s effort will be assessed in several areas, under the direction of the preceptor and the MPH Professional Experience Committee. Criteria include:

·  time spent (based on information from the student and preceptor);

·  problems that arose and how these were handled;

·  engagement in the precepting relationship (based on information from the student and preceptor);

·  contribution to the site’s work (based on information from the student and preceptor);

·  5-page analytic paper and poster presentation on the content of the work.

H. FE Funding

The Program in Public Health provides a stipend to support living expenses for MD/MPH students engaged in FE projects during the summer after M1 year. Additional information will be forwarded to you once your project sites have been approved.

I. FE Application

The FE proposal includes the Field Experience Application Form and a 3 to 5 page discussion of the proposed experience. This discussion should include:

1.  What public health topic or questions will be probed/explored? What is the relevance to public health?

2.  Background: Information regarding the organization and/or topic to be addressed.

3.  Methods used: How will these topics be explored/queried?

4.  Specific role of student: What will the student actually be doing?

5.  How will findings be shared? Presentation to the organization, presentation to the MPH program, 5 page paper?

6.  Information regarding sources of any materials and supplies needed to complete the field experience.

7.  Planned student-preceptor interactions (at least one scheduled meeting per week).

J. Poster and Presentation

A poster presentation is a typical method of sharing data at a scientific meeting. Although the Field Experience poster session does not present scientific data, it provides an opportunity to practice visual and oral presentation. A poster should get the main points across effectively, and attract people to read it so that the presenter can engage them in discussion.

1. Field Experiences will be presented at a poster session on a Thursday evening in early September.

2. Ideally, your site preceptor will review the contents of your poster before the presentation, but it is not required.

For more detail, see "Guidelines for FE Poster Presentations & Paper".

K. 5 Page Analytic Paper

All students must write a 5-page analytic paper. Chicago-based FE students should describe how the FE helped the student develop one or more of the public health core competencies (see page 5 of PPH Student Handbook).

The paper is due at the time of the poster presentation.

NOTE: The FE paper is not a scientific manuscript and it is not a simple description of the FE setting.It is not a description of what was accomplished. (A manuscript based on data collected during the field experience may also be produced, but doesn't satisfy the FE paper requirement.) It should be a reflection upon how the FE helped develop core public health competencies.

L. Evaluation of FE Experience

At the end of the FE project, students will be REQUIRED to complete the Professional Experience Evaluation Form (student) to evaluate their individual experiences. Information and comments provided by the student will be kept confidential from the preceptor or other FE site staff, if the student requests. Failure to complete this evaluation will result in an automatic “incomplete” grade. The incomplete will be changed to a grade once the student completes and submits this evaluation.

The FE preceptors/site supervisors will also be asked to evaluate the FE experience by completing the Professional Experience Evaluation Form (mentor). Information and comments will be kept confidential from the student, if the preceptor requests.

M. Grading of the Field Experience

The grading for the course is “A,” “B,” “C,” “F” (for failing work), or “Y” (for incomplete, when all assigned work is not submitted). The student will be given a grade based on the final paper and completion of the poster presentation:

Final paper = 75%

Poster presentation = 25%

Failure to complete the final paper, poster presentation and/or the evaluation will result in an “incomplete” grade. A grade of “incomplete” automatically becomes a permanent record if the student does not complete the project and requirements within one calendar year from when the incomplete grade was given. The student is solely responsible for making sure the requirements are met before the one-year is reached. A grade of Y entered for a course reduces the total credit toward residency for that quarter by one-third, regardless of the number of courses in the registration for the quarter.

ALL FORMS ARE AVAILABLE VIA THE MPH WEB SITE AT http://www.publichealth.northwestern.edu/MPH/forms/forms.htm.

rev 07/2012