Doctor of Public Health Applied Practice Experience Manual :

Section 4. Application Process

Walden adheres to a schedule of deadlines. Students who fail to meet any of the deadlines, risk delaying their graduation date.

The deadline for submitting the DrPH applied practice experience application is always the first day of the quarter preceding the quarter that the students wish to begin the applied practice experience, as shown in Table 3a. For example, students who plan to enroll in an applied practice experience course in the fall quarter must submit their applied practice experience application no later than the first day of the preceding summer quarter. (Table 3b shows 2021–2022 applications deadline dates.)

Table 3a. Deadlines for Applied practice experience Applications

To be registered for the applied practice experience course and start hours this quarter:	The application must be submitted no later than:
Fall	First day of preceding summer quarter
Winter	First day of preceding fall quarter
Spring	First day of preceding winter quarter
Summer	First day of preceding spring quarter

Applications must be submitted by the application deadline to ensure there is enough time for application processing and course registration.

Note: An academic calendar is available on the student portal. Additional information is available on the DrPH Applied Practice Experience website.

Applications must be submitted by the application deadline to ensure there is enough time for application processing and course registration.

Meditrek®

Students must submit their application using Meditrek®, the online management system used to track, monitor, and manage the applied practice experience.

• Students will receive one username and password to utilize Meditrek® for submitting applied practice experience applications and applied practice experience evaluations. The Meditrek® login credentials are case sensitive and are different from students’ Walden login credentials.
• Students should receive login information approximately 6 months prior to the applied practice experience start. If students have not received their Meditrek® login credentials 1 month before their applied practice experience application is due, they should contact drphape@mail.waldenu.edu.
• Students can utilize Meditrek® to monitor the status and progress of their applications.
• Students can access Meditrek® here: https://edu.meditrek.com/Default.html.

Starting an Application

1. Students must log in to their Meditrek® account to open a new application.
2. Students must select the correct course number (i.e., PUBH 8990) for their applied practice experience application.
3. Students must select the correct academic term to start their applied practice experience course (e.g., fall 2025).
4. Applications will not be reviewed if the incorrect term is selected. It is the students’ responsibility to ensure they are selecting the correct quarter for the application submission. Once entered into the Meditrek® application, the term of the application cannot be changed by the student. Contact the field experience coordinator if changes are needed.

Policy on Electronic Signatures

Walden manages the clinical application processes in a nearly paperless environment, which requires reliance on verifiable electronic signatures, as regulated by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Legally, an electronic signature can be the person’s typed name, email address, or any other identifying marker. An electronic signature is just as valid as a written signature as long as both parties have agreed to conduct the transaction electronically.

Note: Handwritten or digital signatures are required for the Affiliation Agreement.

Professional Liability Insurance

Students must obtain and maintain professional liability insurance (PLI). Students must have their own professional liability policy even if their employer or applied practice experience site has a policy that covers students. A memorandum of certificate of insurance coverage for the active policy will need to be uploaded to the Meditrek® application. The PLI must meet the following requirements:

• The insurance policy must cover the entire time of the quarters in which applied practice experience will occur, covering all 80 hours of the student’s applied practice experience.
• The memorandum or certificate of insurance coverage must contain the student’s name, address, date of the policy, coverage amounts, coverage type, and expiration date.
• The coverage amounts must be a minimum of $1 million per incident and $3 million aggregate.

The student coverage type should be one of the following: community health intern, community health assistant, or something similar, depending on the insurance company.

Many insurance companies offer student coverage. Walden does not endorse any specific insurance company, and students are free to search for a policy that fits the applied practice experience liability insurance requirements. Commonly used insurance providers include Mercer/Proliability, CPH & Associates, and Lockton Affinity. Students should work with the insurance company using the information provided above. If issues arise, students should contact drphape@mail.waldenu.edu as early as possible.

Preceptor Signature Form

The Preceptor Signature Form is an agreement with the preceptor to participate in the preceptorship with a Walden DrPH student. The Preceptor Signature Form is an official form and requires the preceptor to complete the form in its entirety. Students are not to complete this form on behalf of the preceptor.

This Preceptor Signature Form is different from the Affiliation Agreement (see below). The Preceptor Signature Form is emailed directly to the preceptor at the time students enter preceptor information on the Meditrek® application in the “Preceptor and Field Site Information” section. The preceptor should review the form, complete it in its entirety, and electronically sign the form.

Students must obtain this form directly from the preceptor to upload it in the Meditrek® application. The Preceptor Signature Form can be found on the DrPH Applied Practice Experience website.

The preceptor must complete the form electronically and agree to the Walden University Policy on Electronic Signatures. After the preceptor completes and signs the form, they should send it directly to the student. Students will then upload this form as part of their application in Meditrek®. It is the students’ responsibility to upload the Preceptor Signature Form in Meditrek® and link it to their application. Upon final approval of the students’ application, the preceptor will receive a confirmation email with a Preceptor Orientation. Additional information for preceptors can be found at DrPH Applied Practice Experience website. If preceptors have any questions, they may contact the field experience office at drphape@mail.waldenu.edu.

Affiliation Agreement with Applied Practice Experience Site

An Affiliation Agreement is a legal contract between Walden and an applied practice experience field site. The Affiliation Agreement should not be confused with the Preceptor Signature Form or the Learning Agreement. Accreditation standards and university policy require that an Affiliation Agreement be in place before students start their applied practice experience.

Coming to a mutual agreement about the terms of the Affiliation Agreement can take time, sometimes several weeks or months. In most cases, Walden is able to reach a mutual agreement with students’ applied practice experience sites. There are times, however, when a field site and Walden are not able to enter into an agreement or cannot reach an understanding on the terms of the

agreement due to a variety of factors that may be out of either organization’s control. When there is reason to believe that the Affiliation Agreement between Walden and a site will not be completed, Walden will make every effort to notify students in a timely fashion. If there is enough time, Walden will work with students as they try to find a new preceptor and site, even if the Office of Applied Learning Agreements is continuing to work with the first site. Students are strongly encouraged to identify potential alternative applied practice experience sites and preceptors as backup options and to submit their new applications as soon as possible.

Walden requires that Affiliation Agreements are finalized for every applied practice experience site where applied practice experience will occur. If students need to complete applied practice experience hours with the same preceptor at multiple sites, an application must be submitted and approved for each and every applied practice experience site.

In some cases, the Affiliation Agreement with a planned applied practice experience site may not be completed and it may be too late for students to find a new site prior to the start of the current term. If this happens, students may not be able to enroll in the applied practice experience during their desired term. Students are allowed a limited exception to apply for the next term so that they can prepare a new application. Walden is not able to predict or control the time it will take to reach agreement with the student’s desired site. It is highly recommended that students identify potential alternative backup applied practice experience sites.

Field Site Administrator: Affiliation Agreement Contact

Students must enter the applied practice experience site administrator contact information in their application in Meditrek®. The contact information for the applied practice experience site administrator is entered in the “Affiliation Agreement” section of the application. It is the responsibility of students to obtain the contact information for the appropriate individual at the applied practice experience site with authority to sign a legal contract. Preceptors may know whom to contact at applied practice experience sites; otherwise, students should ask if their applied practice experience site has an education or staff development manager or a risk manager. Authority to sign the Affiliation Agreement could possibly be handled by a dean, director, CEO, or other administrator; large organizations may have an on-site legal department and an attorney who signs Affiliation Agreements. The person who signs the agreement must be authorized to do so by the applied practice experience site. The individual authorized to sign the agreement is usually not the preceptor.

Note: It is very important to enter the correct contact information in Meditrek® for the field site administrator because inaccurate information will delay processing of the Affiliation Agreement.

Process for Affiliation Agreements

Generally, the field experience coordinator and the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education will begin reviewing all applications after the application deadline. The field experience coordinator will review applications to determine if there is an active and valid Affiliation Agreement on file with the field site. If there is no Affiliation Agreement with the field site on file, the field experience coordinator will email the field site administrator with instructions on establishing an Affiliation Agreement with Walden.

Note: If a field site administrator has not received the email about the Affiliation Agreement, the following actions are recommended:

• Confirm the contact information is correct for the field site administrator in the application in Meditrek®. If the contact information is incorrect, email drphape@mail.waldenu.edu with the correct contact information, and the Affiliation Agreement information will be resent.
• If the contact information is correct, encourage the field site administrator to check their spam or junk email folder for the email.
• If the field site administrator has not received the email, the agreement information can be resent by the field experience coordinator, or the field site administrator may email drphape@mail.waldenu.edu to receive the Affiliation Agreement information.

Options for Sites to Establish an Affiliation Agreement with Walden

• The applied practice experience site is willing to sign Walden University’s standard Affiliation Agreement as is. Directions regarding this process are emailed directly to the field site administrator. The applied practice experience site administrator signs the agreement and sends it to Walden using the link provided in the email they received.

• The applied practice experience site would like to use Walden’s standard Affiliation Agreement with changes. Directions regarding this are emailed directly to the field site administrator. The field site administrator should make redline changes to the template agreement and send it to Walden using the link provided in the email. The contract administrator on the Office of Applied Learning Agreements will review the requested changes to either confirm the changes or to communicate with the field site to discuss further terms.
• The applied practice experience site would like to use its preferred template for an Affiliation Agreement. The field site administrator should follow the information in the email and use the link provided to send their preferred template. The contract administrator on the Office of Applied Learning Agreements will review the template and communicate directly with the field site administrator to negotiate the terms. Negotiating Affiliation Agreements can take time and there is no guarantee that Walden and the site will reach agreement in time for the start of the term.

Affiliation Agreement Status in Meditrek®

Students can monitor the progress of the Affiliation Agreement process on their application checklist in Meditrek®.

• Information Submitted by Student: Application has been submitted by the student. The applied practice experience site Affiliation Agreement information has not been reviewed by the field education staff.
• Initial Request Sent to Field Site: Walden does not have an existing valid agreement for this applied practice experience site. The field experience coordinator has sent an email request to the applied practice experience site administrator to initiate an agreement. Reminders are emailed to the applied practice experience site administrator when in this status. Emails are sent using the contact information of the applied practice experience site administrator listed by the student on the application.
• Awaiting Response from Field Site: The field experience coordinator has received a communication from the field site organization but has not received an agreement template from the field site and/or is awaiting a follow-up response from the applied practice experience site organization.
• Submitted to Walden Field Experience: Information has been submitted regarding the field site and is being processed by the field education staff to move to the next stage.
• In Legal Negotiation Between Walden and Field Site: Walden’s Office of Applied Learning Agreements staff members are in negotiations with the applied practice experience site to complete an Affiliation Agreement.
• Completed and Approved: The Affiliation Agreement has been fully executed and approved.

Onboarding Requirements

Some field sites require specific screenings and documentation to be completed (“onboarding requirements”), such as health screenings and background checks, in order for students to be approved for applied practice experience. If these requirements apply to the DrPH student, the student will be notified by the field experience office.

These onboarding requirements vary from state to state; however, they generally include the passing of a background check and drug screening, health requirements, required trainings, professional liability insurance, and any additional onboarding requirements specified by the applied practice experience site. Walden does not conduct background checks upon enrollment at the university. Students are responsible for knowing whether any past criminal involvement would prohibit them from practicing in the applied practice experience context or upon graduation.

If DrPH students need to complete onboarding requirements and the Affiliation Agreement specifies that Walden must verify the students’ information, the onboarding requirements will be approved only if students submit them online through Walden’s designated provider, CastleBranch. The field experience office will confirm submission of all requirements in CastleBranch before approving applied practice experience applications. Please be aware that students are responsible for all expenses incurred for onboarding requirements. Students will not be permitted to start their field experience until onboarding requirements are complete.

Onboarding requirements documentation will be managed, stored, and tracked by CastleBranch. When required, Walden will communicate the satisfactory completion of these requirements to applied practice experience sites.

Students who do not meet these requirements prior to term start will not be permitted to begin their field experience until the onboarding requirements have been completed. In situations such as this, failure to complete the requirements prior to term start may result in students not being able to start field experience until the next term.

CastleBranch

CastleBranch, Walden’s designated vendor for onboarding requirements, provides a secure platform to complete onboarding requirements. Onboarding requirements include, but are not limited to, the following items: background screenings, drug tests, health requirements, trainings, professional liability insurance, and any additional onboarding requirements specified by the field site. If students must complete onboarding requirements, the field experience coordinator will contact students with the necessary information so they can complete the requirements online.

Students must complete all the requirements listed in the CastleBranch portal to begin their applied practice experience. The applied practice experience application will not be approved until all the requirements are complete.

When ordering the background screening, students will be provided a Disclosure and Authorization Form by CastleBranch, which all students must sign in advance of obtaining the background check. The Disclosure and Authorization Form is required by federal law. Although the Disclosure and Authorization Form references an employment check, for these purposes, it also applies to students applying for field experience.

 

If directed to do so, students must complete the onboarding requirements online at http://walden.castlebranch.com/. Any questions regarding the purchase of a screening package can be answered by CastleBranch at 1-888-723-4263. For questions regarding the field site, onboarding requirements, or applied practice experience applications, please contact drphape@mail.waldenu.edu.

Students need to submit all the components of their applied practice experience application via Meditrek® by the application deadline (see Table 3a). The following information and documents are required to submit a complete application in Meditrek®.

Forms to Complete in Meditrek 

• Student Information to include the following:
  • Student’s name
  • Date of birth, last four digits of SSN
  • Address
  • Phone numbers
  • Walden ID number
  • Walden email address
• FERPA Release: Students will complete a FERPA release when completing and submitting an application in Meditrek®. The FERPA release authorizes Walden to release all information, without limitation, regarding enrollment and academic records for the purpose of arranging for, participating in, and being evaluated on the field experience.
• Infectious Disease Acknowledgment: Students will acknowledge that they are aware of infectious disease risks when working at a field site and confirm their compliance with all federal, state, and local requirements regarding infectious disease prevention. Students will also acknowledge that they agree to comply with any infectious disease requirements in place at their chosen field site.
• Preceptor and Site Information: Students will complete information about the preceptor and applied practice site to provide information about the qualifications and appropriateness of the site. It is important for students to include as much information as possible about the preceptor and applied practice site to assist the field experience coordinator and associate dean, applied practice & continuing education to determine if the preceptor and applied practice site will meet the requirements of the DrPH applied practice experience. The required information is as follows:
  • Preceptor contact information to include name, title, phone number, and email address
    Note: An accurate email address is critical because the nominated preceptor will receive the Preceptor Signature Form and information about evaluations via email. Students should double-check the validity of the preceptor’s email address.
  • Preceptor credentials
  • Applied practice location: applied practice site name and address
  • Applied practice description
  • Preceptor and applied practice site information:
    • Description of the preceptor’s job responsibilities
    • Description of how the preceptor will provide the student with an appropriate applied practice experience to meet the learning objectives of the course
    • Description of how the applied practice site will provide the student with an appropriate applied practice experience to meet the learning objectives of the course
    • Supporting information or documentation to support the nomination of the preceptor and applied practice site
      Note: Once this section is complete, the preceptor information can be submitted, and an email will be sent to the preceptor with the Preceptor Signature Form.
• Affiliation Agreement Section: Students need to identify, with the help of the preceptor and/or other applied practice experience site contact, who the appropriate individual is at the applied practice experience site that can speak to the Affiliation Agreement. This individual may be the CEO, dean, contracts manager, site director, human resources, owner, or president. Large organizations may have an on-site legal department that reviews such agreements and may have an attorney who signs Affiliation Agreements. Students will complete contact information for the applied practice experience site and the applied practice experience site administrator that would be responsible for facilitating the Affiliation Agreement. The required information is as follows:
  • Applied practice site name and address
  • Name of administrator authorized to negotiate the Affiliation Agreement
  • Contact information for the field site administrator. Note: Students need to ensure correct contact information is entered in Meditrek®, as incorrect contact information will delay processing.
• Healthcare organization: If the applied practice site is under a healthcare system or parent company, the agreement may be under the name of that organization, so the name of the umbrella healthcare system or company is needed.

Applications must be completed in their entirety and submitted in Meditrek® by the published application deadline. Applications in Incomplete or Incomplete-Started status will not be reviewed by the field education staff. It is the students’ responsibility to ensure their applications are finalized and submitted in Meditrek®.

Generally, the field experience coordinator and associate dean, applied practice & continuing education will begin reviewing applications after the application deadline. Applications are reviewed in the order they are submitted in Meditrek®. Approval of the application must occur prior to the student starting the applied practice experience course and logging hours. Students cannot begin logging applied practice experience hours until their applied practice experience application is approved, and their applied practice experience course is in session.

Students can monitor the progress of their application review by logging in to their Meditrek® account and accessing the application checklist and clicking on the course number. The application checklist will list the review status of each section of the application. When a section of the application is approved, it will be listed next to the section with the date approved.

Application Approval

• The completed application must be submitted in Meditrek®. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

• The field experience coordinator will notify students if applications are returned or if changes are needed.
• The field experience coordinator and the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education will review the students’ application materials. If an application is denied, students will be notified, and, in most cases, they will be given an opportunity to revise their application within a short amount of time.
• If an application is approved, an email will be sent by Meditrek® to the preceptor and to the student.

Application Steps

1. When students successfully submit their application, they will receive an automatic email from Meditrek® stating the application was submitted and finalized. Applications will not be reviewed until an application is officially submitted in Meditrek®.

2. The application has different sections, and certain sections are processed by the field experience coordinator and the director of public health practice. Students should monitor their Walden email account for emails from the field experience coordinator requesting updates to their application.
3. The Affiliation Agreement is a separate entity. It is worked on simultaneously by the Office of Applied Learning Agreements while the rest of the application is reviewed.
4. Students will receive an email updating them when their application enters any of the following statuses: Submitted, Returned, On Hold, Closed, and Approved. The application statuses are defined below. Students can log in to Meditrek® at any time to see the status of their application by clicking on the course on their list of applications.

Note: Students are encouraged to monitor their spam/junk email folders regularly for important emails from the field experience coordinator regarding information about their applied practice experience application.

Application Status

Students can monitor the progress of their application review and approval in their checklist in Meditrek®. The statuses are as follows:

• Incomplete-Started: Students have started the application but haven’t submitted the application in Meditrek®. The application will not be reviewed until it is submitted in Meditrek®.
• Incomplete: Students have started the application and submitted the applied practice experience site information but have not submitted the application in Meditrek®. The application will not be reviewed until it is submitted in Meditrek®.
• Submitted: The application was submitted to Walden and is ready for review by the field experience team.
• Pending: The application is being reviewed by the field experience team. An email will be sent to the student if any additional information is needed or requested.
• Returned: The application was reviewed by the field experience office and returned to the student for further work. The student will receive an email with further instructions about what the student needs to correct. The application will not be further reviewed until the issues are resolved by the student and the application is resubmitted in Meditrek®. To resubmit, students will need to log back in to Meditrek®, select the application, correct the error, and then click “submit.” Students will receive an email confirming that the application has been resubmitted.
• On Hold: All aspects of the application have been reviewed and found satisfactory, but the application is pending final approval for the field site Affiliation Agreement and/or verification of onboarding requirements. No further action is needed by the student.
• Closed: The application is closed due to inability to approve the application. Students are emailed with specific details for the closed application.
• Approved: Everything is approved, including the Affiliation Agreement and any required verification of onboarding documentation. Students are approved to complete the applied practice experience at the approved field site with the approved preceptor during the approved quarter. Students will be registered for the applied practice experience course.

Preceptor Options

Change of Preceptor: Replacement Preceptor

Because circumstances can change, sometimes students need to change preceptors before they begin their applied practice experience. If students need to change their preceptor before the applied practice experience course begins, students will need to notify the field experience coordinator as soon as possible to request a late application request in order to open a new application in Meditrek®. This is known as a replacement application. If the new preceptor involves a new applied practice experience site, then a new Affiliation Agreement will also be needed. Depending on the timing of the change, there may not be enough time before the term begins to process an application, Affiliation Agreement, and onboarding—which may delay the applied practice experience until a later term.

Applied Practice Experience Site Assigns Preceptor After Affiliation Agreement

In some cases, there may be field sites that will not assign a preceptor until after an Affiliation Agreement has been completed. Students must still submit an application in Meditrek® following the process outlined in this section in these situations to abide by the application deadline. In order to submit an application while waiting for the field site to assign a preceptor, students should use placeholder information and documents to fill in areas of their application that are otherwise incomplete. For instance, students can enter “TBD” into the text field requesting preceptor information. For the Preceptor Signature Form, students can upload a Word document that briefly explains the circumstances and reason for using a placeholder document. Students should ensure that the document is uploaded and linked in the application. After all fields related to the preceptor have been completed with TBD and the placeholder document is linked, students are able to submit and finalize their application in Meditrek®. By submitting an application, this allows the field experience coordinator to begin working on the Affiliation Agreement process. Once the preceptor is assigned, students must edit their application and enter the correct information for the preceptor in the application along with the Preceptor Signature Form. Students may have to contact drphape@mail.waldenu.edu to return the application in Meditrek® to them so they can edit their application.

In all cases, students are responsible for notifying Walden immediately of any change to the preceptor or site relationship.

Course Registration

Registration for the applied practice experience course is subject to review, based on whether students meet course prerequisites and have an approved applied practice experience application on file.

Registration Eligibility

It is the students’ responsibility to ensure all holds are removed from their account. If students have been withdrawn or on a leave of absence or have not been continuously enrolled at Walden, they must contact Student Success Advising to return and be reinstated at the university. The field education staff will not be able to process a course registration if students have a hold or have not been reinstated.

Students who do not meet the application requirements and deadlines found in this manual will be dropped from the applied practice experience course until all appropriate documents are on file and approved and all course prerequisites are met. If students believe they have met all the requirements for starting the applied practice experience and do not see the course registration on their myWalden page, they should contact the field experience coordinator at drphape@mail.waldenu.edu.

Registration Timeline

Students will be registered upon full approval of their applied practice experience application. The field experience coordinator will submit registration requests to the registrar’s scheduling department after the applied practice experience application has been fully approved.

• If the applied practice experience application is approved 4 weeks or more prior to term start, the field experience coordinator will process the registration approximately 4 weeks prior to term start.
• If the applied practice experience application is approved less than 4 weeks prior to term start, the field experience coordinator will process the registration approximately within 2 business days after the application is approved.

Note: It takes between 24 and 48 hours for students to see their course information in Canvas.

Logging Applied Practice Experience Hours

Students cannot start logging applied practice experience hours until their applied practice experience application is fully approved in Meditrek® and after they have begun participating in the applied practice experience course.

Students may start logging applied practice experience hours on the first day of the course provided that they have received an applied practice experience approval notice from the field experience coordinator and their preceptor approves.

Students may not log any hours before the first day of the course. Additionally, students may not log hours prior to receiving written applied practice experience application approval from the field experience office or before they are registered for the applied practice experience course. Students are only to log hours with preceptors who have been approved by the field experience office in Meditrek®. If students log hours with an unapproved preceptor or before the first day of the course, these hours will not count toward the applied practice experience hour requirement of the course and program.

Change of Preceptor After the Course Has Begun

Because circumstances change, sometimes students need to change preceptors during their applied practice experience. If students need to change their preceptor after the applied practice experience course has begun, students will need to do the following:

• Notify the assigned faculty member immediately to discuss the impact of completing course requirements.
• Notify the field experience coordinator immediately at drphape@mail.waldenu.edu. The field experience coordinator will assist the student with a new replacement application in Meditrek®. Students will need to upload the new preceptor’s résumé and a new Preceptor Signature Form. If the new preceptor involves a new applied practice experience site, then it is likely the applied practice experience will be delayed if an Affiliation Agreement is not on file with the new site.

Note: These applications go through the same review process as the other applications.