Doctor of Public Health Applied Practice Experience Manual :

Section 2. DrPH Applied Practice Experience

In 1978, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) defined the mission of public health as “enhancing health in human populations, through organized community effort.” Walden’s DrPH program is guided by this definition as well as by the university’s mission of promoting positive social change.

The applied practice experience is designed to provide students who are nearing the end of their coursework with the opportunity to (1) synthesize knowledge, (2) develop competence in professional practice in the foundational areas identified by CEPH, (3) apply knowledge to the solution of public health problems, (4) reinforce the program learning outcomes and DrPH competencies, and (5) develop a respect for and commitment to the continued pursuit of professional knowledge. The experience that students receive through the applied practice experience is a critical educational component of the DrPH program.

Walden’s goal is to assist every student in identifying and securing an applied practice experience that meets the requirements for their degree programs, while giving students flexibility to conduct their applied practice experience in locations and with preceptors that best meet their needs. Walden commits significant human and technology resources to this effort.

The applied practice experience assists students as they transition from the role of learner to scholar-practitioner. To achieve this transition, students engage in a relationship with an approved preceptor, focusing on roles and role functions, the achievement of individualized learning objectives, and the completion of projects that they and their preceptors have conceptualized and had approved by the director of public health practice. The applied practice experience provides students with a hands-on opportunity for applying and integrating, in a public health setting, the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the program of study and for further developing DrPH core competencies.

The applied practice experience aligns with students’ academic and professional goals and proceeds under the supervision of faculty members. Supervision by an on-site or remote preceptor is a critical component of the applied practice experience. Students begin the applied practice experience, participate in an accompanying online seminar course, and begin development of a professional portfolio based on the applied practice experience. Preceptors and course faculty members provide ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

Students may not begin their applied practice experience until they submit the required documents, have received written approval of their application, and are enrolled in the accompanying applied practice experience course. The associate dean, applied practice & continuing education approves the applied practice experience, but students receive the official communication from the field experience coordinator.

The applied practice experience occurs in conjunction with consecutive registration in PUBH 8990.

Table 2. DrPH Applied Practice Experience Course

Required Applied Practice Experience Course*	Prerequisites	Applied Practice Experience Hours
PUBH 8990 - Applied Practice Experience in Public Health	All numerically preceding DrPH didactic courses: PUBH 8007, 8004, 8051, 8410, 8510, 8512, 8040, 8211, 8044, 8048,8317, 8514, 8546, 8132, 8516,and RSCH 8110	80 total hours

Note: For full-time students, PUBH 8518 and PUBH 8248 are co-enrollment courses for PUBH 8990

Applied Practice Experience Course Description

PUBH 8990 - Applied Practice Experience in Public Health
(2 cr.)

Students in the applied practice experience are provided with the opportunity to apply and integrate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their program of study and to further develop key professional and leadership competencies. Students engage in a field experience in an approved public health setting, which they align to their professional goals. Throughout the course, students will explore pertinent workplace topics including safety, sexual harassment, emotional intelligence, cultural humility, leadership traits, and social change. Supervision by an on-site preceptor is a critical component of the applied practice experience. The on-site supervisor and the course instructor monitor and evaluate students’ performance throughout the entire applied practice experience. Students also participate in the accompanying online course and develop an ePortfolio based on five agreed upon competencies. One of the five competencies must be related to leadership, management, and governance. Student are required to complete at least one project that is meaningful for an organization and to advanced public health practice. Students are required to complete a minimum 80 hours of applied practice experience work.

Prerequisites

All coursework except for PUBH 8248, PUBH 8518, and PUBH 9100.

Participation Requirements

Students must have completed the required preceding coursework to begin the applied practice experience. Prerequisites include all numerically preceding DrPH didactic courses. Additionally, students must be in good academic standing to apply for and begin the applied practice experience.

Applied practice experience hours must occur only during enrollment in the above course—and only after students receive an approval notice from the field experience office. Applied practice experience hours may not go beyond the end date of the quarter. Students are required to begin their hours within 2 weeks of the start date. They may not log any applied practice experience hours outside of the applied practice experience registration.

If students are unable to finish their required hours in PUBH 8990, a grade of “F” will be given in PUBH 8990, and students will be required to register for an additional quarter of PUBH 8990. To be registered for an additional quarter, students should contact the

field experience coordinator. If students complete the required hours but not the required coursework, they may be eligible for a grade of Incomplete (“I”).

Students must satisfactorily complete all the requirements of PUBH 8990 in accordance with the information provided in the course syllabus. Students earn 2 credits for the course and receive a letter grade for the course.

Students dismissed from their applied practice placement at the recommendation of their preceptor or any clinical site leader or administrator for poor performance may be subject to cancellation of all/part of previous hours completed, skill remediation or other professional development requirement as the university deems necessary for successful completion of the applied practice experience up to and including dismissal.

Note: Students must assure that their professional liability insurance covers the full duration of the applied practice experience.

Registration Process

Registration for applied practice experience courses is performed by the field experience coordinator and is based on whether students meet course prerequisites and have an approved applied practice experience application on file. Students who do not meet the requirements are not registered for their applied practice experience course.

If students believe they have met all the requirements for starting 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.

The following activities are required for applied practice experience hours:

• Activities that are directly related to the completion of the applied practice experience and weekly learning objectives, including the assignments and products listed in the signed Learning Agreement.
• Preparation of all materials directly related to completion of the applied practice experience, including tasks requested by the preceptor, and public health education materials.

The following activities are permitted for applied practice experience hours:

• Writing sections of a policy brief or policy analysis
• Preparing an advocacy pitch to a legislative body for a needed health program or health policy
• Drafting a grant proposal (or specific sections)
• Drafting a comprehensive evaluation plan for an existing program
• Mapping an existing program’s components to a theoretical model and designing a program evaluation
• Conducting an impact evaluation of a program
• Conducting a cost effectiveness study of a program (or specific sections)
• Developing a change strategy for a new policy that is to be implemented
• Drafting revised implementation program strategy based on a recent evaluation
• Drafting a policy manual for the organization
• Designing a questionnaire based on a theoretical framework or behavioral model to assess exposure and preventative measure to vector-borne disease (e.g., malaria prevention strategies in local villages)
• Working with local staff to collect data, assist with data analysis, and write a report on the findings
• Developing a program development and implementation strategy

The following activities will not count toward completion of the required applied practice experience hours:

• Travel time
• Communication (e.g., emails, phone calls), unless directly related to the applied practice experience or required activities
• PUBH 8990 course assignments
• Conference attendance (unless presenting)

Public Health Activities

While completing their applied practice experience, students are required to work with a population in a community setting or public health agency (e.g., their local health department or government agency). Students must be able to engage in existing or new public health activities under the supervision of their preceptor and the guidance of their applied practice experience faculty member.

Depending on the specific needs of the chosen site, students’ activities should reflect the 10 Essential Public Health Services, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

1. Assess and monitor population health status, factors that influence health, and community needs and assets
2. Investigate, diagnose, and address health problems and hazards affecting the population
3. Communicate effectively to inform and educate people about health, factors that influence it, and how to improve it
4. Strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships to improve health
5. Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws that impact health
6. Utilize legal and regulatory actions designed to improve and protect the public’s health
7. Assure an effective system that enables equitable access to the individual services and care needed to be healthy
8. Build and support a diverse and skilled public health workforce
9. Improve and innovate public health functions through ongoing evaluation, research, and continuous quality improvement
10. Build and maintain a strong organizational infrastructure for public health

The essential services provide a working definition of public health and a guiding framework for the responsibilities of local public health systems. Additional information can be found at CDC - 10 Essential Public Health Services - Public Health Infrastructure Center.

Learning Agreement

The Learning Agreement defines the expectations for students undertaking an applied practice experience in public health. This document outlines the details of the applied practice experience and should be completed jointly by students and preceptors. Students must meet with their preceptor before the start of PUBH 8990 to draft the Learning Agreement, which identifies their selected DrPH foundation or concentration competencies as well as the assignments and products that students will create during the applied practice experience.

Students will receive the Learning Agreement form from the field experience coordinator upon approval of their applied practice experience application. Students must send the completed Learning Agreement to the field experience coordinator before the course begins. The Learning Agreement will be reviewed and approved by the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education. The field experience coordinator will notify the student of the approval and/or feedback from the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education.

Learning Agreement Addendum

If the content of the Learning Agreement changes over the course of the 80--hour applied practice experience, students must submit a Learning Agreement Addendum no later than Week 4 of the applied practice experience course. The Learning Agreement Addendum Form can be found in Doc Sharing of the applied practice experience course. Students should send the completed Learning Agreement Addendum to the field experience coordinator. The addendum will be reviewed and approved by the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education before the student can continue. The field experience coordinator will notify the student of the approval and/or feedback from the associate dean, applied practice & continuing education.

Time Logs

Note: Students must use the time log template that is provided in the applied practice experience course’s Course Info area.

Students must maintain truthful and accurate time logs for every week of the applied practice experience course until all required hours are completed. Even if students are not logging hours for a given week, they must complete the time logs. In the time logs, students record a summary of their hours and the applied practice experience activities associated with those hours. Directly supervised applied practice experience hours must be indicated on all time logs, as required by the Affiliation Agreement.

Students must submit time logs to the applied practice experience faculty member that include the following:

• Dates
• Times (start and finish)
• Total hours for the week
• A detailed description of what work students completed during this time period
• The competencies that relate to each time interval
• All directly supervised hours
• Appropriate signatures from students and preceptors

Concerns regarding truthfulness or accuracy of time logs will result in a Code of Conduct inquiry. Students who are found to have falsified their time logs are subject to disciplinary action, including course failure and permanent dismissal from the university. For more information about the Code of Conduct, please refer to student handbook, Section 3: Student Conduct and Responsibilities.

Conference Call

At least once during the applied practice experience, a conference call is recommended to include students, their preceptor, co- preceptor if applicable, and their applied practice experience faculty member. The applied practice experience faculty member informs students of the requirements and procedures for setting up this call. The call is designed to be supportive of students and to monitor the fit of the site for meeting training goals and needs. It also offers students and their applied practice experience faculty member the opportunity to collaborate with the preceptor; answer any outstanding questions; and, when needed, identify, address, and resolve any difficulties students may be experiencing at the applied practice experience site. Students are responsible for ensuring that all parties participate.

Portfolio

The DrPH portfolio is an electronic copy of all products that students had a hand in creating, singly or jointly, throughout the applied practice experience. The portfolio may be used to demonstrate the students’ professional expertise and skills in public health and is a major component of a successful applied practice experience. It is strongly recommended that students keep a copy of all the products they submit to the electronic portfolio, so they have their documents for personal use. The electronic copy will become the property of Walden.

Students create their portfolio using the SkillsFirst portfolio system based in the Career Services Center of Walden University. Items to include in the portfolio are listed below. Once the portfolio is completed, students send their portfolio link to their preceptor for review. The preceptor completes the Portfolio Sign-Off sheet with a handwritten signature and returns it to the student. Students then provide the portfolio link to their instructor for grading.

Items to include in the portfolio:

1. Title page with the student’s name, field site name, preceptor name, and the date completed (may use the end date of the quarter).
2. Student checklist with a handwritten signature.
3. Table of contents listing all items included in the portfolio.
4. Mapping competencies worksheet completed in Module 1 and revised (if applicable) as per Instructor feedback.
5. Introduction of Products - Portfolio includes a 1- to 2-page Introduction of Product(s) with a brief description of the product (s) and an explanation of how, through developing the product, you demonstrated the associated competencies as outlined in your Mapping Competencies Worksheet.
6. Electronic copies of all products that were agreed upon in the Learning Agreement – and the product(s) demonstrates the associated competencies as was/were identified in your Module 1 Mapping Worksheet that was revised (if applicable) as per instructor feedback.
7. Supplemental items – Portfolio includes a statement of the fact that any supplemental item(s) that were not created singly or jointly by you are noted so as to clearly delineate your own work. If applicable, the statement also includes your written explanation as to why the supplemental item(s) is/are included in the portfolio.
8. Social change statement – Portfolio includes a Statement of Social Change as a one-page statement in which you explain how you applied positive social change during your practicum experience and evaluates the potential impact of this social change effort within the agency’s service delivery area.
9. Electronic copies of all signed time sheets.
10. Learning Agreement and all approved addenda to the Learning Agreement (if applicable).
11. References – Portfolio includes an APA formatted Reference List that includes all utilized references. Students should provide appropriate scholarly references for any products they have developed or contributed to the development of with their preceptor. This can include but not be limited to any scholarly research that the student reviewed prior to creating specific products (e.g., PowerPoint presentations, brochures).
12. Portfolio sign-off sheet with preceptor’s handwritten signature.

Note: After grading, portfolios may be reviewed by the Associate Dean, Applied Practice and Continuing Education for adherence to the above quality parameters. Portfolios that do not meet these criteria may result in a retroactive change of the student’s grade from Satisfactory to Unsatisfactory.

See the Code of Conduct and specific information on academic integrity and plagiarism in the Student Handbook, Section 3: Student Conduct and Responsibilities.