Field Experience

All Epidemiology M.P.H. students are required to participate in a field experience.  The purpose is to provide students with the opportunity to practice and apply their epidemiological knowledge and skills in a practice-based setting.  The field experience should compliment the epidemiology training and therefore should be done after the completion of Epidemiologic Methods I and II.  The field experience may include aspects of study design, and/or data collection and management.

Examples of field experience placements include:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
• Minnesota Department of Health
• Care Cambodia, Cambodia
• Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis
• Mayo Clinic, Rochester
• Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis
• Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii
• HealthPartners, Minneapolis
• World Health Organization, Switzerland

Description

Each Epidemiology M.P.H. student works with an epidemiology faculty advisor who may be the student’s academic advisor or another epidemiology M.P.H. faculty member and a community preceptor.  The preceptor must hold a master’s level degree.  In cooperation with the faculty advisor and the field preceptor, objectives and learning activities are developed along with evaluation criteria.  The faculty advisor provides guidance related to academic and curricular topics during the project and assures that the field experience meets the requirements for the epidemiology program standards and competencies.  The field preceptor provides consultation and guidance in their area of expertise in particular and contributes to the evaluation of the student’s performance.

Selection of Field Experience Sites

Students determine their field experience site in consultation with their advisor. The site must meet the student's stated educational objectives and provide for a preceptor who can be an effective role model for epidemiology knowledge and skills.