Culminating Experience
A practice-based report is one of four culminating experience options required for completion of the MPH degree. There are two paths to a practice-based culminating experience. The student may choose to extend their practicum or the student may choose another practice-based experience. The practice-based culminating experience must be agency driven and contribute to public health practice.
For the practicum to qualify as an MPH culminating experience, the experience should entail a substantial involvement by the student in both time and attention, to the extent that he/she is immersed in the experience as a principal activity. The student is expected to enroll for additional credit hours. This is in addition to the practicum hours registered for and the practicum report prepared.
Both options require advanced planning. A proposal must be submitted to the student's committee and approved in advance of the experience. At the conclusion of the experience, the student must submit a report that documents and explains his/her involvement.
Most practice-based culminating experience reports will follow a standard format:
- Introduction/Statement of the Problem - Why is this issue important?
- Background and Significance - A critical review and synthesis of relevant literature applied to public health.
- Specific Aims
- Methods/Procedures/Approaches/Strategies
- Project Findings or Accomplishments
- Discussion
- Limitations/Strengths
- Public Health Implications
- References
