Seminar in Contemporary Public Health Issues (PHC 6601) is designed to provide a framework for students to integrate a variety of public health topics, issues, and skills into a culminating experience for the MPH program. Students will be enrolled in this course in the final semester, but elements of the course should be worked on throughout the MPH program.
Campus – Interprofessional Learning in Healthcare (IPLH)
Since October 2012, the MPH program has participated in the IPLH course, which is part of the longitudinal curriculum developed by the Health Science Center colleges and the Office of Interprofessional Education. The course consists of three half-day sessions that use team-based learning as a pedagogical method, dividing over 600 students into eight rooms, and further dividing into groups of seven students. Approximately 60% of the participants have worked with interprofessional teams as part of the first year Interdisciplinary Family Health course, while 40% are new to interprofessional education at UF. Participants include all second-year students in the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy; the accelerated BSN students from the College of Nursing; all first-year Physician Assistant students; all first-year Masters of Public Health students; and all second-year students in the doctoral program in Physical Therapy and the master’s program in Occupational Therapy. Students complete preparatory readings upon which they will be tested, then participate in group solutions for problems related to the content areas. Faculty facilitators and content experts from across the Health Science Center serve as instructional leaders. Content areas, selected by the Strategic Planning Committee for the University of Florida Health Science Center, include health systems, professional ethics, and health care quality.
All first-year MPH students are required to attend these sessions, to read the material assigned before each session (about 1-2 hours), and to participate fully in the case discussions. Students will be tested on the reading material at the beginning of each session and grades for these tests and peer evaluations will be forwarded to the MPH program and counted towards the requirements of PHC 6601.
Session dates for the 2021-2022 year will be posted when they become available.
Online
Online Topical Seminars
Topical seminars are recorded live on campus and provided as monthly seminar options within the Canvas course site.
Interprofessional Learning in Healthcare (IPLH)
Beginning May 2018, students will be required to complete an interprofessional learning experience. Interprofessional education (also known as inter=profesional education or “IPE”) refers to occasions when students from two or more professions in health and social care learn together during all or part of their professional training with the object of cultivating collaborative practice for providing client- or patient-centered health care.
An interprofessional learning experience is a requirement of accreditation, so completion of course materials is required to successfully complete your degree.
Beyond the accreditation requirement, IPLH will allow you to group and develop attitudes, skills, and behaviors necessary to work effectively in healthcare teams. Students will collaborate across disciplines to work on example case studies. In addition to working with other students in the online MPH program, students will also work with other online students from the College of Nursing DNP program.
IPLH consists of three online modules, which students will complete by working with their assigned team. IPLH is offered each summer, and students are required to complete all three modules in one summer. Students will not be enrolled in IPLH their first semester in the program (i.e. if you begin in summer, you will be enrolled the following summer).
Students WILL NOT be approved to go out on internship until they have completed their IPLH requirement.
Each IPLH module will count as two topical seminar credits, for a total of six seminar credits.
Special Project
During the internship experience, each student is required to complete a special project, which serves as the basis of a written report and an oral presentation. The special project may be one of several activities undertaken during an internship. However, it should be a substantial project which involves the identification of a question/problem/issue, review of relevant literature, application of appropriate public health methods, description of results, and identification of strengths and weaknesses. If a student is part of a team working on a large project, the student’s special project is the piece for which they are responsible.
An oral or poster presentation based on the student’s special project is made during a Public Health Day near the end of the student’s final semester in the program.
Faculty Advisor Roles and Responsibilities
The Faculty Advisor approves the internship proposal form and work plan prior to a student beginning internship. (Student submits advisor-approved plan to Internship Coordinator approximately one month prior to internship start date)
Throughout PHC 6601, Faculty Advisors offer feedback and provide a Complete/Incomplete grade for each draft portion of the Special Project written report (Background, Methods, and Implications).
Special Projects (presented on Public Health Day) and the accompanying written report are graded by the Faculty Advisor.
Special Project Presentation Assessment Form