MPH Practicum

As an MPH Student, that is the Practicum Course/Capstone experience that is required to help those obtaining the degree at Iowa to get practical experience in the field. Currently, I am in my last semester and completing my practicum at CASI (Center for Active Seniors Inc.) in Davenport, IA. Working with my faculty advisor, Dr. Kaskie and the Center on Aging at Iowa, I was able to obtain such an experience and gain knowledge at an agency and in the field of aging that complements my Aging fellowship I am also currently in this academic year.

So far, it has been a great experience at CASI, working with the staff, learning more about aging issues in the community of Scott County and also networking for future opportunities in my career as a health administrator.

Students can complete their practicum experience wherever they want (i.e. international, nation-wide and local). This gives a student at Iowa the ability to explore new territories while completing a project that will give them experience in a focus area of their choice while still meeting the core public health competencies for the MPH degree.

I hope to give more updates at CASI and hope you're able to explore some of the MPH website to look at other students and their practicum projects.

Ryan

PS - If you're technical and detail-oriented like me, here is a straight definition of the practicum requirements at Iowa:

"As a capstone experience for the Master of Public Health degree, students complete a 200-contact-hour Practicum project in a public health setting. This project, including a final written report and a professional presentation, constitutes the final examination of the MPH degree. A site for each Practicum project will be selected by the student with guidance from the course faculty, which has developed working relationships with a variety of organizations that address public health issues."