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MPH Students

 The MPH program at University of Louisville SPHIS is a 2-year program involving a summer practicum placement to gain an insight into the public health practice. There are also opportunities to be involved with the community throughout the year through local organizations.

Practicum Information

The practicum experience is designed to bridge the gap between academia and public health practice by providing field experience at a public health-related worksite. Each MPH student identifies a practice site, develops a learning agreement in consultation with the practice site mentor and faculty mentor, works at the site to address the components of the learning agreement and to gain experience within the organization, prepares a written characterization of the practice site, and prepares written and oral reports describing the practicum experience.

Active Practicum Partnerships:

• Local to Louisville and Kentucky, other places within the United States and also international programs. Please look under 'active' sites at this link

Examples of Past Practicum Experiences:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Kerstie Nichols is the theGlobal Health concentrate of the MPH program class of 2019. She spent the summer working at James Bell and Associates company, helping with there research consulting. 

ZAGREB, CROATIA - Madeline Tomlinson, class of 2019 in the Global Health track spent the summer in Zagreb working with a paediatrician at the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health looking at vaccination hesitancy in the region. 

CALIFORNIA: Pallavi Shinde is in the Global Health Concentration of the MPH program and helped well-known public health and medical professional with his many projects at the University of California during the summer of 2018. 

NIGERIA: Damilola Sopitan, also in the Global Health track of the MPH program travelled to Nigeria to work with Dr Friday. She looked at hospital efficiency and structure throughout the region.  

GHANA: Maryam Ahmed, MPH, Class of 2014 – Travelled with faculty and one other student to Ghana on a 3-week trip that is offered yearly by the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences.

• His research interests included exploring the social, cultural and psychological components of the extended family, a common group in Africa and underdeveloped countries. He looked into the effect this had on mental health by conducting face-to-face interviews with three women inn a polygamous relationship with the chief of the community.
• During the 3 weeks, Ahmed also helped analyze data that was collected in the previous year by staff at a school in Northern Ghana, looking at personal and institutional barriers to accessing healthcare. Presentations to local hospital staff were made with the findings.
• To learn more about Ahmed’s experience, please read his own account here: http://louisville.edu/sphis/news/culture-and-public-health-an-experience-in-ghana

"As we began our journey, we did not know what to expect, but we were excited about what the experience could bring to our lives. We embarked on a journey that we would never forget. We were given the opportunity to embrace the culture and the beautiful people of Ghana, Africa."

- Chandler Hawkins, SPHIS Student, June 2017

http://louisville.edu/sphis/news/ghana-sankofa-experience

SIERRA LEONE: As a volunteer project, Allison Siu led an effort to raise $1000 to feed a small village in Sierra Leone after the Ebola outbreak, as well as collaborating with medical students to organize an educational workshop about the outbreak, the disease process and the role of health professionals in Louisville. 

GUANGZHOU, CHINA – several SPHIS students had the chance to travel with Dr Jacobs, pHD and Tammi Thomas, MSW, on a 10-day trip to China. The students visited Jinan University and the Guangdong Provincial CDC to learn about Chinese history, culture food safety and economic challenges.

http://louisville.edu/sphis/news/china-through-a-public-health-lens

GHANA – Chandler Hawkins accompanied 7 other students and Dr Harris to Ghana in 2017.

• On this trip they facilitated and completed a photo voice project that entailed asking community members to take pictures of things around them that affected their health and interviewing them. Through these interviews, we gained a better understanding of the public health issues within the population to conduct research into the culture and needs here.         

http://louisville.edu/sphis/news/ghana-sankofa-experience

UGANDA – TiQi Brown, spent part of his summer during his MPH at University of Louisville learning about the health access in Uganda. He partook in a program through the Child Family health International organization.

• Through this four-week, intensive program with clinical rotations in six areas: primary care, HIV, maternal, dental, hospital, and nutrition. The projects centered on what strategies could be enacted to improve access and promote healthy lifestyles to combat preventable issues within the local population.

“This experience re-centered my interest in health and re-solidified my personal drive to become a future health professional. Looking back, it left a huge impact on me. I learned so much, and it has given me the drive to keep pushing myself.”

TiQi Brown, MPH '2017