Course Requirements

Students pursuing the MPH in Public Health must complete 48 hours of graduate level coursework and maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher, which includes:

Internship Practicum and Capstone Project (Fieldwork) Requirement

Gaining practical fieldwork experience is an integral part of the Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Students are required to complete a total of nine credits of fieldwork experience. This fieldwork has two distinct components: (a) PH 595 Internship Practicum and (b) PH 598 Capstone Project. The internship practicum is a real-world, applied practice experience (APE) that advances the mission of the fieldwork placement site and supports the attainment of public health competencies. The capstone project serves as an integrative learning experience (ILE) that demonstrates the synthesis of foundational and generalist concentration (program-specific) competencies in the form of an independent, scholarly project. Students, in consultation with faculty, select foundational and concentration-specific competencies appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals. Typically, the work for the ILE aligns with the APE to allow for an immersive fieldwork experience. Policies and procedures can be found in the Internship Practicum and Capstone Project: A Fieldwork Guide.

This fieldwork experience is designed to be responsive to the interests of students, align with faculty strengths, and meet the needs of employers by offering a supervised, rigorous, in-depth, skills-based education in a real-world setting. To be eligible and register for internship practicum and capstone project credits, students are required to:

• Hold a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Have completed coursework in the five core areas, and have met all associated MPH Foundational and MPH Generalist Competencies*
• Have completed or be concurrently enrolled in PH 525 Epidemiology II: Applied Epidemiology

*For students enrolled in a 4+1 program, students must have successfully completed all coursework as outlined in their program plan for terms 7 and 8 to be eligible and register for PH 595 Internship Practicum and PH 598 Capstone Project courses.

For PH 595 and PH 598, one semester credit hour represents four hours per week or 60 hours per semester of fieldwork experience. Thus, three credit hours equates to 180 hours of fieldwork per semester or 12 hours of fieldwork per week, and the total 9 credit hours of fieldwork equates to 540 hours. 

All fieldwork for which academic credit is sought must be approved by the field placement coordinator or the MPH program director before registering for coursework. Students should plan to meet with the field placement coordinator in their first year of study to discuss fieldwork ideas, areas of interest, professional goals, and existing skills; this meeting will involve a review of the student’s MPH Fieldwork Placement Student Interest Form.

Fieldwork placement sites may require students to formally apply and interview for an intern position. The field placement coordinator will work closely with the student to secure a suitable fieldwork placement.

The faculty advisor has an important role in this process by monitoring progress toward fulfilling degree requirements, discussing how to select an internship practicum that can advance the student’s career goals, and may also guide the development of the capstone project. In most cases, the faculty advisor will be the faculty mentor for both the internship practicum and the capstone project. The faculty mentor oversees the student’s internship practicum, evaluates the student’s performance, and assesses the student’s academic progress in meeting internship requirements and attainment of competencies. The faculty mentor also guides the development of the capstone project, supervises the student’s work toward its completion, and assesses the student’s academic progress in meeting capstone requirements and attainment of Public Health competencies.

PH 595 Internship Practicum and PH 598 Capstone Project courses are graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. A grade of satisfactory is required to receive credit for these courses and meet degree requirements.

Options for fulfilling the fieldwork requirement may include placement in local health departments, public or private sector healthcare agencies as well as governmental or non-governmental entities or community-based organizations. The field placement coordinator maintains a list of agencies that have formally agreed to host students. An affiliation agreement or other formal agreement (e.g., Memorandum of Understanding) should be established with the prospective fieldwork placement site before a student can be placed. Students may identify other fieldwork opportunities, either on- or off-campus, and should work closely with the field placement coordinator and faculty advisor to ensure that all degree requirements can be met by the fieldwork experience. Students may also seek fieldwork opportunities outside of the geographic region through formal programs that have experience coordinating applied practice experiences to meet students’ academic requirements. Fieldwork placement sites may provide stipends or employment to students as part of their internship practicum; however, these financial agreements are between the student and the agency, and are not covered under the affiliation agreement or other formal agreement with Binghamton University.

Additionally, some fieldwork placement sites may have specific requirements that students must meet before placement in the agency, institution, or organization. Students are responsible for meeting these requirements and any ensuing costs (e.g., cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification, health evaluation, immunizations, criminal background checks, or workplace drug screening) not covered by the fieldwork placement site. Students are responsible for any travel, accommodations, or meal expenses associated with their fieldwork. Students are accountable for knowing the policies and procedures related to fieldwork experiences, for meeting the internship practicum and capstone project academic requirements, and for ensuring that all required approvals and mandatory documentation for the fieldwork experience are submitted in a timely manner in order to meet MPH degree requirements. 

Academic Advising

Students enrolled in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program will be assigned a professional advisor from the Decker Division of Advising and Academic Excellence as well as a faculty advisor from the Public Health Division.

The Decker professional advising staff is available to guide students from pre-admission through graduation. In addition to professional staff, Decker peer advisors have extensive training and are regularly available to answer students’ questions quickly and efficiently. Collaboratively, they help students understand admission requirements, orient to their program of study, establish a relationship with their assigned faculty advisor, and progress to graduation in a timely fashion.

The faculty advisor assists students in developing a program plan that supports their academic success. Students will have an opportunity to assess their academic progress, skill development, and achievement of public health competencies at the beginning of the program and each semester thereafter. The faculty advisor can also provide guidance on career opportunities and assist students with field placements that align with their professional interests. For students who encounter difficulties, the faculty advisor serves as an important resource for a range of support services. Students are responsible for scheduling regular meetings with their faculty advisor to assess progress and should promptly contact their faculty advisor to address any questions or concerns that may arise during intervening periods.