Experience Preferred

Common Experiences and Lessons Learned

The value of our internship projects became evident to us throughout our studies, as we frequently have had the opportunity to share our findings and lessons learned. Communicating with other health professionals enhances our ability to connect with diverse stakeholders, and in turn provides us with new perspectives that inform our own career development. This exposure enhances our careers through several mechanisms. First, we gain opportunities to promote the profession through planning committee membership and student/new professional organizations. For example through the Society for Public Health Education (2013), what started with scholarships to attend a conference and present our practicum projects became multiple opportunities to join local chapters, serve on committees, and plan and implement a preconference workshop for students and new professionals. These experiences enhanced our understanding of the diverse roles of health education professionals and broadened our networks by connecting us with colleagues around the country.

Kristen Hernandez, MPH, The University of Texas at El Paso

I am the first of my family to graduate from college and continue my education, so the majority of my academic guidance was deeply rooted in what I heard during my coursework. In my sophomore year, a graduate student spoke to my health promotion class about health disparities and research she did in the community. I introduced myself after class and asked how I could get involved in health disparities research. Making this one connection led to many others, including those who supervised my first internship experience.

My first opportunity to practice outside the classroom was as part of a research team that collected data on nutrition and physical activity among children. This provided much-needed experience and confidence and made me competitive for future internships. I kept in touch with the graduate student I met sophomore year, who later supervised my undergraduate community health practicum experience and encouraged me to pursue graduate school. Through her and through other faculty and students, I began to realize the benefits of reciprocal mentoring (Mata, Latham, & Ransome, 2010) in that I discovered that I had much to share with my own mentors, as well as with student colleagues. For example, in one of my internships I did a lot of data management and program evaluation, learning new approaches that I have shared within my network. Surrounding yourself with others who share a passion for the role of health education in public health provides many opportunities for your own growth and for you to help others grow and learn. In addition to the importance of participating in internships, my mentors taught us to apply for stipends, to submit our work for publication and presentation at conferences, and to participate in professional organizations. We have collaborated on many community health education projects and have shared results and lessons learned regionally and nationally.

Like many MPH programs, my current school requires a service learning practicum experience. This was also very important to my career development. In addition to my required practicum, I participated in the DHPE health equity internship program and benefited from the exposure to other students around the country as well as the mentoring and financial support. Through my practicum site I helped evaluate state health programs’ communication strategies, was part of a workgroup collaborating with other agency departments, and received a crash course in managed care health services. Once again, I gained valuable experience that influenced my career plans, and motivated me to pursue doctoral education in health policy once I have a few years of work experience.

Sandra Bejarano, MPH(c), CHES, The University of Texas at El Paso

As a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) in the U.S.–Mexico border region, I have experience in community health education, health disparities research, and community/academic partnerships. Much of this experience I gained through internships. I have seen firsthand the benefit of increasing the diversity of public health researchers and practitioners. I have presented my work related to mentoring and collaborations between community and academic partners at national public health conferences, campus and community forums, and health organization trainings. Sharing our work to contribute to improved public health practice is an important part of being a health education specialist (Mata & Davis, 2012).

As an undergraduate interning with the HHDRC, I gained experience in most of the areas of responsibility for health education specialists and later became a CHES. As part of my practicum, I joined a binational STI/HIV coalition. As a team we assessed social, environmental, and political conditions that may affect health education, and prioritized community health education needs. We mobilized community partners for National HIV Testing Day, and I developed an evaluation tool to improve subsequent events. I also developed educational materials tailored to Hispanic women that are still used by several agencies and were recently updated for our 2013 National HIV Testing Day event.

Serving as a resource person and communicating and advocating for health and health education also allowed me to mentor fellow students through their own practicum experiences, as my mentors constantly encouraged me to mentor others. This gave me even more experience and confidence, which in turn helped me to apply for DHPE funding and then a graduate research assistant position. In my practicum I received mentoring from my faculty mentor, my preceptor at the health department, and DHPE staff. I also continued to volunteer with the HHDRC, which enabled me to maintain established mentoring relationships and nourish community/academic partnerships. My practicum provided experience in the five core areas of public health (CEPH, 2011) as well as in Hispanic health disparities and border health.

As a first-generation college student and a single parent, I am particularly aware of the benefits of paid internships and research positions through which we gain experience while earning a paycheck. Although paid internships are uncommon in our field and are very competitive, I believe the high quality of my undergraduate practicum gave me the confidence to apply and the experience to be selected for paid internships and other positions. They also prepared me well for my first full-time job in the field, and my new employer is particularly impressed with the coalition-building experience I gained through internships.

Margarita Chavez, MS (Health Education), University of New Mexico

Fieldwork experience was an extremely important part of my education. After multiple courses in community health, including hundreds of lectures and many hours reading and researching, I was anxious to get out into the community. My fieldwork experience showed me that I had more learning to do! Being able to sit and talk with people from my community and let them tell me the best ways to educate about health was an experience I could not get from a textbook. I would talk with patients about chronic disease prevention and they would tell me, “I will never make changes like that” or “That will never work for me.” I was then able to learn what would work for them and how to help them make changes. This practical application showed me that each patient, each community, each priority population is unique and any prevention or intervention program must be tailored to their needs. Without this humbling and practical experience, I would have been unprepared for the health education profession or my graduate studies.

My graduate studies included fieldwork at a breast cancer education and advocacy community organization. I helped analyze 15 years of program data, provided program evaluation, advocated for women in the program, and provided direct patient education. Learning the inner workings of a community-based organization was an eye-opener. I now understand the critical role of data collection in the overall success of a program. As an external program evaluator I was also able to see how every staff member, volunteer, and dollar spent is critical to every program.

Because I continued to volunteer with both of my fieldwork sites, I continued to grow as a health educator. I also linked with local congressmen and county commissioners through the clinic and continue to work closely with them to advocate for health in my community. Many providers and physicians from the clinic have been great references as I grow in my professional career.

The experience gained through these internships motivated me to apply for the Exito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training. This paid internship involves qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and focuses on women being treated for breast cancer. I believe that fieldwork or internship experiences, as a part of health education curriculum, should not be an option. Practical application of coursework before being thrust into the professional world provides the knowledge and skills every student needs. Fieldwork gave me credibility as a public health educator. It also showed me that the people we work with do not always fit neatly into the theories or perspectives we learn in school. The exposure to my community members was just as beneficial as the exposure to mentors and researchers in the field.

Francis J. Reyes, MPH, Health Communications Fellow, National Cancer Institute

Throughout my college career, I had many opportunities to learn new skills, network, and perform at the professional level as a health educator. As an undergraduate, I interned with the HHDRC, learning public speaking, curriculum development, supervision, collaboration, and networking. I worked with several community-based organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of El Paso, and with state and local health departments. My practicum experience led to a paid position as a research assistant, as well as a summer consulting job with an international public health organization.

My internship experiences gave me confidence to pursue my MPH degree, and to apply for additional internships. Like several of my coauthors, I received a stipend from DHPE that greatly enhanced not only my finances but my professional network as well. During that practicum at our local health department, I worked mostly in public health preparedness and epidemiology. DHPE helped me connect the dots between my academic practicum, health policy, and health equity. I learned more about the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and the role that health educators play in providing them. My practicum experience also gave me the qualifications and references that helped me obtain a paid research associate position that lasted throughout my graduate program, and gave me yet another mentored opportunity to develop skills and strengthen professional networks.

I believe it was because of the experience I gained through my internships that I was hired upon graduation as a Health Communications Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. As I near the end of my 18-month fellowship, I realize just how much the experience and confidence gained in my internships have contributed to my career development.