Product Requirement

What is a final product?

Products are tangible work items developed by the student during their internship that benefits the community partner.

Final products should be those typical for an individual in an entry-level MPH position. For example, taking notes at a meeting or creating a meeting agenda would not count as a final product. However, the meeting could be part of a larger, community/stakeholder engagement plan, which would be acceptable as a final product such as leading a session at a meeting or presenting and facilitating a discussion, etc.

Final products should be based on the Evidence-Based Public Health model. Evidence-Based Public Health provides the critical link between public health education, research, and practice. This model ensures that public health practitioners employ evidence-based best practices to assess the needs of communities, determine key health issues, propose appropriate programs and policies, and rigorously evaluate and effectively manage public health efforts. Final products that market, promote or endorse services, products, medications/drugs (FDA approved or not) are not acceptable.

Final products should be appropriate for the background (education and training) and credentials of the student. For example, a student who is not a Registered Dietician should not be providing nutritional recommendations; a student who does not have a medical degree should not be providing medical advice.

As students plan their internship experience (i.e. prior to starting the internship proposal form), students should work with their internship site to determine the anticipated work products the student will be responsible for developing during their internship. When completing the Internship Proposal Form, students are required to select 5 MPH Foundational Competencies (additional competencies may be departmental) and identify the final product they will develop which demonstrates mastery of that competency, as well as provide contextual details about how the product fits into the overall project goal. The Internship Advisor reserves the right to request the student change their products or select a different internship organization if the internship activities and/or products do not meet the requirements of the MPH Internship Program at the UAB School of Public Health.

At the end of the internship, students are required to submit at least two (2) distinct* final products that demonstrate the five foundational competencies selected in their Internship Proposal Form. However, students must map all five (5) competencies to the products, thus more than two products may be required. Students can submit up to five (5) products, one to demonstrate each of the five (5) competencies selected. For example, one product (e.g., a written assignment) may demonstrate three competencies and the second product (e.g., a video presentation) may demonstrate the other two competencies. In another example, a student may submit five products if each one demonstrates a different competency. A single infographic or blog post does not count as a product; however, these may be components of a larger product like an awareness campaign, communication, or marketing plan. Competencies and products will differ from student to student.

*You can’t submit two of the same products (i.e. two literature reviews or data analysis), the two products you submit must be different/distinct products.

Products will be evaluated by the internship advisor and serve as a key component of the final pass/no pass grade.

If final products change over the course of the internship, please inform your internship coordinator and internship advisor as soon as possible. 

EXAMPLES

This is not an exhaustive list. Students may propose products not included here. 

• Advocacy or awareness campaign
• Community Health Asset report
• Cost-effectiveness analysis report
• Data management system 
• Data analysis report
• eLearning course 
• Grant proposal (or part of a grant proposal) 
• Health Education Curriculum Plan
• Interview guide 
• Interview reports 
• Journal article
• Lecture or Presentation
• Literature review analyses report
• Logic models 
• Needs Assessment
• Policy Analyses and/or Proposal Report
• Program Evaluation Tool or Report
• Project Management Plan (work-plan, SWAT analysis, stakeholder engagement)
• PSAs Plan
• Public Health Intervention Plan
• Quality improvement plan
• Survey or questionnaire design and development plan
• Toolkit
• Training/Procedure Manual 
• Webinar 
• White paper

What is an “Unacceptable” Final Product?

Final products that do not align with the competencies you have selected or align with your internship experience. Final products that do not demonstrate evidence-based public health; products that market, promote or endorse services, products, medications/drugs (FDA approved or not).

Final products that do not represent graduate-level work. Final products with typos or mistakes, haphazardly designed, plagiarized, poorly organized or presented do NOT reflect graduate-level work. Use your final products as an opportunity to impress both your preceptor and internship advisor (and possibly others). 

Example of appropriate final products in an academic setting

For internships in an academic setting, the focus of the final products must be external community partners. For example, if you are examining data to determine barriers to treatment and care, the data analysis or written summary developed for the academic institution would NOT be appropriate. However, the survey or questionnaire you developed to gather the data, a resource guide you developed based on findings for the target population, or a health policy statement written by you for legislators with recommendations based on the findings would be appropriate. 

Working with confidential data

If you are working with confidential data during the internship, you should discuss how you will submit the final products with your preceptor, internship advisor, and internship coordinator prior to submitting the Internship Description and Agreement Form (ex. a student and preceptor may choose to redact sensitive information before submission). Final products will not be made public unless permitted by both the student and preceptor. 

How to write about your final products in your Internship Proposal Form

When completing the Internship Proposal Form, students will be required to select 5 MPH Foundational Competencies (additional competencies may be departmental). Once a competency is selected, the student must identify the final product that will be created which demonstrates mastery of that competency, as well as provide contextual details about how the product fits into the overall project goal. It is okay for a final product to relate to more than one competency; however the described association between the competency and final product must be unique.  

Competency: You must select at least 5 MPH Foundational Competencies; additional Competencies may be departmental	Final Product: Each box must include a final product, and a description of how the final product relates to the competency.
MPH #1: Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice	Final Product: Data Collection and Report Description: I will be conducting qualitative, post-intervention interviews for those who have completed the intervention. Through these interviews I will be able to identify themes that emerge from the overall intervention experience among participants, and collect that information in the form of a final report.
MPH #8: Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs.	Final Product: Cultural and behavioral competency presentations  Description: Birmingham is a diverse city with different cultural and religious practices. This internship requires that staff provide quality and respectful care. I will be collaborating with the training coordinator to incorporate cultural and behavioral competency presentations into the staff training guide.
MPH #9: Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention	Final Product: Safety Training Program Description: I will design a safety training program for laboratory staff that will be tailored to their occupational activities to include specific occupation hazards like electrical equipment, slip hazards, and storing of concentrated cleaning chemicals.
MPH #18: Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors.	Final Product: Safety Training Program Description: The employees in the labs come from varied social, cultural, educational, and economic backgrounds. The greatest challenge will be in communicating the hazards and ways to prevent harm for the benefit of their current and future health to this broad population in an efficient manner. For example: Some employees may not have computer access in their homes to undertake this training.
MPH #19: Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation.	Final Product: PowerPoint Presentation on Women’s Health Description: I will create and deliver a PowerPoint presentation on Women’s Health issues to homeless women in Pathway’s Day Center.