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Applied Practice Experience

Applied Practice Experience at USF's COPH

 

Applied Practice Experience

What are Applied Practice Experiences (APE)?

APE allows students to apply the knowledge, skills, and theories learned in the classroom to real-world public health issues outside of the classroom. Students will demonstrate attainment of MPH foundational and concentration-specific competencies through these experiences. Students have the opportunity to learn from public health professionals in a variety of settings including governmental, non-governmental, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. One of the student’s experiences must be an interprofessional education experience where the student will collaborate with professionals outside of public health. During their APE, students will also build their professional network, collaborate with interprofessional teams and jumpstart their public health career!

What are some examples of APE?

  1. Field Experience
  2. Approved Service-Learning Course: Community Application of Public Health Sciences - PHC 6934. This Public Health Service-Learning Course and Applied Practice Experience provides firsthand learning experience conducting a professional quality evolution for a community-based program. The focus is on mentoring and assisting you in partnering with a community organization to evaluate their program(s) to better serve the needs of children and families in our community and state.
  3. Volunteer activities arranged through USF Health Service Corps

Student Testimonials for PHC 6934: Community Application of Public Health Sciences

Alyssa Persad USF COPH

Alyssa Persad, MPH Student

"This course is phenomenal in teaching students how to properly evaluate a program by working closely with a community partner. It gives students a hands-on perspective of what it will be like to work in public health, and shows students how to produce a product that will greatly benefit the program they're evaluating. I highly recommend this course to anyone who is seeking real-world experience within the field."
Gabriela Cruz USF COPH

Gabriela Cruz, MPH Student

“Taking the Community Application of Public Health Science course has been an enlightening and hands-on experience that challenges a public health graduate student to apply what they’ve learned to a real-world scenario. The professors are extremely knowledgeable and encourage students to ask questions to guide conversation. It has been incredibly rewarding working with a stakeholder, discussing their project, and learning about their needs."
Chinwendu Ilonzo USF COPH

Chinwendu Ilonzo, MPH Student

“My experience in the Community Application of Public Health Sciences course was great! We learned about the foundation of program evaluation and applied this knowledge to a semester-long evaluation project. We brainstormed with the organization’s Director of Federal Grants to produce formative evaluations and action steps to better guide their workforce development. This course has prepared me for future program evaluation work. I highly recommend taking it!"