Purpose: This presentation will provide an overview of students' perceptions of career readiness based on assessment of student weekly logs from a Public Health Internship Program. Students complete a 15 week (600 hour), 12 credit undergraduate internship. Most students fulfill this requirement at volunteer agencies, government and community agencies. Major projects have included: community needs assessments, development/implementation of health education programs, coordinating special events, and developing educational materials for diverse populations.
Methods: Student logs were used to determine students' perceptions of career readiness. Students were responsible for completing 15 weekly logs of daily activities and weekly insights. These daily activities were reviewed along with weekly insights to determine if students' self-reported experiences were preparing them for entry level careers as public health educators. Fifty sets of logs were randomly selected for review. Categories of career readiness were determined through the 7 areas of responsibilities and competencies for entry-level health educators (National Commission of Health Education Credentialing).
Implications for Practice: Internship programs provide opportunities and benefits for students as they gain the necessary skills needed for entry-level positions. Therefore, the internship experience needs to enable the student to make the transition from the academic world to the world of work. This type of assessment has provided the faculty supervisors with important insights on the student internship experience. The data gained from this assessment has been used in curriculum revision, internship placement counseling, site supervision, and determining student satisfaction with the internship experience.
Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation, the participants will be able to: 1. recognize the need for evaluating student internship experiences for curriculum revisions and effective internship management. 2. identify important student perceptions about the internship and career readiness. 3. analyze how student perceptions about career readiness changes throughout the internship experience. 4. recognize the need for student log analysis to identify the postive and negative experiences during the internship experience that can be used for internship management. 5. Apply the log analysis method to other Public Health Internship Programs for curriculum revisions and internship management
Keywords: Interns, Public Health Education
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.