249859 Building future leaders in recreational injury prevention and control

Monday, October 31, 2011: 9:10 AM

Gabrielle Fisher , Public Risk Management Program, National Park Service, Washington, DC
Jay Satz , Northwest Office, Student Conservation Association, Seattle, WA
Sara B. Newman, DrPH, MCP , Risk Management Division, National Park Service, Washington, DC
In 2006, the National Park Service (NPS) established the first ever science based Public Risk Management Program (PRMP) to support park efforts to prevent unintentional injuries in visitors. With limited funding, few staff, and a goal to build future leaders in the field of injury prevention in outdoor environments, PRMP established an internship program in collaboration with the Student Conservation Association to provide students with opportunities to gain practical experience in park settings. The program serves as an extension of PRMP research, programmatic, and educational initiatives to improve injury prevention in parks. After a pilot phase, lessons learned were translated into a highly innovative and successful injury prevention internship program. Through two years of systematic review of intern deliverables, analysis of evaluations from park staff and interns, and collaborations with partners, this session will demonstrate how PRMP staff refined the internship program to incorporate unique features into five essential elements of the program: project development, intern recruitment and selection; management and structure; training; and program evaluation. Since 2007, PRMP has placed 30 students nationwide to engage in park-specific risk management projects and has saved the government over $1 million in outsourcing costs. Interns have delivered quality products to parks and continued their experience by publishing in peer reviewed journals, presenting at national conferences, and continuing their work with parks to fulfill graduate level research requirements. Interns have gone on to medical school and the CDC EIS program. The program has been replicated by other NPS programs and other federal agencies.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Administration, management, leadership
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
1. Analyze 5 key components necessary to design and implement a national internship program that builds future leaders in injury prevention. 2. Explain 3 critical elements needed to manage an effective injury prevention internship program that builds future leaders. 3. Describe 3 critical elements used to evaluate and improve an injury prevention internship program.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I oversee the Public Risk Management Internship Program at the National Park Service.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.