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Syllabus

Graduate Programs in Public Health

GPH 743 Applied Practice Experience – Spring 2019

Credits - 3

Description

The goal of the applied practice experience (APE) is for students to demonstrate the application of public health concepts and to enhance skills such as leadership, communication, and collaboration.  Students will work with experienced public health practitioners in a community-based setting to create products of use to the host organization and demonstrate mastery of public health competencies.

Materials

No materials are required for this course. 

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

 By the end of this course you will have shown yourself able to:

  • Familiarize with the different faces of public health.
  • Define the role of the applied practice experience site and how it fulfills public health goals and essential services.
  • Identify the strengths of different personality types and how they can be engaged in the context of public health.
  • Examine professionalism and communication skills.

Assignments

Discussion Boards:

Each student is expected to post at least four times for each discussion board. One post should be an original contribution to the discussion. The following three should be in response to classmates’ posts. 

Assignment 1, Week 1: Essential Services

Using the 10 essential services of public health as a guide, write a one-page essay describing the difference between public health and medicine. 

Assignment 2, Week 4: Interprofessional Practice Paper

Using the example from the public health interdisciplinary case competition, how can different disciplines come together to address public health? What are the different educational backgrounds of the people who work at the site? What impact do you think interprofessional practice can have on public health work that your site does?

Assignment 3, Week 7: Systems Thinking on Public Health Work

Systems thinking is another important skill for public health professionals. Read the attached journal article, and write a one-page reflection paper on how systems thinking is applied at your site. What do you understand by the term ‘systems thinking’? What role does systems thinking have in public health? How could systems thinking be incorporated into your applied practice experience?

Assignment 4, Week 11: Reflection on Communication

Write a one-page reflection paper on your communication experience at your site. How well does your preceptor communicate with you, and how well do you communicate with others at the site? What is working, and what isn’t? Explain the importance of teamwork and communication for public health professionals. Use the readings for this week as a guide.

Assignment 5, Week 13: Final Report Draft

Submit draft of final report.

Assignment 6, Week 13: Leadership Reflection

Read the attached journal articles, and write a one-page reflection paper on the leadership experience at your site. Using one of the definitions of leadership in the paper, describe the leadership experience at your site – this could be positive or negative. 

Assignment 7, Week 14: Plan for ILE

In your final semester in the program, you will write a paper as part of the Integrative Learning Experience (ILE). This paper can be based on the work you completed for your APE, or on any other topic of interest to you. 

Assignment 8, Week 15: Synopsis

Design a creative one-page synopsis of your practice experience. Each person’s page will feature in an online magazine of applied practice experiences. This document will be shared with faculty, students and staff of the public health program.

Assignment 9, Week 15: Final Report

Submit final report and evaluation 

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

AssignmentPoints
Discussions5 * 5 points = 25 points
Essential Services Paper5 points
Reflection on Interprofessional Practice5 points
Reflection on Systems Thinking5 points
Progress Report7 points
Reflection on Communication5 points
Final Report Draft10 points
Reflection on Leadership5 points
Plan for ILE5 points
Synopsis5 points
Final Report21 points
Evaluation2 points
Total100 points

This course is graded as pass/fail however, in order to pass a student must:

  1. Create a minimum of 2 high quality products that are useful for the site.
  2. Meet a minimum of 5 competencies.
  3. Receive a satisfactory evaluation from the preceptor.

Failure to meet any of these will result in an automatic fail.

Grade Breakdown

  • Honors (H): 95-100%
  • High Pass (HP): 90 – 94%
  • Pass (P): 80 – 89%
  • Fail (F): 79% and below

Schedule

Course Schedule:

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 16, which ends on Sunday. 

  • Week 01: Jan 2 – Jan 9
  • Week 02: Jan 9 – Jan 16
  • Week 03: Jan 16 – Jan 23
  • Week 04: Jan 23 –  Jan 30
  • Week 05: Jan 30 –  Feb 6
  • Week 06: Feb 6 – Feb 13
  • Week 07: Feb 13 –  Feb 20
  • Week 08: Feb 20 –  Feb 27
  • Week 09: Feb 27 – Mar 6
  • Week 10: Mar 6 –  Mar 13
  • Week 11: Mar 13 – Mar 20
  • Week 12: Mar 20 –  Mar 27
  • Week 13: Mar 27 – Apr 3
  • Week 14: Apr 3 –  Apr 10
  • Week 15: Apr 10 – Apr 17
  • Week 16: Apr 17 –  Apr 21

Week 1

Learning Outcomes

  • Familiarize with the different faces of public health.
  • Define the role of the applied practice experience site and how it fulfills public health goals and essential services.

Discussion: Introduction and Photo

Introduce yourself. Tell us about your professional background, why you chose to get an MPH degree and any fun facts about you. Then submit a photo for Blackboard:

Assignment 1: Essential Services (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Using the 10 essential services of public health as a guide, write a one-page essay describing the difference between public health and medicine. Cite your sources using AMA style.

Weeks 2-4

Learning Outcomes

  • Familiarize with the different faces of public health.
  • Define the role of the applied practice experience site and how it fulfills public health goals and essential services.
  • Identify the strengths of different personality types and how they can be engaged in the context of public health.

Discussion Week 2: Practice experience site description (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Describe your practicum site. What do they do, and what tasks will you be undertaking at their site? What products will you be creating? List the essential public health services that your practice experience site provides.

Discussion Week 4: Personality types (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Are you familiar with Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®)? Knowing your own personality type and being aware of what other personality types exist can help you enhance your professional skills. Therefore, this month, we’re going to discuss personality types as a class.

Assignment 2, Week 4: Interprofessional Practice Paper (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Using the example from the public health interdisciplinary case competition, how can different disciplines come together to address public health? What are the different educational backgrounds of the people who work at the site? What impact do you think interprofessional practice can have on public health work that your site does?

Weeks 5-7

Learning Outcomes

  • The development of professional skills.

Assignment 3, Week 7: Systems Thinking (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Systems thinking is another important skill for public health professionals. Read the attached journal article, and write a one-page reflection paper on how systems thinking is applied at your site. What do you understand by the term ‘systems thinking’? What role does systems thinking have in public health? How can systems thinking be incorporated into your applied practice experience?

Weeks 8-11

Weekly Outcomes

  • Navigate the work environment to complete objectives

Progress Report, Week 8 (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Midway through the practice experience, students share their progress towards completing the final products through the submission of a Progress Report. The report should provide enough information to determine that adequate progress is being made towards meeting the tasks, products and competencies. If there is incomplete information in the form or if it is not hand-signed by the preceptor, zero points will be awarded for the assignment.

Assignment Submission Requirements:

  • Submit your approved APE Learning Contract
  • Create a table in Microsoft Word in a format similar to the one attached to this assignment, and submit.
  • Original signatures are required on the report.

Discussion Week 11: What Classes will you Take? (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

What courses were most useful in preparing you for your field work? Based on what you have learnt in the field so far, what electives do you plan to take?

Assignment 4, Week 11: Reflection on Communication (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Write a one-page reflection paper on your communication experience at your site. How well does your preceptor communicate with you, and how well do you communicate with others at the site? What is working, and what isn’t? Explain the importance of teamwork and communication for public health professionals. Use the readings for this week as a guide.

Weeks 12-15

Learning Outcome

  • Reflect on how the APE enabled learning and application of professional skills for public health.

Assignment 5, Week 12: Final Report and Evaluation Complete Draft (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Submit complete Final Report and evaluation draft.

On your APE learning contract you listed at least 5 competencies that would be met by your practice experience:                        

  • Submit the 2 final products you created for your site. If it an electronic resource like a web page, submit the link to the resource. Create a Microsoft Word document using the template provided.
  • Describe how you attained each one of the competencies.
  • Submit sections 1 and 2 of the Final Report draft as one document.

Assignment 6, Week 13: Leadership Reflection (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Read the attached journal article, and write a one-page reflection paper on the leadership experience at your site. Using one of the definitions of leadership in the paper, describe the leadership experience at your site – this could be positive or negative. 

Assignment 7, Week 14: Plan for ILE (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

In your final semester in the program, you will write a paper as part of the Integrative Learning Experience (ILE). This paper can be based on the work you completed for your APE, or on any other topic of interest to you. 

Discussion Week 15: Reflection (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

You are almost done with the course! Reflect on your applied practice experience work. What did you learn about public health, your passion, interests and style of work?
Respond to each question, and then respond to 3 classmates.

Assignment 8, Week 15: Synopsis (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Design a creative one-page synopsis of your practice experience. Each person’s page will feature in an online magazine of applied practice experiences. This document will be shared with faculty, students and staff of the public health program.

Save the document as a file with the title: Lastname_Firstname_ProjectTitle_Semester_Year

Assignment 9, Week 15: Final Report and Evaluation (Due by the end of the week, on Wednesday)

Submit final report and evaluation. 

On your APE learning contract you listed at least 5 competencies that would be met by your practice experience:                      

  • Submit the 2 final products you created for your site. If it an electronic resource like a web page, submit the link to the resource. Create a Microsoft Word document using the template provided.
  • Describe how you attained each one of the competencies.
  • Submit sections 1 and 2 of the Final Report as one document.

Preceptor Evaluation:

  • Use the Survey Monkey link that will be sent to your email to complete an evaluation of your site and preceptor.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

  • ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.