Applied Practice Experiences create opportunities to assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect community health. Students apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs, propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes, select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors, and perform effectively on inter-professional teams.
The APE is conducted in person or virtually at a public health organization that the graduate student identifies (with assistance from a UVM APE coach) within the student’s commuting distance in their home state. It usually lasts an average of a few hours per week for 4 weeks, during the student’s final spring semester.
Finding the organization and Preceptor employed by that organization is usually completed in the preceding (fall) semester. There is no payment to the student or to the public health organization.
Each organization supplies a mentor, called a Preceptor, to support the student’s learning. Besides overseeing the student’s introduction to the organization’s activities and colleagues, the Preceptor helps the student identify 2 small items that the student develops by the end of the spring semester. These items help meet the organization’s needs, while showcasing the student’s knowledge and skills.
Types of organizations to host students
- Health departments
- Not-for-profit agencies
- Non-governmental organizations
- Community-based organizations
- Select businesses
Sample products for students to complete
- Background materials
- Fact sheets/infographics for professional or lay audiences
- Presentations (slides/scripts)
- Literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, and internet searches
- Policy analysis
- Educational materials for professional or lay audiences
- Logic models
If you are interested in having our students support your organizations success by becoming an APE Site Partner, please email us here.