Student field placement funding from the Minnesota Public Health Training Center

Health departments, community-based organizations, and health organizations often have limited resources to support paid internships, but are eager to work with students and provide students the opportunity to gain valuable, real-world experience. These stipends are designed to help support students as they further develop their professional skills in public health.

Up to three individual student field placements or collaborative projects (involving individual or group of students and faculty) in the amount of $3500 each are available to support student internships.

How students can apply for field placement funding
Who qualifies for this award?
What types of projects may be funded?
What are students required to do?
Questions and help

Application: Student Field Placement Award Application 2023 - Minnesota Public Health Training Center (PDF)

• Applications are now closed.
• MDH accepted applications in May 2023 on a competitive basis until it received 20 applications.
• If you have questions about applying for the cohort, please contact Jamie Thompson with the MDH Center for Public Health Practice (jamie.thompson.contractor@state.mn.us). Please do not submit applications directly to Jamie.

To qualify for this award, students must meet the following criteria:

• Graduate, doctoral, and undergraduate (junior/senior) students pursuing a degree in a health profession (public health, nursing, social work, psychology, or sociology) or Tribal Community College students enrolled in a health professions degree program (e.g., allied health, community health worker).
• U.S. citizens, non-citizen U.S. nationals or foreign nationals holding a visa permitting permanent residence in the United States; DACA recipients and international students with work/research/student visas are not eligible to receive federal funding under this award.
• Full- or part-time students; full-time students cannot receive a stipend for more than 1 year; part-time students may complete their entire placement or project within two years. A multi-year completion will receive a pro-rated stipend of $1,750 each year, for no more than two years. 
• Students may not receive a stipend for more than one project in the four-year grant cycle, July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026.

Consider the following when planning your field placement or collaborative project:

• The project must support population health improvement.
• The project must be done with a public health organization located in or serving a medically underserved area.
• Preference will be given to applicants proposing work in communities most impacted by health inequities, including populations of color, American Indians, LGBTQ communities, rural communities, people with disabilities, etc.
• Preference will be given for field placements with governmental public health sites (state, local, or Tribal health departments).
• The project should be substantial enough to take several months to complete, at least 150 hours for an undergraduate student and 200 hours for a graduate student.
• Internship should meet student's departmental requirements for hours and content.
• Work must begin before the end of June 2023 (work can extend beyond June).
• Applicants must have a preceptor, site, and project identified before applying.

Students will be required to:

• Develop a learning agreement and work plan that demonstrates the alignment of their project with at least two public health core competencies (PDF).
• Produce and submit a poster or paper that includes the following: abstract, introduction, methodology, findings, conclusion, and discussion sections.
• Complete four program evaluations: baseline, mid-point, post, and 1-year follow up.
• Participation in the Practicing Public Health in Region V Community of Practice (PPHRV CoP) is strongly encouraged. This is a virtual peer-to-peer learning opportunity that includes regular webinar sessions with interactive discussions and networking.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Jamie Thompson
MDH Center for Public Health Practice
jamie.thompson.contractor@state.mn.us

Please do not submit applications directly to Jamie Thompson. Submit funding applications to: health.ophp@state.mn.us.

The Region V Public Health Training Center is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31684. These funds are made available by this grant via the University of Michigan.