APE and Thesis/Capstone

What is applied practice experience?

An Applied Practice Experience (APE) is a unique opportunity that enables students to apply practical skills and knowledge learned through coursework to a professional public health setting that complements the student’s interests and career goals. The APE must be supervised by a Field Supervisor and requires approval from an APE Advisor designated by the student’s academic department at RSPH. To successfully fulfill the APE requirement, students must a) complete a minimum of 200 clock hours in one or two public health agencies, institutions or communities; b) meet student-selected MPH foundational competencies and concentration competencies; c) produce at least 2 deliverables that benefit the APE agency; d) enter and track all APE-related information, deliverables and required approvals in the RSPH APE Portal; and e) registration in the student’s Department 595 course (i.e. BSHE 595, BIOS 595, etc.) is required in the student’s final semester of enrollment. See MCH Practicum Approval Form here.

Prior to the start of a student’s APE, the student must receive departmental approval, and for MCH Certificate requirements, it must be MCH-focused.

Examples

Organization: Motherhood Beyond Bars

Location: Atlanta, GA

Project Description:

  • Conducted childbirth education and social support through group discussions to pregnant women at Helms Prison under the Georgia Department of Corrections
  • Reviewed curriculum used for the postpartum education at Lee Arrendale State Prison

Organization: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Project Description:

  • Informed the development of program activities including gender strategies and nutrition and health programming
  • Worked to improve food security and reduce poverty and undernutrition through research for better and more sustainable use of livestock

Organization: Families First Health and Support Center

Location: Seabrook, NH

Project Description:

  • Provided education and support to parents and young children ages 1-3
  • Assisted the prenatal program with intake procedures and data entry for patient satisfaction surveys
  • Provided education and support for patients to register for the clinic’s Patient-Centered Medical Home Guidelines online patient portal
  • Assisted the nursing/primary care department with patient outreach activities.

Organization: Emory Farmworker Project

Location: Valdosta, GA; Bainbridge, GA

Project Description:

  • Created educational tools that addressed domestic violence, screening, and available resources for the female migrant farmworker population

Organization: IMA World Health

Location: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Project Description:

  • IMA World Health operates its Projet d’Accès aux Soins de Santé Primaire (ASSP) [Access to Primary Health Care Project]
  • Understand community attitudes and perceptions of Movie Night health messaging and media in order to provide information on future film plots or needed modifications to be made prior to scale-up in other provinces that ASSP serves
  • Movie Night consisted of videos about malaria, girls’ education, and early marriage

What is a thesis?

Thesis Projects help students develop skills in conducting research and analyzing, interpreting, and processing study findings.

Any project from a public health work experience, volunteer position, applied practice experience, or global field experience has the potential to lead to a thesis. See MCH Thesis/Capstone approval form here.

What is a capstone?

Capstone projects allow students to explore a topic of interest in depth—possibly expanding a course project or applied practice experience into new dimensions—to increase practical skills and experience, sharpen presentation skills, gain peer feedback, and increase career development. See MCH Thesis/Capstone approval form here.

Examples of theses and capstone projects

Below are some of the theses and capstone projects that students enrolled in the MCH Certificate Program have completed. A more comprehensive list can be found here. 

Pregnancy and Perinatal Health

Child Health

Adolescent Health

Women’s Health