Culminating Experience Guide for PHC&M Students

MPH students are required to demonstrate proficiency in the application of the skills they acquire during their academic programs through the Practicum (PubH 214.19) and the Culminating Experience (PubH 215.19). The two courses can be taken simultaneously or sequentially, in which case the Practicum would come first.

The Culminating Experience (CE) is a graded course which consists of four elements that focus on the Practice Activity: (a) Concept Paper, (b) Proposal, (c) Final Report, and (d) Oral Presentation. These elements are fully described in the Appendix - Guidelines for Culminating Experience Elements.

The Culminating Experience is a planned experience that requires a student to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and to apply theory and principles in an experience that approximates some aspect of professional practice. The Culminating Experience will demonstrate the student's mastery of the body of knowledge and proficiency in the program competencies. A CE will include a major written paper such as a thesis or applied research project, which presents the results of: a needs assessment, development and pilot testing of an intervention program or components of a program, development and implementation of community advocacy programs, evaluation of programs or policies, or development and evaluation of case studies. (please see your advisor for specific examples)

Course Prerequisites:

PubH 202 Biostatistical Applications for Public Health
PubH 203 Principles and Practice of Epidemiology
PubH 205 Policy Approaches to Public Health
PubH 207 Social and Behavioral Approaches to Public Health
PubH 382 Planning and Administration of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention Programs

Please see PCH Academic Advisor for program specific course prerequisites.

Course Co-Requisites

PubH 214 Practicum
PubH 383 Evaluation of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention Programs
PubH 214.19 Public Health Communication & Marketing Practicum
PubH 383 Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs
PubH 395 Advanced Public Health Communication
PubH 396 Social Marketing
PubH397 Public Health Advocacy Campaigns

Other Prerequisites

Students must take the online training courses relating to research with human subjects (CITI) and personal health information (HIPAA). See Practicum Handbook for details: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/studentres/practicum/download/Student%20Practicum%20Guidebook.pdf.
Students must have participated in the SPHHS professional skills seminar, designed to assist students with preparing for their professional endeavors. See Practicum Handbook for details.
Students must have attended a Culminating Experience Information Session or met with their advisor to review the CE policies and procedures.
If applicable, students must have submitted IRB paperwork before participating in the

Student Responsibilities

The Practicum and the CE can be completed in tandem. If the student wishes to combine these two activities, it is the responsibility of the student to meet with the Practicum Director and the Academic Advisor to formulate how the two experiences will be combined BEFORE the start of the Practicum.
The student may choose to have separate activities for the practicum and CE. If the practicum and CE activities are unconnected, it is the responsibility of the student to work with the CE Advisor to develop a plan of completion.
Before beginning the CE, students must fulfill certain requirements. The student must attend a Culminating Experience Information Session in a semester preceding the semester in which s/he plans to complete the CE.
The student should register for the CE during her/his last planned semester at GWU SPHHS.
The student will develop a concept paper in which the student plans to complete the CE. This paper should describe the work that will be done for the CE as well as how the work will be carried out. See Appendix for Concept Paper template.
The Concept Paper will be reviewed by your GW academic advisor to assess the appropriateness of its scope, its feasibility, and any appropriate departmental faculty that may serve as advisors to the student. Once the Concept Paper is approved the student will expand the Concept Paper into a Proposal and IRB submission which requires the approval of the GW Advisor and Practicum Site Preceptor (if applicable). See Appendix for Proposal guidelines.
It is the responsibility of the student to assemble the IRB submission to be reviewed and approved by the GW academic advisor and Practicum Site Preceptor (if applicable).
It is the responsibility of the student to produce a Culminating Experience Final Report. The CE Final Report represents the final written deliverable for completion of the CE in the MPH program. The GW Advisor must receive an advanced draft of the report four weeks before the student intends to make the Oral Presentation.
Once the GW Advisor gives authorization, the student will work with her/his GW Advisor and/or CE Director to schedule the Oral Presentation. Students are encouraged to invite their Site Preceptors to their Oral Presentations.
The student has the option to provide the GW Advisor with a copy of the PowerPoint presentation two weeks before the scheduled date of the Oral Presentation. See Appendix.

Methods of Evaluation

Students will be assessed on how well they accomplish the objectives for the Culminating Experience through the evaluation of their: (a) Concept Paper, (b) Proposal/IRB Application, (c) Final Report, and (d) Oral Presentation. The Culminating Experience Advisor will complete evaluations of the student's performance.

Grading Scale

The Culminating Experience will be graded as follows:

Concept Paper - Required (Pass/Fail)
Proposal - Required (Pass/Fail)
Final Report - 75%
Oral Presentation - 25%

Important Deadlines

Culminating Experience	Spring 2010 Graduation	Summer 2010 Graduation	Fall 2010 Graduation
Concept Paper	December 18^th	April 2^nd	June 25^th
Proposal & IRB Submission	January 22^nd	April 30^th	August 6^th
Paper	April 16^th	July 30^th	November 5^th
Presentation	May 6^th and 7^th	August 27^th	December 3^rd

Possible CE Categories

CE's will often fall into one of four broad categories: formative research, a pilot intervention, a content analysis or a case study. Below you will find a brief description of each.

Formative Research
For this format, you should think of what kinds of research would be important to do as background information in planning the strategy for a health campaign (think stage 1 in the health communication wheel). This may include research which documents a health need (a needs assessment), which describes people's perceptions about a health issue, or which describes people's attitudes to various programmatic options. This may be done with survey research or with a qualitative method like a focus group. Example, "Intimate Partner Violence in the Andean Highlands".
A Pilot Intervention
You might develop sample materials for a campaign, write a report describing how these materials would fit into a campaign, and describe results from pretesting these materials. Example--"Childhood Cancer: A Media Advocacy Campaign to Build Awareness and Public Funding for a targeted therapeutic research initiative"
A Content Analysis
You might look at the content of health-related information in our media environment (e.g. TV, Internet, magazines). Example--"Childhood Obesity: A Content Analysis of Food Advertisements and Public Service Announcements that Air on Nickelodeon".
A Case Study
You might summarize the process of development and results of a particular campaign or social marketing program. Example--"Donate Life California: A Campaign Launch Case Study".

CE Examples

To view the CE Syllabus, click here.