Funding opportunities from the Center for Public Health Practice
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Student Field Placement Funding from the Minnesota Public Health Training Center
Students are enthusiastic about working work with health departments, community-based organizations, and health organizations to gain practical, real-world learning experiences. However, these organizations often encounter resource constraints that limit their capacity to support paid internships. The purpose of these stipends is to assist students as they further develop their professional skills in public health.
Up to three individual Student Field Placements or Collaborative Projects (involving individual students or groups of students and faculty) will be offered, with each stipend in the amount of $3,500 aimed at supporting student field placements. To apply, students must have already secured an unpaid field placement. Students must apply for this funding, not the placement site supervisor.
Applying for field placement funding
Student eligibility
Field experience requirements and considerations
Student requirements
Questions and assistance
Applying for field placement funding
Application (updated 2/27/2024): Student Field Placement Award Application 2024 - Minnesota Public Health Training Center (PDF)
- MDH will accept applications on a competitive basis until it receives 20 applications and no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 1, 2024.
- Applications must include a letter from your site supervisor confirming your placement and the number of hours.
- Submit your completed application and site supervisor’s letter to Michelle Gin at the MDH Center for Public Health Practice at michelle.gin@state.mn.us.
Student eligibility
To qualify for this award, students must meet the following criteria:
- Undergraduate (junior/senior), graduate or doctoral students pursuing a degree in a health profession, including public health, nursing, social work, psychology, sociology, or any degree program housed within a school or program of public health. This also includes Tribal Community College students enrolled in a health professions degree program (e.g., allied health, community health worker).
- Applicants must be 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.
- Students may be enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis. Full-time students cannot receive a stipend for more than one year, while part-time students may complete their entire placement or project within two years. For multi-year completion, students will receive a pro-rated stipend of $1,750 each year for a maximum of two years.
- Students may not receive a stipend for more than one project in the four—year grant cycle from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2026.
Field experience requirements and considerations
The Minnesota Public Health Training Center aims to enhance the skills of both current and future public health professionals to drive improvements in population health outcomes. There are two eligible types of field experiences:
Field Placement
- Open to individual students.
- Applicants must have a preceptor, site, and project identified before applying.
- A letter from the site supervisor confirming the student’s placement and number of hours must accompany the application.
- Projects must be conducted with a public health organization located in or serving a medically underserved area in the state of Minnesota. Look up medically underserved areas: Medically Underserved Areas and Medically Underserved Population Designations.
- 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 to field placements with governmental public health sites (state, local, or Tribal health departments).
- Internships should align with student’s departmental requirements for hours and content.
Collaborative Projects:
- Projects are similar in type and setting to field placement projects
- Involve individual or groups of students
- Faculty involvement is included.
Both field placement and collaborative projects should be substantial enough to span several months, requiring at least 150 hours for undergraduate students and 200 hours for graduate students. Work must begin before the end of June 2024 although it can extend beyond June.
Student requirements
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. Refer to Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (PDF)
- Develop and submit a poster or paper that includes the following sections: abstract, introduction, methodology, findings, discussion, and conclusion.
- 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 virtual peer-to-peer learning opportunity features regular webinar sessions with interactive discussions and networking.
Questions and assistance
Please submit applications and direct questions to:
Yasmin Odowa
MDH Center for Public Health Practice
yasmin.odowa@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.