The Global Field Practice Experience is intended to provide students with a distributed and evaluated global health training experience that require students to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences, and apply theory and principles in a situation that approximates some aspect of professional practice in global health and international development as well as:
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Understand the meaning and importance of global health practice;
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Understand the purpose of needs assessment and observe how to conduct a community-based needs assessment in a global health setting;
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Identify sources of evidence-based strategies for the design of health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention programs in global health;
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Understand and observe common elements among planning models and be able to develop a plan for a global health program;
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Understand major implementation issues, common barriers to implementation, and strategies for minimizing barriers to implementation;
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Identify and observe strategies for scaling up and sustaining global health programs;
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Apply planning and evaluation skills to real-world problem solving; and
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Enhance practice skills of leadership, effective teamwork, and the mastery of competencies in global health.
GFPE Guidelines Presentation
GFPE Site Assessment Template
Summer 2013 GFPE Listings
Global Health Ethics for Students
Basic Guidelines for the Global Field Practice Experience (GFPE) to CBMP Option
All Drexel MPH students must develop skills in basic public health concepts and demonstrate the application of these concepts through a practice experience that is relevant to students’ areas of specialization. In addition, graduates must complete a culminating experience—an experience that requires a student to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences and to apply theory and principles in a situation that approximates some aspect of professional practice—which is used as a means by which faculty judge whether the student has mastered the body of knowledge and can demonstrate proficiency in the required competencies. The Community-Based Master’s Project (CBMP) integrates the practical skills and culminating experience requirement of full-time Drexel MPH students as well as joint degree students. The CBMP is designed to integrate public health academic studies with public health practice skills through a Service-Learning experience. Second year students will identify and select a project with a well defined benefit to the public health community setting where they are assigned longitudinally--one and one-half to two days a week throughout the academic year. A master’s project and other service activities will be developed by taking into account the host organization’s public health needs and SPH Concentration Department learning objectives. This participatory service experience not only will enhance learners’ content knowledge and public health practice skills, but will also seek to define the priorities of what is to be undertaken based on the goals and needs of the community partner and the constituencies served. Emphasis on specific learning objectives will vary depending on department concentration, community preceptor and individual project. Priority objectives will be noted in each student’s Learning Agreement.
A summer Global Field Practice Experience (GFPE) can potentially culminate in a CBMP project proposal; however, each project will be unique to the knowledge and skills acquired during the field experience. A GFPE can provide students with a distributed and evaluated global health training experience that require students to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences, and apply theory and principles in a situation that approximates some aspect of professional practice in global health and international development as well as:
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Understand the meaning and importance of global health practice;
-
Understand the purpose of needs assessment and observe how to conduct a community-based needs assessment in a global health setting;
-
Identify sources of evidence-based strategies for the design of health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention programs in global health;
-
Understand and observe common elements among planning models and be able to develop a plan for a global health program;
-
Understand major implementation issues, common barriers to implementation, and strategies for minimizing barriers to implementation;
-
Identify and observe strategies for scaling up and sustaining global health programs;
-
Apply planning and evaluation skills to real-world problem solving; and
-
Enhance practice skills of leadership, effective teamwork, and the mastery of competencies in global health.
A number of different types of CBMP projects can emerge from a GFPE--whether it is a project based on the topic observed in the field, use of a new study design, analysis of new data, application of a new method, analysis of a related policy issue, a program evaluation, or the synthesis of existing literature or conceptual model from a new perspective, etc.-- but in all instances it must include an original aspect and be submitted in accordance with the CBMP proposal review and approval process aligned with the student’s MPH concentration and in consultation with their advisor.
In general, a CBMP that evolves out of a GFPE will fall into one of the following general categories:
Research Project - The traditional research option involves investigation of a scientific question using public health methods (e.g. epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental science, behavioral science, management and policy science). The CBMP should address an important public health issue and provide a unique contribution to the overall literature on the topic. The specific question to be addressed may be an original question considered in the context of global health, but must developed by the student in consultation with the advisor. In some cases—where a proposal and IRB protocol has been approved prior to the GFPE--the data used for a research project may be collected as part of the GFPE. However, the vast majority of CBMPs that evolve out of a GFPE will be derived from an existing data source and include secondary data analysis and/or the use of simulated data may be used (e.g. to compare analytical strategies).
Systematic Review/Theoretical Model Based on Policy Topic - A systematic review involves the investigation of a specific public health question using published studies and/or other research on an acceptable health policy topic. The study question is something that has been addressed in the literature, but has not been resolved (e.g. results have been equivocal or inconsistent across studies). The data for a systematic review is obtained using a formal strategy to search the literature and a structured approach to identifying relevant features of each included study. Various qualitative and quantitative approaches can be used for the systemic review and the final deliverables include a theoretical model developed in a narrative report and/or an article appropriate for journal submission.
Public Health Practice - A public health practice CBMP is designed to focus on a specific public health issue faced by the practice community. In the context of a global health issue, the public health practice CBMP could focus on the implementation of a community-based intervention for a particular agency. The project described within the CBMP can, but does not have to be, an extension of a student’s GFPE. However, it would not be limited to a simple description of the practicum experience. In all cases, a CBMP that evolves out of a GFPE should involve an extension of the practicum and additional contact time—that is time devoted to ongoing communication and interaction with the preceptor, practice agency or sponsor from the GFPE.
Policy Analysis or Practice Issue - A policy analysis involves the review and synthesis of data relevant to a defined public health policy or practice issue, and application of the gained knowledge toward a practical solution (to address a global health issue), or recommendations regarding that issue. The data for a policy/practice CBMP would generally be derived from existing data sources, including the published literature and other documents that are in the public domain or identified during the GFPE.
Additionally, students seeking to develop a GFPE to CBMP opportunity should complete the online GFPE application and registration process, submit the required forms, and articulate their specific plans for a summer GFPE within the context of acquiring skills and/or demonstrating a mastery of one or more of the ASPH Global Health Competencies
Please contact Dr. Shannon Marquez, Director of Global Public Health Initiatives, for more information on the GFPE.