Internships

An internship is a structured, planned, and supervised professional experience for which a student receives academic credit. An internship is required for the undergraduate degree in Health Education.  It is recommended for the graduate degree (based upon individual advisory basis).

A well-designed internship engages students in a unique learning relationship involving a three-way partnership between the student, the site supervisor, and the faculty internship coordinator. An internship should provide the student with a critical learning opportunity linking academic knowledge with practical experience while providing a beneficial service to the supervising organization.

Internships are typically completed in the student’s last semester of enrollment prior to graduation.  Although an internship may be a paid experience, financial compensation should not be the student’s primary motive for placement.  At its core, the internship is an educational experience and should therefore be designed to contribute to the student’s ethical and intellectual growth. 

In the semester prior to their internship experience, undergraduate and graduate students must submit an internship application (see below) and receive site approval from both the supervising organization and their academic advisor.  Internships are a minimum of 360 hours. The following links are examples of past internship sites and the responsibilities and duties that students have pursued. Please only use these examples as guidelines, as the form is outdated.

American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Andrew’s Institute, Executive Physical Program
Baptist Occupational Health
Covenant Hospice
Escambia County Health Department
Pensacourt
Santa Rosa County Health Department
YMCA (Downtown and North East)
YMCA (Navarre)

 

For more information, please contact your advisor.

Click Here for Undergraduate Internship Application (pdf)

Click Here for Graduate Internship Application (pdf)

Please note: You cannot register yourself for an internship. After your paperwork has been turned in and approved, the HLES Office will register you.