what is a capstone project in public health

Thesis and Capstone Requirements for Public Health Programs

Most graduate programs in public health include a thesis or capstone project, which students usually undertake after completing other coursework. While completing these projects, students must apply knowledge and skills gained throughout the program. The thesis or capstone tests the student’s ability to make a unique contribution to their field while demonstrating mastery of the subject.

These culminating projects reflect the kind of work students will do during the course of their careers.

These culminating projects reflect the kind of work students will do during the course of their careers. Public health students may complete an academic article or a detailed plan for dealing with the outbreak of a disease. Some projects involve working alongside professionals in the field, while others require significant research in archives and libraries. The completed thesis or capstone project demonstrates the student’s ability to perform duties within the public health field.

What’s the Difference Between a Capstone and a Thesis in Public Health Programs?

A thesis is an academic article that presents an argument or research findings. Common in graduate programs, thesis projects are often by an adviser or other faculty member. Capstone projects take various forms and, although more common in undergraduate studies, may be a requirement of master’s programs. Capstones are often research projects presented in a non-article format and involve hands-on experience.

What Is a Capstone Like in Public Health Programs?

Public health capstone format.

Capstones are typically independent projects, which students undertake toward the end of their program.

Capstones can take a variety of forms, but they generally consist of written and oral portions. The written portion could be a short article or a summary of findings, while the oral portion may involve a presentation at a conference. Capstones are typically independent projects, which students undertake toward the end of their program. A capstone may last one or two terms. Some programs allow students to choose project topics and begin research early.

Choosing Your Public Health Capstone Topic

Typically, students choose a capstone topic relevant to their specializations and career interests, which one or more faculty members must approve. Capstone projects are an opportunity to build connections with public health professionals. Capstone topics often address contemporary problems in the field, and individual programs or faculty may provide a selection of topics from which students must choose. Some programs pair students with faculty advisers.

Completing Your Public Health Capstone

Regardless of the capstone format, a few aspects are generally the same. Students first choose a topic or research question on which to base the project. Learners may conduct research to determine the limits of the project or may simply complete an outline. Before beginning on a capstone project, one or more faculty members must approve the student’s topic; the faculty member may be the student’s adviser or the professor of the capstone course. After receiving approval, the student can begin further research, project development, and execution of the capstone. Methods and resources vary based on the student’s field, subfield, and specialization.

Presenting Your Public Health Capstone

Presentation circumstances vary by program, but students generally present their capstone to a panel of three to five faculty members. These presentations are often open to the public and may include an opportunity for audience members to ask the student questions. Though visual aids such as slideshows and videos are common, the project’s subject and format guides presentation methods.

How Is a Public Health Capstone Graded?

While students may receive a rubric, master’s-level capstone projects rarely receive letter grades. These projects are typically pass or fail, though some students may pass with distinction. While it is possible to fail a capstone, students rarely fail a capstone they have completed and presented; advisers ensure the project is of passing quality.

What Is a Thesis Like in Public Health Programs?

Public health thesis format.

A thesis is an individual project, typically a piece of academic writing based on research, sometimes involving experimentation.

A thesis is an individual project, typically a piece of academic writing based on research, sometimes involving experimentation. A faculty adviser generally oversees the student’s completion of their thesis project. Some programs require students to present their thesis. The amount of time allotted to complete a thesis project varies by program and depends largely on how early the student may submit a topic for approval. Many programs require students to enroll in a thesis course, or courses, which allows the program to award credit for the project and provides a specific time for students to meet with advisers and complete thesis work.

Choosing Your Public Health Thesis Topic

While completing their thesis project, students typically work with a faculty member who approves their topic, suggests sources or methods, and helps guide the student through the research and writing processes. Though some programs specify certain topics or stipulate that students address a current issue, students generally have the final say regarding their thesis topic. The main requirement of thesis topics in public health is that they contribute to the field.

Completing Your Public Health Thesis

The first step to writing a master’s of public health thesis is choosing an approved topic. Students must then research and write about that topic. Students must typically obtain approval early in the process and must usually check in with advisers regularly as they progress. The format of the thesis project varies by field and school. Learners typically submit their thesis to advisers, who suggest changes and additions before the student submits the thesis to the school for digital or physical publication and inclusion in the school’s library or archives.

Presenting Your Public Health Thesis

A thesis presentation often involves questions from a panel of advisers and other faculty. These questions should help clarify and further define aspects of the thesis. While a presentation may include a slideshow or other aids, the focus of the presentation should be on replying to the panel’s concerns, rather than presenting new information. Most thesis presentations are open to the public, and audience members are usually allowed or encouraged to ask questions, though they may not have read the thesis itself. Students typically present after submitting their thesis to advisers but before finalizing the project and submitting it to the school.

How Is a Public Health Thesis Graded?

Most programs grade thesis papers pass or fail. A thesis is the culmination of a student’s education and is designed to be a challenging but ultimately successful process. A good adviser works directly with the student to ensure the final version of the student’s thesis is passing quality.

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Capstone Project

The Capstone Project is the culminating experience required for graduation from the Master of Public Health Program. MPH students apply the knowledge and skills learned in class to public health problems in a chosen skillset or area of interest under the guidance of a Capstone Mentor. The projects should be chosen to help students address their academic interests and afford them an opportunity to master advanced public health competencies. The MPH capstone satisfies the CEPH Integrated Learning Experience.

Supporting Students in Capstone

To support this process, students are required to take two semester-long Capstone courses, Capstone I and Capstone II. Capstone I will help guide students in selecting an appropriate project, identifying a mentor, and starting their project, while Capstone II will help guide them in completing their project, analyzing any results, and developing deliverables. At the end, students submit a written paper and deliver a 10-minute public presentation. The nature and scope of the capstone project is determined collaboratively by the student, Capstone Mentor, and their Capstone Instructor, but they should be scaled appropriately for the time frame available.

Your Capstone Team

MPH students are not alone in completing their Capstone Project at any point in the process; there are different support systems in place to carry you through from project formation to completion and delivery.

Who is your Capstone Mentor?

Your Capstone Mentor is a public health professional and expert in the field of your Capstone who helps guide you through the project. Students collaborate with and seek the counsel of their Mentor to ensure their project is conducted thoroughly, being mindful of standards of the field. A project can have mentoring team, such as a content mentor and a methods mentor.

Who is your Capstone Instructor?

Your Capstone Instructor is an MPH teaching faculty who leads your Capstone seminar courses. You could have the same Capstone I and II instructor or they could be different, but your instructor will be there throughout your project as a support system to answer questions, adjust scope, assist with hurdles, and maintain perspective. The Capstone I instructor supports you in creating or finding a project, identifying a Capstone Mentor, and setting up a plan to carry out the project. The Capstone II instructor picks up the project and guides you to completion, confirming what written deliverables are needed and assisting in the preparation of your 20 minute professional presentation.

What is the role of your Capstone classmates?

Your Capstone classmates are as much a resource as your Mentor and Instructor. Capstone I and II seminars use peer-review and shared learning to help students progress through their own project while supporting their peers on their projects. From sharing project hurdles and overcoming them to motivating each other through preparing written deliverables to serving as a practice audience for presentation “dry-runs,” your Capstone classmates are your biggest cheerleaders and another incredible support mechanism.

From the very first day of Capstone, I felt supported and encouraged enough to delve deep into my specific area of interest. I was able to thoroughly cement my research, policy analysis, and public speaking skills, all while actively advancing the current academic literature. Without the Capstone process, I wouldn’t be nearly as confident in calling myself a public health professional, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity.

Michael Adjei-Poku

MPH Student

Halle’s Capstone Project in Urban Farming

My Capstone experience allowed me to make a real difference in a community I love. I wanted to give back and the guidance of my mentor really helped me make a tangible impact for an organization I’m passionate about. My mentor helped the Capstone process unfold organically which helped ease a lot of anxiety and doubt that I had. I gained a lot of confidence in my skill set through this experience.

Halle Watkin

Working with Capstone mentees is one of my favorite ways to engage with our MPH students. Supporting their ideas and public health passions to bring a Capstone project to fruition is a privilege and I am always amazed at the incredible work they do!

Heather Klusaritz

Capstone Instructor

Capstone Skills vs Content Area

MPH Students can tailor their Capstone Projects to the kinds of skills they want to learn and grow or  focus their efforts on numerous public health content areas to prepare them to be future public health professionals. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the content areas and skillsets our students have explored in their Capstone work.

Skills Gained

Community Needs Assessment (surveys, logic models, focus groups, key informant interviews)

Systematic / Narrative Review (quantitative and/or qualitative, thematic analysis)

Program Development (creating an intervention or curriculum)

Program Evaluation (quantitative and/or qualitative)

Policy Brief / Policy Analysis (evidence-based analysis)

Quality Improvement Programs (run charts, go-sees, additional quantitative and/or qualitative analyses, creating an A3, process mapping)

Public Health Education and Health Communication (pamphlets, podcasts, apps, websites, blogs, community resources, instructional seminar/training/curricula, online social media platform)

Creating a Survey or other Measurement Tool (quantitative and/or qualitative)

Research Projects (primary or secondary, quantitative or qualitative)

Community Based Participatory Research (stakeholder engagement, recruitment, organizing/running meetings, community engagement and needs assessments, team building)

Implementation Science Projects (quantitative and/or qualitative)

Data Analysis (quantitative and/or qualitative, GIS, epidemiology, large and small datasets)

Content Areas

Adolescent and Young Adult Health

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Aging, Memory, and Geriatric Health

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Behavioral Economics

Cancer Risk and Screenings

Chronic Disease Issues

city planning and housing issues

communicable diseases

community health

criminal justice issues

driving safety

environmental health issues

food insecurity

Geography & Health

gender affirming healthcare needs

global health issues

gun violence

health journalism

health law and health policy

health literacy

healthcare decision making

homelessness and housing insecurity

hospital policies and practices

infectious diseases

intimate partner violence (IPV)

LGBTQIA+ healthcare needs

maternal and child health

Mental Health

oral health and public health dentistry

peer support and peer education

public health risk preparedness

race, systemic racism, and health disparities in various public health areas

refugee and immigrant health

reproductive health issues

substance use, addiction, and recovery

support for non-English speaking and ESL populations

vaccine intention and hesitancy

zoonotic and veterinary diseases (One Health)

My capstone project explores the integration of public health education into San Cristóbal, Galápagos. Working collaboratively with our partners in Galápagos, we have been able to produce several lesson plans and identify other routes outside of school to reinforce these topics. My time in Galápagos has been enriching and invaluable.

Darby Gallagher

MPH STudent

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The Culminating Experience must be completed in the last semester of the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the UGA College of Public Health. More commonly known as the Capstone Project,  the Culminating Experience provides comprehensive documentation of the student’s comprehension of the MPH Core Competencies. It also serves as the UGA Graduate School’s non-thesis equivalent of the mastery of a student’s academic discipline.

Students must be enrolled in PBHL 7800 during the semester they undertake their Capstone Project.  They cannot enroll in this class for more than ONE semester, or undertake more than three academic credits.

For more information about the MPH Capstone Project, please refer the Capstone Manual relevant to your year.  Additional materials, such as the Capstone registration form and sample capstones can be found below.

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone E-Presentation Award for 2021:

• Kyle Patel – Gun Ownership and Bereavement by Suicide: Race, Gender, and Age – Advisor: Toni Miles
• Rochelle Obiekwe – The Relationship Between Sex and Stigma Among TB Patients in Uganda – Advisor: Juliet Sekandi
• Clay Royster – Predicting the number of opioid-related inpatient stays with Medicaid as the primary insurance payer using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model in Georgia, USA – Advisor: Ming Zhang
• Ansley Kasha – A‌ ‌Survey‌ ‌of‌ ‌Attitudes‌ ‌of‌ ‌College‌ ‌Students‌ ‌Regarding‌ ‌the‌ ‌Voluntary‌ ‌Installation‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌Breathalyzer‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌Personal‌ ‌Vehicle‌ – Advisor: Carol Poe
• Dionne Mitcham – Utilizing Social Media for Information Dispersal during Local Disasters: The Communication Hub Framework for Local Emergency Management – Advisor: Curtis Harris
• Victoria Fonzi – Planning for future COVID-19 vaccine distribution using influenza vaccination location data from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) – Advisor: Janani Thapa

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone Paper Awards for 2021:

• Lily Rubin – Interventions to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Adherence in Low-Income Settings: A Systematic Review – Advisor: Mark Ebell

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone E-Presentation Award for 2020:

• Analysis of COVID-19 in long term care facilities in The United States – Avery Duncan , BS/MPH in Epidemiology
• Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Examining Participant Engagement in Telephone and Group Health Coaching in the Fuel Your Life Program- Julia Hennig , MPH in Health Promotion and Behavior
• Mobile Phone Use and Depressive Symptoms Among College Students in Uganda – Samantha Jackson , MPH in Epidemiology
• The Effects of Childhood Financial Stress on Adult Chronic Disease – Grace Marie Smith , MPH in Epidemiology

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone Paper Awards for 2020:

• Robot-led piano lessons improve cognitive function: A feasibility study in a sample with mild cognitive impairment – Bailey Collette, MPH in Health Promotion and Behavior
• The Public Economic Consequences of Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids in United States Adolescents Attributed to Morbidity and Premature Mortality – Nikki Fillingim , MBA/MPH in Health Policy and Management
• Micronutrient Deficiencies in Belizean Preschool-aged Children: Belize National Micronutrient Survey 2011 – Clarissa Keisling , MPH in Epidemiology
• Providing On-Site Continuing Education to Georgia Long-Term Care Facility Direct Care Workers and Assessing Post-Training Attitude Change: A Feasibility Study – Annie Ndolo , MPH in Epidemiology
• A review of emergency medical services vulnerabilities to highly infectious disease – Thomas Richey , MPH in Disaster Management

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone E-Presentation Award for 2019:

• “Swipe Right & Unite for HIV Prevention: Dating Application Use Among Rural MSM” – Lauren Bineau , MPH in health promotion and behavior
• “Pregnancy, stress and social support during Hurricane Florence” – Victoria Jackson , MPH in health promotion and behavior
• “Outcomes of “Swiping Right”: Sexual Risk Behaviors of Undergraduate Tinder Users” – Alexis Whitmire , MPH in health promotion and behavior

Winners of our Exceptional MPH Capstone E-Presentation Award for 2018:

• “Does BASELINE CD4 Count PREDICT Symptoms Related to Mental Illness In HIV Infected Patients?” – Christopher Bland , MPH in epidemiology
• “Risk of Brucellosis, Tularemia, and Chronic Wasting Disease in US Hunters: A Systematic Review” – Devann Kirkpatrick , MPH in epidemiology
• “Disaster Preparedness Practices Among Puppy Raisers” – Shelby Naar , MPH in disaster management
• “Application of UAVs in Radiation Detection” – Sai Nagula , MPH in disaster management

Capstone Manuals

Capstone (Integrated Learning Experience) Manual 2020-21

Capstone Manual 2019-20 (latest update 3.23.20) Capstone Manual 2018-19 Capstone Manual 2017-18 Capstone Manual 2016-17 Capstone Manual 2015-16 Capstone Manual 2014-15 Capstone Manual 2013-14

Capstone Registration Form (latest update 3.23.20) Capstone Sample Rubric Capstone Sample Signature Page

Sample Capstones

Biostatistics Sample 1-Paper Sample 1-Poster

Disaster Management Sample 1-Paper

Environmental Health Sample 1-Paper Sample 1-Poster

Epidemiology Sample 1-Paper Sample 1-Poster Sample 2-Paper Sample 2-Poster

Gerontology Sample 1-Paper

Health Policy & Management Sample 1-Paper Sample 1-Poster

Health Promotion and Behavior Sample 1-Paper Sample 1-Poster Sample 2-Paper Sample 2-Poster

MPH Student Handbook Archive:

2021-22 MPH Student Handbook

2020-21 MPH Student Handbook 2020-21- MPH Field Placement Handbook 2019-20 MPH Student Handbook 2019-20 Field Placement Handbook 2018-19 MPH Student Handbook 2018-19 MPH Field Placement Handbook 2017-18 MPH Student Handbook 2017-18 MPH Field Placement Handbook 2016-17 MPH Student Handbook 2016-17 MPH Field Placement Handbook 2015-16 MPH Student Handbook 2015-16 MPH Field Placement Handbook

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Master of Public Health

A capstone project is a substantive and original body of work that allows students to synthesize and integrate knowledge from their public health and chosen focus area coursework through a written final product and e-portfolio. The capstone represents the culmination of the student’s educational experience in the Vanderbilt MPH Program.

Each student is responsible for identifying  a focus area for their capstone with the assistance and guidance of their capstone advisor.

Area of Focus

At the time they submit their Culminating Experience selection (Year 1, Spring term), each student will identify the area(s) of focus for their Capstone. Examples include :

• Leadership and Management
• Public Health Informatics
• Implementation Science
• Global Health
• Health Policy
• Biomedical Ethics
• Latino and Latina Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT+) Health
• Other area of focus appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals and approved by the Capstone adviser

2024 Capstone Topics

2023 Capstone Topics

2022 Capstone Topics

2021 Capstone Topics

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Capstone Student Handbooks and Documents

MPH Students – Capstone Program Requirements

All MPH students are required to read the MPH Capstone Program Handbook. This Handbook acts as the Capstone Program syllabus and outlines the procedures, deliverables, and requirements to complete the MPH Capstone Program. The following are required forms, templates, and documents necessary to complete the required Field Experience and Capstone Project courses. Students are responsible for downloading the editable forms for each course noted below.

Accordion Group

• Capstone Handbook
• CITI Certification Instructions
• EPH 680 Field Experience Proposal Template
• EPH 680 Field Experience Community Partner Agreement & Competency Form
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• EPH 680 Field Experience Evaluation from Partner
• EPH 680 Field Experience Student Evaluation
• EPH 680 Field Experience Final Report Template
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Community Partner Agreement & Competency Form
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Proposal
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Final Report Template
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Report Grading Rubric
• MPH Capstone Program Deadlines

Students in a joint-degree program are advised to contact the Capstone Manager to discuss your program specific Capstone Program requirements.

NextGenMD MD/MPH Students (Admitted 2020)

• Capstone Handbook for NextGenMD MD/MPH Students
• CITI Instructions
• EPH 678 Practicum Proposal Template
• EPH 678 Practicum Community Partner and Competency Form
• EPH 678 Practicum Log of Hours
• EPH 678 Practicum Evaluation from Partner
• EPH 678 Field Experience Student Evaluation
• EPH 678 Practicum Write-Up Template
• EPH 678 Capstone Project Approval Form
• EPH 678 Capstone Project Proposal Template
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Report Rubric
• Class of 2024

NextGenMD MD/MPH Students (Admitted 2021 and after)

• Capstone Handbook for NextGen MD MD/MPH Students
• EPH 678 Practicum Write-Up Format
• EPH 678 Practicum Student Evaluation Form
• EPH 678 Practicum Community Partner Evaluation
• EPH 682 Capstone Project-Proposal Form and Competency Form
• EPH 682 Capstone Project-Proposal Template
• EPH 682 Capstone Project-Final Report and Requirements
• EPH 682 Capstone Project-Final Report Rubric
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Student Evaluation Form
• EPH 682 Capstone Project Community Partner Evaluation
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Students in the Masters of Public Health (MPH) program are required to complete a Capstone project to address a public health issue through the lens of management; quality improvement; program planning, implementation or evaluation; policy; practice; or research. The capstone is undertaken near the end of the course of study and all required MPH courses should be completed prior to registering for the Capstone course (MPH 699).

The capstone project is a self-directed, independent endeavor completed with guidance from the capstone course manager, a capstone advisor (first reader), and an external partner (second reader). Group capstones may be available in special circumstances, under the direction of the capstone course manager. The level of effort and amount of time spent on the capstone is expected to approximate the level of effort of a one-semester, 3 credit course. Capstone presentation dates are available during the fall and spring semesters.

Capstone projects should ideally be designed to benefit a community partner or program, including efforts within the Muskie School’s Cutler Institute.

The Capstone project encompasses four assignments:

• Written proposal (non-graded) – The proposal must be approved by the advisor and first reader prior to the proposal presentation.
• Proposal presentation (non-graded) – Students will receive feedback from faculty and others. Visual aids are encouraged.
• Capstone (graded) – This will be a written product appropriate to the topic, created after carrying out the work of the proposal.
• Final presentation (graded) – Students will present the project and its findings to faculty, students, and other interested parties. The presentation will include a discussion with the audience. Visual aids are encouraged.

Completed capstones from former students are available through Digital Commons .

Colorado School of Public Health at Colorado State University

Colorado state university.

For MPH students, the culminating academic experience is a capstone project that benefits the community or a particular target population. Our MPH students do not complete a thesis.  Capstone projects contribute meaningfully to the current body of knowledge in the field and may include, but are not limited to, creating a program plan or evaluation, summarizing data findings, developing policy recommendations, designing an online tool, teaching health education classes, and many other possibilities.

As with the practicum, capstone projects can be completed anywhere in the world and students work with assigned faculty advisors to plan out an appropriate capstone project. See the button below for a listing of potential host sites.

The goal of the capstone project for the MPH student is to connect all aspects of the curriculum, including seminars, lectures, course work, projects, and practical experiences. Students establish an understanding and appreciation for how their concentration enhances public health practice opportunities in Colorado, the nation, and the world.

Capstone Video Series

• #1 What is the MPH capstone?
• #2 What are the capstone prerequisites and requirements?
• #3 How to prepare for your capstone and find a host site
• #4 How to develop and receive approval for your capstone proposal
• #5 How to successfully complete your capstone project
• #6 How to prepare your capstone poster
• #7 How to prepare your capstone presentation
• #8 How to write your capstone paper

The capstone project, with final products of a paper and professional oral and poster presentation, relates to the student’s academic goals and professional interests, and demonstrates their ability to work independently at the master’s level.  At the end of each semester, the students who have completed their capstone project give an oral and poster presentation at our Public Health Forum.

Capstone advisors

While completing the capstone project through CSU, students enroll in a two-credit capstone course and are assigned a faculty advisor for ongoing support and guidance throughout the process. Capstone advisors are:

Kendra Bigsby

Dr. Tracy Nelson

Dr. Molly Gutilla

Dr. Olivia Arnold

Dr. Umit Shrestha

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About the Master of Public Health Program

The Master of Public Health is a Schoolwide degree program. The rigorous curriculum prepares students to become leading public health professionals capable of addressing current global health problems with multidisciplinary, evidence-based approaches.

During the program, students interact with public health faculty members renowned for teaching, practice and ongoing research around the world. In this diverse and collaborative learning environment, students learn as much from each other as they do from their coursework.

MPH students benefit from a flexible curriculum, online and onsite options, hundreds of courses taught by 1,500+ faculty and RA opportunities with projects in 67 countries.

The program culminates in a capstone project that applies competencies and skills acquired through the program to a public health problem relevant to a student’s professional goals and interests.

Graduates become part of the largest MPH alumni network across the globe.

Dual Degree and Full-Time Options           Online / Part-Time Format

Master of Public Health Program Highlights

ranking from U.S. News & World Report

average full-time MPH cohort size

international students

dual degree programs

Our MPH program and MPH/MBA dual degree program are now STEM-designated

The STEM designation applies to students graduating in May 2023 and after . Students who have an F-1 visa and are employed after graduation, may be eligible for up to t wo additional years of Optional Practical Training (OPT) beyond the one year offered to graduates of non-STEM programs.

What Can You Do With an MPH?

MPH graduates work at a vast array of organizations including health care, consulting firms, the federal government, colleges and universities, local and state health departments, hospitals, NGOs, and many, many more. Visit the Graduate Employment Outcomes Dashboard to learn about Bloomberg School graduates' employment status, sector, and salaries.

Sample Job Titles

• Executive Director
• Grants Officer, Global Development
• Clinical Research Associate
• Health Policy Analyst
• Hospital Quality Manager
• EIS/CDC Officer
• Evaluation Associate
• Medical Officer
• Postdoctoral Fellow
• Resident Physician
• Global Product Strategy Senior Manager
• Opioids Program Manager

Curriculum for the Master of Public Health

Browse an overview of the requirements for this master's program in the JHU  Academic Catalogue  and explore all course offerings in the Bloomberg School  Course Directory .

total credits

breakdown of core courses to elective

hours practicum experience

capstone project

• Aging and Public Health
• Child and Adolescent Health
• Epidemiologic & Biostatistical Methods for Public Health & Clinical Research
• Food, Nutrition and Health
• Food Systems 
• Global Environmental Sustainability & Health
• Health Leadership and Management
• Health Systems and Policy
• Humanitarian Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Social & Behavioral Sciences in Public Health
• Women's and Reproductive Health

Admissions Requirements

For the general admissions requirements see our How to Apply page. This specific program also requires:

Prior Work Experience

2 years of full-time, post-baccalaureate, health-related work experience or a doctoral degree in a field underlying public health

This requirement is waived for medical students who have completed two years of U.S. medical school curriculum, those who have finished medical school outside of the U.S., and all applicants to the dual-degree programs. Exception: MPH/MBA candidates must have the two-year work experience.

Prior Coursework

By the time a student matriculates into the program (as opposed to apply for), they must have satisfactorily completed the following courses for academic credit and letter grade at an accredited institution:

• One math course (e.g., Calculus, Algebra or Statistics)
• One introductory general biology course
• One health-related science (e.g., Microbiology, Nutrition, or Anatomy and Physiology) OR a second biology course

Standardized Test Scores

Standardized test scores (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, or MCAT) are  optional* for this program. The admissions committee will make no assumptions if a standardized test score is omitted from an application, but will require evidence of quantitative/analytical ability through other application components such as academic transcripts and/or supplemental questions.  Applications will be reviewed holistically based on all application components.

*The MPH/MBA with the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School require either GRE or GMAT scores. However, there are GMAT/GRE Waivers for select, qualified candidates (3 or more years of full-time post-graduate work experience at the time of the program start in July AND a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in undergraduate coursework or an advanced degree or professional degree (i.e., earned master's or doctorate). Meeting minimum eligibility does not guarantee a waiver and receiving a waiver does not guarantee admission.

Marie Diener-West, PhD '84,

Chair of MPH Program and Professor of Biostatistics, teaches and collaborates in the design, conduct, and analysis of multicenter clinical trials.

Information regarding the cost of tuition and fees can be found on the Bloomberg School's Tuition and Fees page.

All new online/part-time MPH students will be awarded the Welch Scholarship.

The Bloomberg Fellows and Sommer Scholars are two full-tuition scholarship opportunities.

Questions about the program? We're happy to help.

Program Chair Marie Diener-West, PhD

Senior Program Manager Paul Whong

MPH Office 410-955-1291 [email protected]

Compare Programs

Check out similar programs at the Bloomberg School to find the best fit.

• Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Offered by Health Policy and Management
• Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Offered by Epidemiology
• Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management  

Support Our Program

A gift to our program will increase MPH student scholarships, support field experiences, and develop future public health leaders.

University of Washington

Health Systems and Population Health

School of public health.

• Practicum and Capstone: COPHP MPH
• Academic Experience
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• Program Experience: COPHP MPH

The practicum and capstone projects are the experiential learning components of the program. These fieldwork opportunities allow students to apply what they’ve learned in the MPH classroom to significant, hands-on work in a local health organization or agency.

“In the COPHP MPH program, we often worked hand in hand with communities to tackle issues ranging from traffic signal timing to health care coverage for people who are incarcerated. This on-the-ground experience illustrated the multifaceted nature of public health and health care.” — Amber Bronnum Senior Portfolio Manager, Portfolio Health, Providence Health Services

Practicum Project

First year | 160 hours | 3 quarters (autumn, winter, spring).

Practicum projects occur during the first year in the COPHP MPH, last three quarters and have a 160 hour requirement. Students gain transferrable skills while they work with a community partner to produce a deliverable that addresses a specific public health question or problem.

Deliverables are intended to be immediately incorporated into the site’s programming, so projects have an action-focus and do not live in theory. During autumn quarter, students rank and are matched with projects specifically curated by our practicum director. Each student has an identified site supervisor and faculty advisor for their project. Site work begins winter quarter and continues until the end of spring quarter. Students average six hours a week at a public health-related organization until 160 hours are completed.

Many students choose to do their practicum projects with Public Health – Seattle & King County. Students may also pursue opportunities with other public health non-profit and community agencies in the Puget Sound area, such as Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council, and Planned Parenthood.

Completed Practicum Project Examples

Geographic tb case assignment evaluation.

Partnering Organization: Public Health – Seattle & King County Tuberculosis (TB) Program

This project assesses how well the current TB case assignment system is functioning. Activities include conducting interviews with key staff members to understand current assignment system, developing a quantitative assessment tool to evaluate the system, performing basic data analysis, and conducting informant interviews with staff and patients to assess satisfaction. The student will compile a report on how well the current geographic case assignment system is working and recommendations for improvement.

Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)

Partnering Organization: Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)

REACH is a CDC-funded research demonstration project to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in diabetes care and prevention through education and self-management classes, support groups, diabetes registry enhancement, community events and other activities. Students will attend meetings, conduct interviews, review data and conduct content analysis, conduct content analysis and literature reviews, and assist with media and policy development and presentations. Activities will culminate in reports on interviews and data analysis, policy statements and briefing papers, and a systems change report.

Drowning Prevention

Partnering Organization: Public Health – Seattle & King County, Violence and Injury Prevention Program/Prevention Division

This project involves working with Children’s Hospital and other members of the statewide and Seattle-King County Drowning Prevention Coalition. Student will survey local building departments and determine how many have adopted the model national code to protect children visiting or residing in private home situations that have pools or spas. This work is likely to lead to legislative advocacy experience. It will also entail working on media and community education. Related to this is the need to do more work on drowning prevention in communities of color in King County. Student may gain experience in creating media releases, educational materials, and summary reports of community or key informant interviews or surveys.

Designated Driver Program Evaluation

Student will work on a newly received CDC grant on conducting and evaluating designated driver programs. Designated driver and safe ride home programs have never been proven to be effective and some evidence indicates they may actually contribute to harm because other members of the party actually drink more. Work will be concentrated in Pioneer Square, Belltown, and Fremont/U District. Student may gain experience in creating press releases, educational materials, and summary reports of community or key informant interviews or surveys.

Disparities in HIV Prevention and Care Literature Review, Report and Presentation

Partnering Organization: Public Health – Seattle & King County, HIV/AIDS Planning Council

The Seattle HIV/AIDS Planning Council is a 30-member volunteer body responsible for prioritizing and allocating prevention and care funding in King County. The student will research the existing literature on HIV health and education disparities by race, ethnicity, gender, economic background, etc. and put this information together in a way that will make it understandable to the Council’s Cultural Competency Committee. The student will then work with the committee to develop trainings on disparities for Council members, recommendations for caveats to address disparities, recommendations for local needs assessments base, presentation development, utilization of findings, development of materials, and a presentation of a compilation of HIV education and health disparity information.

Regional Plan for Nutrition and Health Education for Older Adults and Seniors in Rural Washington

Partnering Organization: Public Health – Seattle & King County, Healthy Eating/Healthy Aging Program

This project develops a plan for providing nutrition and health education services in specific regions in Washington state. The project involves needs assessment of existing services for seniors and older adults, exploring the structure of the local Area Agency on Aging in the region, looking at demographics of those we want to serve, exploring existing funding sources, logistics, staff, etc. The assessment will be used to propose a plan to regional agencies. Students will be engaged in research, interviewing, exploring existing sources of information, and writing a report, curriculum or recommendations.

Second Year | 3 Quarters (Autumn, Winter, Spring)

The year-long capstone project typically begins in autumn quarter of the second year or the summer before. It allows students to apply their increasingly advanced public health skills in a community-based setting by creating a project from the ground up. Students partner with a site, identify a faculty advisor and site supervisor to ensure their deliverable is within the site’s scope and need.

This project does not have to be associated with the student’s practicum project, though some students choose to stay with the same project team. Students also have the agency to design their 360-hour capstone project to complement their specific career goals and individual interests.

Placement sites include schools, community centers, policy advocacy groups, food banks, and a variety of other kinds of organizations. The capstone often takes place at a site where students can develop relationships and expertise in a specialized area, with the benefit of also preparation for their job search.

As the culminating project, the capstone demonstrates students’ fully developed public health skills, such as the ability to perform data collection and analysis, program evaluation, and program development and implementation.

At the end of second year, students submit a deliverable to their partnering site or organization that addresses a specific public health question or problem. Students then present their projects at the COPHP Capstone Symposium, which is open to their preceptors, faculty advisors, community partners, families, and friends.

Completed Capstone Projects

Spanish-Speaking Patient Narratives in Care Transitions Partner organization: UW Medicine Each year, millions of patients transition to skilled nursing facilities after hospitalization. Poor communication during transitions increases risks of adverse events and disproportionately affects non-English speakers. This study aimed to highlight the experiences of Spanish speaking patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) during care transitions. This work will help fill the significant research gap regarding LEP patient narratives, as identified through literature reviews. The project centered on qualitative analysis of Spanish-speaking patient interviews, revealing the importance of communication in both positive and negative patient experience. Results highlight the critical need for facilitating clearer communication during care transitions.

Participatory Research in Compounding Intersectional Experiences Partner organization: UW Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH) The Participate CISD study is a multi-phase, mixed method research project that used a Community-Based Participatory Research approach. The purpose of this capstone was three-fold; to build community around Compounding Intersectional Experiences, to deepen intersectional praxis by centering empowered, diverse group identities over marginalization, and to lay the groundwork for researchers to expand their capacity to hold complexity of identity and experience within research. The implications of this work illustrate the importance of focusing on experience first, and demographic categories second. In so doing, the issues of isolation and racism that impact this community can be addressed at the systemic level.

“Bridging the Gap” with Improvements for Cancer Health Education Materials Partner organization: Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (OCOE) The OCOE works with community partners across Washington on education of various cancer types and other health issues. Community Health Educators (CHEs) and the rest of the team currently struggle to source materials that meet the diverse needs of their communities, as well as to create or update materials they already use for education efforts. Through a survey, series of group interviews, and assessment of currently used materials, this capstone projects attempts to highlight priority areas for cancer education materials, procedures for sourcing, creating, and organizing materials, and opportunities for further collaboration with partners to create plain language resources that help to “bridge the gap” between clinical and research settings and the communities they serve.

Bridging Intent and Impact: Homelessness Prevention Evaluation Partner organization: Iraqi Community Center of Washington (IRCCW) This project evaluates the Iraqi Community Center of Washington’s Youth and Family Homelessness Prevention Initiative in King County. The IRCCW has expanded its focus to address the rising homelessness among Iraqi refugees and their families through the YFHPI, which provides temporary shelter and permanent housing solutions. Methods included qualitative interviews with case managers and clients, assessing impacts on financial and mental wellbeing, community engagement, and partnership effectiveness. Results indicate that the program effectively stabilizes families and enhances community integration. Key recommendations involve refining data collection methods, extending support durations, and improving community and legal support to enhance service delivery

Kitchen Table Doula Workshops Partner organization: Aurora Commons & The People’s Harm Reduction Alliance Kitchen Table Doula Workshops are peer-facilitated, community-based participatory gatherings where people with lived experience of drug use, pregnancy, parenting and survival sex work set the learning priorities and work together to develop the capacity to increase support, access and advocacy for perinatal care and harm reduction for people who are pregnant and parenting in their community. This collective space not only draws upon research knowledge but also lived experience, peer-mentorship, harm reduction strategies and knowledge sharing practices that are pinnacle to doula work and street-based harm reduction.

“I want to continue practicing in states where GAMC and abortion standards of care are allowed”: Influence of Healthcare Bans on Family Medicine Residents Partner organization: WWAMI region Practice and Research Network (WPRN) This study explores the intersection of two pressing issues in the WWAMI region: the workforce shortage in family medicine (FM) physicians, and the spread of policies limiting access to abortion and gender-affirming medical care (GAMC). Our findings indicate that FM resident physicians are, to varying degrees, aware of and influenced by the legislative environment related to abortion and GAMC when considering their future practice location. As workforce shortages affect all patients, not just those seeking abortion services or GAMC, any policy that contributes to physician relocation should be carefully considered to avoid negative impacts to healthcare access across the state.

NAMI Chai & Chat: Culturally Sensitive Conversations on South Asian Mental Health Partner organization: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Washington Chai & Chat is a conversation series created by NAMI for South Asians to discuss mental health themes in their communities. This project was a soft launch of the initiative with NAMI Washington. A literature review and semi-structured interviews with key collaborators informed the creation of facilitation materials and community outreach activities for three web-based conversations. The series featured guided discussions and panelist Q&As focused on South Asian mental health. Learnings from design and implementation of this series and post conversation feedback revealed the need for earlier, more diverse outreach efforts and the importance of intentional collaboration with trusted community entities.

Indigenous Youth and their Connection to Water for Health and Well-Being Partner organization: Seven Directions Indigenous Public Health Institute This project challenges the status quo by decolonizing and Indigenizing the westernized concept – “Social Determinants of Health” by supporting the Indigenous Social Determinants of Health framework (ISDOH). The ISDOH recognizes the importance of water as a significant health determinant for Indigenous people’s health and well-being. This project secondarily analyzed qualitative data collected by Seven Directions from the 2023 Pacific Northwest Canoe Journey. This research set out to understand how Indigenous Youth conceptualize their connection to water for health and well-being. Results from the analysis are that water is a cultural protective factor for Indigenous youth’s health and well-being.

Youth Participatory Design of a Sexual Violence Prevention Intervention Partner organization: WA Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Youth Centered Environmental Shi” Program (YES!) This project developed youth led sexual violence (SV) prevention intervention recommendations for a middle school in Jefferson County. SV is a pressing public health concern that can have lasting negative health consequences for young people. This capstone utilized youth participatory action research methods to design SV prevention intervention recommendations. Over the course of twelve facilitated sessions, middle schoolers learned about the issues of sexual violence and school safety, youth led research, and qualitative research methods. Students then developed a photovoice project, which they presented to their school. Finally the students developed a list of intervention recommendations to make their school safer.

Spanish-speaking Promotoras Build Community Resilience: A Photovoice Project Partner organization: UW Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH) Centering Promotora voice to expand conceptualizations of community resilience is an anti-racism strategy that can transform public health practice. Over the course of four Spanish-language Photovoice sessions, a group of six Yakima county-based Promotoras took photos and wrote stories to reveal how their work contributes to building and sustaining community resilience. The resulting Photovoice stories amplify the experiences of the Promotoras and their communities, which often go unseen and unheard. Promotoras build community resilience by creating linkages between people, information, and resources. This fosters a sense of unity and belonging among communities that have been repeatedly othered and discriminated against.

“We Deserve…”: Exploring Community Needs and EMS Accountability for People Who Use Drugs Partner organization: UW Research with Expert Advisors on Drug Use (READU) Team This joint capstone project addressed the health inequities that impact people who use drugs (PWUD). With the guidance and support of the UW’s Research with Expert Advisors on Drug Use (READU) Team, the students met with community members, listened to their stories, and explored positive and negative experiences with EMS focusing on bias and discrimination across identity lines. Two deliverables were designed with this information meant to highlight the needs of the drug use community, addressing the rights that people deserve in relationship with drug use, and how EMS can hold accountable to these needs.

Fortifying Futures for Youth: Housing Focus Partner organization: Allies in Healthier Systems for Health and Abundance in Youth (AHSHAY) Exposure to the criminal legal system and experiences with homelessness among youth can result in a cycle of detention and homelessness that can persist into adulthood. For this project, interviews were conducted with youth serving providers in housing, outreach, and legal services to identify and understand the barriers and facilitators they encountered to meet youths’ needs. The project’s findings offer insights into how community organization providers navigate challenges and optimize support to address the housing and supportive needs of youth who have been involved in the criminal legal system and are experiencing homelessness.

Community Participatory Science Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Project Partner organization: Public Health – Seattle & King County, Environmental Health Services Division In response to the increasing frequency and severity of wildfire events and the disproportionate health impacts of wildfire smoke, this study examined the efficacy of low-cost sensors and portable air-cleaning interventions in characterizing and improving indoor air quality. Survey data on building characteristics and occupant perceptions and behaviors were combined with PM2.5 exposure data from both indoor air sensors and nearby outdoor sensors.

Cultural Preservation through Community-led Development in Little Saigon Partner organization: Friends of Little Saigon A new Vietnamese Cultural and Economic Center (VCEC) will be an anchor for the Little Saigon neighborhood, which has experienced rapid gentrification and cultural displacement. Through community engagement, this capstone project helped envision culturally relevant programming and ideas for creating a welcoming ambience. Methods included an online survey, interviews with small business owners, an interactive feedback board, and a World Café-style community meeting. Community members expressed interest in cultural celebrations, food-related events, and intergenerational opportunities in a space that represents the Vietnamese diaspora. Designing the VCEC for community cohesion will increase feelings of belonging, place attachment, cultural connection, and well-being.

Developing an Evaluation Strategy for AIMS Center Implementation Projects Partner organization: UW Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions (AIMS) Center The AIMS Center is dedicated to improving patient outcomes by promoting Collaborative Care (CoCM) and evaluating and enhancing their performance in supporting CoCM implementation. Practice coaching and clinical training are key implementation activities. To support the AIMS Center in regularly assessing and improving, this Capstone is focused on a gap analysis of how CoCM coaching and training are evaluated. Current and desired states were established through a staff survey, interview, and focus group. Recommendations to reach the desired state – grouped into Health Equity, Evaluation Practices, and Feedback Review – were informed by data analysis coupled with literature and document review.

Planning an Evaluation for a Middle School Substance Use Curriculum Partner organization: The Washington Poison Center This Capstone is a relay project, continuing the work of a prior COPHP student who collaborated with WAPC to develop a middle school substance use harm reduction and prevention curriculum, in response to a need voiced by educators. Before implementation, the curriculum necessitated an evaluation plan. Through interviews with educators, behavioral health specialists, and youth across the state, this project gathered feedback on the content of the curriculum and desired outcomes of the curriculum, to inform the evaluation plan. Using this information, as well as considering best practices of harm reduction curriculum evaluation, Rachel developed an evaluation plan and recommendations on updating, implementing, and evaluating the curriculum, considering educators’ and communities’ needs.

Lessons Learned from an Evaluation of School Based Interventions to Address Chronic Absenteeism Partner organization: Seattle Public Schools This project evaluated the implementation of several interventions to address school absences at a public elementary school in Seattle. They reviewed school documents and policies, interviewed administrators and staff, surveyed all enrolled families, analyzed school attendance data, developed a workflow map of attendance procedures, and implemented interventions to support students with chronic absenteeism. They explored the public health implications of the school’s attendance interventions, and provided the school with recommendations to sustain or improve current practices.

Coming soon!

Capstone Title: A Needs Assessment to Strengthen Washington Poison Center and School-Based Health Providers’ Relationship Regarding Adolescent Intentional Suicide and Self-Harm Public Health Areas: Youth Mental Health, Suicide Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Poison Center Populations: Adolescents, School-Based Health Care Providers

Capstone Title: Protecting Hanford Workers’ Rights to Health: A Systematic Review on the Effects of Tank Farm Chemical Vapor Exposures on Workers’ Health Public Health Areas: Exposure, Environmental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Hanford Challenge Populations: Hanford Workers

Capstone Title: Evaluating Factors that Contribute to American Indian Men’s Health in the Strong Men, Strong Communities Research Study Public Health Areas: Native Health, Resilience Partner Organization or Setting: Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH) & Washington State University Populations: Indian Men

Capstone Title: Reducing Food Insecurity Among Community Health Center Patients in White Center: A mixed-methods process evaluation of Sea Mar’s universal food insecurity screening pilot program in partnership with Public Health Seattle-King County Public Health Areas: Food Justice Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health Seattle – King County and Sea Mar Community Health Centers Populations: Food-insecure communities

Capstone Title: Shifting School Culture to Protect Students from Sexual Violence: Participatory design of a teacher training guide Public Health Areas: Sexual Violence, Student Health Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Populations: Adolescents, Teachers

Capstone Title: Making classroom and community connections with Glendale Forest Park: Assessing student perceptions of health, connection to nature, and understanding of classroom learning with Washington Trails Association and Rainier Prep Middle School Public Health Areas: Environmental Health, Built Environment Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Trails Association Populations: Adolescent Students

Capstone Title: Strengthening Community in the Wake of COVID-19 at Neighborcare Health’s Youth Clinic Public Health Areas: Homelessness Partner Organization or Setting: Neighborcare Health’s Youth Clinic Populations: Unhoused Youth

Capstone Title: A Youth-led Participatory Codesign of a Black Mental Health & Healing Justice Peer Support Program Public Health Areas: Anti-Black Racism, Mental Health Partner Organization or Setting: BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) Populations: Black Adolescents

Capstone Title: Providing Free Tax Preparation Through Health Centers in King County: A Feasibility Assessment Public Health Areas: Income Inequality Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Populations: Low-income Adults

Capstone Title: An Opportunity to Rebuild Washington State’s Commercial Tobacco Prevention Program: Pursuing Community-Oriented Solutions through the 2022 Legislative Session and Beyond for Prevention, Cessation, and Education Efforts in Washington State Public Health Areas: Tobacco Policy Partner Organization or Setting: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Populations: Washington Residents

Capstone Title: Community Integration and Chronic Homelessness: A Community Needs Assessment for Residents of Station Place Public Health Areas: Homelessness, Housing Partner Organization or Setting: Housing Hope Populations: Low-income, Formerly Unhoused

Capstone Title: Partner Priorities in Furthering Universal Newborn and Early Childhood Hearing Screening Efforts in Kenya Public Health Areas: Global Health, Child Health Partner Organization or Setting: Toward Universal Newborn and Early Childhood Hearing Screening in Kenya Populations: Newborns

Capstone Title: Identifying Barriers to Behavioral Health Access in Pierce and King County Schools Public Health Areas: Youth Mental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Puget Sound Educational Service District Populations: Pierce County Students

Capstone Title: Evaluating Washington State Food Bank Policies: A review and comparative analysis on how policies within traditional and grassroots food distribution organizations impact BIPOC communities’ access and utilization of services Public Health Areas: Food Justice, Food Insecurity, Racism Partner Organization or Setting: Northwest Harvest Populations: Food Bank Clients

Capstone Title: Promoting Equity in K-12 Schools to Reduce Toxic Stress in Youth Public Health Areas: Toxic Stress, Youth Mental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Puget Sound Educational Service District Populations: Puget Sound Students

Capstone Title: Cancer Care Resource Mapping for American Indian and Alaska Native Populations in King County Public Health Areas: Native Health, GIS Partner Organization or Setting: Fred Hutch Office of Community Outreach and Engagement Populations: Indigenous Peoples

Capstone Title: Tacoma-Pierce County Equity Assessment Framework: Multiculturalism Lens Public Health Areas: Health Equity Partner Organization or Setting: Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Populations: Pierce County Residents

Capstone Title: Assessing the Assets, Needs, and Resources that Influence Children’s Health and Well-Being in Rural Montana and Idaho Public Health Areas: Rural Health Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Children’s Hospital Community Health & Benefit Team Populations: Children and Families

Capstone Title: A Needs Assessment to Optimize Comprehensive Race and Ethnicity Data Collection, Tracking, and Centralization Across Child and Family Health Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital Public Health Areas: Data Equity Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Children’s Center for Diversity and Health Equity Populations: Children and Youth

Capstone Title: Developing novel assessment methods for a residential treatment program for youth with neurodevelopmental or behavioral health challenges – Phase I Public Health Areas: Mental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Ryther Populations: Young Adults

Capstone Title: Identifying LGBTQ+ Student’s Perceptions of Protective Factors for Sexual Violence in Schools Public Health Areas: LGBTQ+ Health, Sexual Violence Partner Organization or Setting: UW Northwest Center for Public Health Practice Populations: LGBTQ+ Youth

Capstone Title: Community Health Workers in Pediatric Primary Care Public Health Areas: Child and Family Health Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Children’s Research Institute Populations: Youth and Families

Capstone Title: Implementing an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) texting platform to improve patient navigation efficiency at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Public Health Areas: Latinx Health Partner Organization or Setting: Sea Mar Community Health Centers Populations: Adults in Primary Care

Capstone Title: Child Death Review Across the Country: What Options Does Washington State Have to Reestablish its Review System? Public Health Areas: Public Health Systems Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Washington State

Capstone Title: Assessing and Redesigning At-Home Colorectal Cancer Screening Program at Neighborcare Health Public Health Areas: Cancer Prevention Partner Organization or Setting: Neighborcare Health, Seattle Populations: Adults in Primary Care

Capstone Title: Understanding Holistic Equity for Cannabis in Washington Public Health Areas: Cannabis Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Department of Health Populations: Washington Residents

Capstone Title: Native Hawaiian Traditional Practices to Enhance Health and Well-being Public Health Areas: Indigenous Health Partner Organization or Setting: Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Populations: Native Hawaiians

Capstone Title: Addressing Lead in School Drinking Water: Community-Oriented Public Health Policy in Washington State Public Health Areas: Environmental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND) Populations: School-aged children in Washington State

Capstone Title: Barriers to Accessing Social Security Disability for People Experiencing Homelessness in Seattle Public Health Areas: Social safety net policy, disabilities, and homelessness Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE) and Nickelsville Populations: People experiencing homelessness

Capstone Title: Haskins Community Assessment of Life Events and Difficulties of Khmer Youth and Elders During COVID-19 Public Health Areas: Community Health, Health Equity Partner Organization or Setting: Khmer Community of Seattle King County Populations: Khmer and Cambodian Communities

Capstone Title: Hops Mutual Aid in the Era of COVID-19 Public Health Areas: Basic Needs, Community Organizing Partner Organization or Setting: University of Washington-Bothell Populations: Mutual Aid Network Organizers

Capstone Title: Self-Advocacy and Leadership Among LGBTQ+ Youth: Exploring Potential for Q Card at Gay City Public Health Areas: Population Health Partner Organization or Setting: Q Card Project Populations: LGBTQ+ youth

Capstone Title: Are UWPD processes actively rooted in antiracist principles? A Preliminary Evaluation and Analysis of UWPD (University of Washington Police Department) Communications of Criminal Incidents Public Health Areas: Policing, Process evaluation, Anti-racism Partner Organization or Setting: University of Washington Populations: UW and larger community

Capstone Title: How We Faced A Pandemic: Amplifying COVID-19 Asian Pacific American (APA) Narratives of King County, WA Public Health Areas: Population Health; Community Engagement Partner Organization or Setting: Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience Populations: APA identifying community members in King County, WA and visitors of the Wing Luke Museum exhibit

Capstone Title: COVID-19 Crowdfunding Data in Washington State (WA) Public Health Areas: Health equity, access to fiscal supports in crises Partner Organization or Setting: University of Washington-Bothell Populations: WA state crowdfunding campaigners

Capstone Title: COVID-19 Response Review: Oral History and Intra-Action Review of Public Health – Seattle & King County’s COVID-19 Response Public Health Areas: Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Seattle, King County

Capstone Title: Honoring homeless deaths with Women in Black vigils in Seattle: Why do people participate and what does it accomplish? Public Health Areas: Health equity, community mobilization, homelessness Partner Organization or Setting: Women’s Housing Equality and Enhancement League (WHEEL) Populations: People experiencing homelessness

Capstone Title: Queering Public Health at the University of Washington Public Health Areas: Education, Community Engagement Partner Organization or Setting: UW School of Public Health Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Populations: LGBTQ2S communities

Capstone Title: Searching and mapping vacant property for the SHARE organization’s various needs to provide shelter Public Health Areas: Homelessness, Housing and access to shelter, Population Health Partner Organization or Setting: SHARE (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort) Populations: People experiencing homelessness/ housing instability

Capstone Title: Prioritizing Wellness: Creating Health & Wellness Modules for Childcare Providers enrolled in the PLAY Study Public Health Areas: Population health, access to resources, health education Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Children’s Research Institute Populations: Childcare providers, low wage workers

Capstone Title: A qualitative exploration of the opportunities in Tacoma for BIPOC to learn and engage with environmental justice Public Health Areas: Environmental Health, Environmental Justice, Community Engagement Partner Organization or Setting: Tacoma Roots: Environmental Justice Forum Populations: BIPOC communities in Tacoma

Capstone Title: Developing a Problem-Based E-Learning Course to Build Public Health Capacity Public Health Areas: Education, Population Health Partner Organization or Setting: UW Northwest Center for Public Health Practice Populations: Rural Departments of Health and Rural Communities in WA, OR, ID, and AK

Capstone Title: Barriers to Transportation and Well-being in King County: An Exploration of How Subsidized Public Transportation Could Eliminate Barriers to Transportation and Increase Opportunities for Improved Well-being Public Health Areas: Health equity, Social Determinants of Health Partner Organization or Setting: King County Metro Populations: People experiencing barriers to transportation

Capstone Title: Building an Implementation Toolkit for the University of Washington Autism Center (UWAC) On-Time Autism Intervention (OTAI) Project Public Health Areas: Education, Community Engagement Partner Organization or Setting: University of Washington Autism Center, On-Time Autism Intervention Populations: Families within Part C IDEA in King County

Capstone Title: Building the Legislative Foundation to Teach Public Health in High Schools Public Health Areas: Policy, Health education Partner Organization or Setting: Office of State Representative Gerry Pollet, 46th District Populations: School-aged children in Washington State

Capstone Title: The TGNC Card: A Community-based Implementation Study of an Innovative Tool to Improve Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Adolescents’ Experiences in Healthcare Public Health Areas: Healthcare Access, Minority Health, Youth Health Partner Organization or Setting: Q Card Populations: Trans and nonbinary youth

Capstone Title: Influence of religious beliefs and practices on late-stage breast cancer presentation in Ondo State, Nigeria Public Health Areas: Cancer Prevention, Community Sensitization and Outreach, Global Health Systems Partner Organization or Setting: Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN) Populations: Women and Faith Leaders in Ondo State, Nigeria

Capstone Title: Introducing Unmanned Aerial Systems for Tuberculosis Sample Transportation in Mozambique: A Community Sensitization Strategy Public Health Areas: Global health and community engagement Partner Organization or Setting: VillageReach Populations: Communities with limited access to tuberculosis laboratory services

Capstone Title: Mapping Mental Health Services and Treatments Available to Somali Refugees in Nairobi through the International Organization for Migration Public Health Areas: Mental Health, Migration Health Partner Organization or Setting: International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN-Agency Populations: Refugees

Capstone Title: Wildfire Smoke Resilience and Well-being: Creating a Toolkit for the Methow Valley Community Public Health Areas: Environmental health, Climate change and health Partner Organization or Setting: Methow Valley Citizens Council Populations: Rural Eastern Washington community

Capstone Title: Conducting a Community Health Assessment to Inform the Planning of a School-Based Health Center at Lowell Elementary School Public Health Areas: School Health, Education and Health Partner Organization or Setting: Capitol Hill Housing-EcoDistrict Populations: K-12 youth and their families

Capstone Title: Preparing PCAP: Helping a Local NGO Adapt to Integrated Managed Care Public Health Areas: Health System Navigation Partner Organization or Setting: Parent-Child Assistance Program, Clallam County Populations: Pregnant people experiencing substance use disorder

Capstone Title: Process and Outcome Evaluation of American Lung Association’s Master Home Environmentalist (MHE) Program Public Health Areas: Asthma and allergy in children and families Partner Organization or Setting: American Lung Association in Washington Populations: Children and families

Capstone Title: Connecting the Dots to Address Lead in Washington State K-12 Drinking Water: History, Science, Ethics and Legislation Public Health Areas: Risk communication, equity, public policy Partner Organization or Setting: Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders (INND) Populations: Washington State youth attending K12 schools

Capstone Title: Exploring the Intersection of Climate, Migration and Health: The Experience of Mekong Delta Migrants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Public Health Areas: Environmental health, Climate Change and Health, Migration Partner Organization or Setting: Southern Institute of Social Sciences Populations: Migrants in Ho Chi Minh City

Capstone Title: Helping Them Quit: Development of a Webpage Wireframe for Providers to Assist in Adolescent Nicotine Vapor Product Cessation Public Health Areas: Nicotine Vapor Product Cessation Partner Organization or Setting: Prevention Works in Seattle (WINS) Coalition Populations: Direct-Service Providers to Adolescents in King County

Capstone Title: Bright Futures Public Health Areas: Child mental health, International Development Partner Organization or Setting: Sanyu Babies’ Home Populations: Ugandan Children and foreign national volunteers traveling to Uganda

Capstone Title: Sugary Beverage Tax – Health Equity Workgroup Public Health Areas: Public Health Policy Partner Organization or Setting: Healthy Food America Populations: Health Equity Advocates

Capstone Title: Latino Youth Knowledge of HPV and HPV Vaccination in Washington State Public Health Areas: Cancer Prevention, Minority Health, Youth Health Partner Organization or Setting: Fred Hutch Office of Community Outreach and Engagement Populations: Latino adolescents

Capstone Title: Tending to Strong Communities: A Social Network Analysis of Indigenous Plant Educators in the Pacific Northwest Public Health Areas: Environmental health Partner Organization or Setting: Urban Indian Health Institute Populations: American Indians/ Alaska Natives

Capstone Title: Human Trafficking Screening in Family Planning Clinics: Screening Tool Recommendations, Implementation Best Practices, and Clinic Staff Training Manual Public Health Areas: Human trafficking Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Family Planning Program Populations: Those who experience human trafficking and seek family planning services

Capstone Title: Identifying Innovative Tobacco Prevention Policy Recommendations for King County to Address Tobacco-Related Disparities Public Health Areas: Tobacco prevention policies Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Tobacco users in King County

Capstone Title: Gendered (In)Justice: Leveraging Equity & Social Justice in the Washington State Supreme Court Gender & Justice Commission Gender Bias Study Public Health Areas: Disparities in the State Court System Partner Organization or Setting: Washington State Supreme Court Gender & Justice Commission Populations: Washington State judiciary and other legal professionals

Capstone Title: Building a Community-Based Program Implementation Toolkit for the Ethiopian Community in Seattle Public Health Areas: Immigrant Health, Mental Health Partner Organization or Setting: Ethiopian Community in Seattle Populations: Immigrants

Capstone Title: Restore, Reinvest, Renew: Equity Frameworks in States with Legal Marijuana Markets Public Health Areas: Drug policy and criminal justice reform Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs

Capstone Title: Engaging Men for Health in Uganda: Will boys just be boys? Public Health Areas: Gender and health Partner Organization or Setting: Straight Talk Foundation Populations: Ugandan people (living in Uganda)

Capstone Title: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Developing a Clearinghouse of Climate and Health Trainings for Public Health Practitioners Public Health Areas: Environmental health, Climate change and health Partner Organization or Setting: Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences Washington State Department of Health Populations: Public health workforce

Capstone Title: Achieve Meaningful Involvement: Designing the Activity Plan for Moms-targeted Institutional Control Strategy with Community Health Advocates of the Fun to Catch, Toxic to Eat Program Public Health Areas: Environmental Health, Environmental Injustice, Health Promotion Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Communities which fish, eat, and receive the seafood from the Duwamish River (especially pregnant moms and caregiver of young children)

Capstone Title: Advocates Matter in Duration of Homelessness and Quality of Life Public Health Areas: Homelessness Partner Organization or Setting: SHARE (Seattle Housing and Resource Equity) Populations: Persons experiencing homelessness

Capstone Title: Evaluating Racial Health Disparities in HIV Care to Inform Provider Training in Anti-Racist Community Health Practice Public Health Areas: Anti-Racism, Social Justice Partner Organization or Setting: Bailey-Boushay House (BBH) Populations: Staff members of BaileyBoushay House (BBH)

Capstone Title: Peninsula Community Health Services Mental Health Assessment Public Health Areas: Mental Health Assessment Partner Organization or Setting: Peninsula Community Health Services (PCHS) Populations: Adult patients at PCHS in Kitsap County

Capstone Title: Implementing Medicaid Buy-In in New Mexico Public Health Areas: Health Insurance Partner Organization or Setting: Health Action New Mexico Populations: Policy makers and community members who qualify

Capstone Title: For the Hope of our Children: Planning and Implementation of a Positive Parenting Program with the Ethiopian Community in Seattle Public Health Areas: Parenting Education Partner Organization or Setting: Ethiopian Community in Seattle (ECS) Populations: Community and ECS members

Capstone Title: Bringing Food Home: The Implementation and Evaluation Design for a Mobile Food Pantry and Related Programming at a Low-Income Housing Community Public Health Areas: Food Insecurity Partner Organization or Setting: Food Lifeline, Seattle King County Public Health Populations: King County Residents, Mercy Housing Appian Way Apartments

Capstone Title: Nuestra Comunidad: A Qualitative Study Exploring Safety and the Social Cost of Naturalization in the Yakima Valley Public Health Areas: Health Implications of Naturalization Partner Organization or Setting: Las Casa Hogar Populations: Latinx communities in Yakima Valley

Capstone Title: An Implementation Evaluation of Refugee Northwest’s Asylum Assistance Program’s Electronic Records System Public Health Areas: Information and Operations Flow Analysis Partner Organization or Setting: Refugees Northwest (RNW) Populations: Employees of RNW programs

Capstone Title: Post Tobacco 21: Re-evaluating Youth Possession, Use and Purchase Penalties Public Health Areas: Health Equity Policy Analysis Partner Organization or Setting: Health King County Coalition (HKCC) Populations: Washington state minors

Capstone Title: Exploring the Impact of Mixed-Income/Mixed-Use redevelopments in Building Community Cohesion in the Yesler Terrace Site Public Health Areas: Building Community Partner Organization or Setting: Yesler Terrace Development Populations: Yesler Terrace Residents and Neighborhood

Capstone Title: Expanding an Implementing the Washington Poison Center Older Adult Medication Management Program Public Health Areas: Medication Management Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Poison Center Populations: Caregivers and Older Adults

Capstone Title: REST Training Day Evaluation Public Health Areas: Sex Trafficking Training Tool Partner Organization or Setting: REST Populations: REST Team Members and Partners

Capstone Title: Malloneé Washington Statewide Community Needs Assessment Public Health Areas: Poisoning Prevention Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Poison Center Populations: Washington Residents

Capstone Title: REACH/EMS Pilot Study Design Public Health Areas: Health Inequities Partner Organization or Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Populations: Social Service Providers from REACH

Capstone Title: Human Resources for Health in Conflict Settings: A Cross Sectional Study of Employment Status and Location of Physician Graduates from Democratic Republic of Congo Medical Schools 2007-2018 Public Health Areas: Employment Rates of Physicians Partner Organization or Setting: Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) Populations: Health Organizations within Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR)

Capstone Title: Deportation, Return Migration and Mental Health: An Evaluation of Osztros Dreams en Acción (ODA) Public Health Areas: Deportation and Return Migration Partner Organization or Setting: Otros Deams en Acción Populations: Deportees/Retur nees in México

Capstone Title: CPR in a Box: Creating a Hands-Only Adult CPR Education Kit Public Health Areas: CPR Education Partner Organization or Setting: King County Populations: Emergency Responders

Capstone Title: Racial Justice-Oriented Grantmaking: A Community Driven Improvement Plan for Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative Fund Public Health Areas: Racial Displacement Partner Organization or Setting: City of Seattle Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) Fund Populations: City of Seattle Community Organizations

Capstone Title: Building Northwest Abortion Access Fund’s (NWAAF) Capacity to Support Trans, Non-Binary and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) Clients Public Health Areas: Barriers to Abortion Access Partner Organization or Setting: Northwest Abortion Access Fund (NWAAF) Populations: TGNC Folx

Capstone Title: Community Passageways: Evaluating and Refining Community Led Youth Felony Diversion Programming Public Health Areas: Juvenile Justice Systems Partner Organization or Setting: Community Passageways Populations: Youths in Juvenile Justice System

Capstone Title: Global Monitoring of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Development and Analysis of an Indicator Framework and Application to World Health Organization Country Fact Sheets Public Health Areas: Sexual and Reproduction Health Partner Organization or Setting: World Health Organization Populations: Country Health Researchers and Policy Makers

Capstone Title: Let’s talk Cannabis A Capacity Building Training for Influential Adults Public Health Areas: Cannabis Education Partner Organization or Setting: Washington Poison Center (WAPC) Populations: WAPC Trainers

Capstone Title: Evaluation of Drug and Alcohol Discipline Processes and Practices in Seattle Public High Schools Public Health Areas: Students Disciplinary Action Partner Organization or Setting: Seattle Public Schools Populations: Seattle Public School Administrators and Staff

Capstone Title: Measuring and Assessing Equitable Participation in King Country’s Balanced You Workplace Wellness Program Public Health Areas: Workplace Wellness Partner Organization or Setting: King County’s “The Balanced You” Workplace Wellness Program Populations: King County Employees

Capstone Title: Development of eLearning Training Modules – Contraceptive Counseling and Client-Centered Care for Providers & Introduction to Comprehensive Sexual Education for Parents Public Health Areas: Sex Education Partner Organization or Setting: Cardea Services Populations: Parents and Healthcare Providers

Capstone Title: The Power in Our Stories: Centering Health Equity in Electoral Campaigns Public Health Areas: Health Equity Partner Organization or Setting: Amplify Populations: Public Officials, Political Candidates in King County

Home > Public Health > IPH_CAPSTONE

Public Health Capstone Projects

Capstone projects from 2024 2024.

Can’t Help You Here; Barriers to Access and Necessary Measures for Improving Health Inequities for Transgender Sex Workers , Andrew E. Colvin

PrEP Inequities Among Black and Latino MSM in the United States: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities Using a Social Ecological Model (SEM) Framework , Ryan Fisher

Tracking Childhood Vaccination Trends by Race: Analyzing MMR-Only, DTaP-Only, and Varicella-Only Vaccine Coverage Rates from 2016-2022 , Victoria Gallagher

Payment Assessment of Giving Birth in America Among Insurance Types for Years 2017 through 2021 , Jacy D. Harrell

The Association between Oral Contraceptives and Cardiovascular Disease: A Biomarker Analysis using Total Cholesterol, Low-Density Lipoprotein, and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein , Maryam Z. Kenning

Factors Associated with the Serious Adverse Effects and Misuse of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists , Khang Nguyen

The Relationship between Mental and Environmental Health in Urban Salvador Brazil: Development of a Research Protocol , Rashad Parmer

Long COVID Among US Women: Racial Disparities and the Mediating Role of Severe COVID Infection , Amelia Phan

Analyzing the Associations between Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Childhood ADHD Prevalence, Demographics and Environmental Factors in the United States , Reisha Rhodenbaugh

Health Care Toolkit to Support Patients with Disabilities , Sydnie E. Smith

The Most Diverse Square Mile in America: Sociodemographic, Health Profiles, and Access to Healthcare among the Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant Population in Clarkston, Georgia , Win Min Thein

Assessment of a Multidisciplinary Feeding Program's Caregiver Education Material through the Application of Health Literacy Principles , Mary Thomas

Capstone Projects from 2023 2023

Positive Behavior Support Parent Academy Curriculum - An Additional Approach , Lupe Arteaga

Association between Socio economic Factors and Contraceptive Use among Married Women in Guinea and Mali: An Examination of the Demographic and Health Survey Data 2018 , Mamadou Abdoulaye R Diallo

Fall Risk Assessment of Elderly Community-Dwelling Individuals , Jha'Meisheia Griffin

Reducing Health Disparities for U.S. Hispanics by Increasing the Cultural Literacy of Nutrition Professionals , Norma Esther Guardado López

The Associations between Selected Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Health Factors for Depression in Elderly Americans , Pema Lhewa

Epigenetic Changes and Health Disparities: An Evaluation Plan for Mamatoto Village Programming , Diamond T. Robinson

Adapting the International Protocol for Sexual Violence within the Department of Defense: Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office , Tehnyat Sohail

Stigma, Social Norms, and Culture as Mediators of HIV and AIDS Incidence in South Africa , Skyeisha Swain

Capstone Projects from 2022 2022

Survival of Anthrax Patients with Fluid Collections by Treatment Status , Sophie Binney

A Review of Economic Policies to Reduce and Prevent Child Maltreatment and Other Adverse Childhood Experiences , Kaila Farmer

Behavioral and Epidemiological factors behind Vaccine Hesitancy in The United States , Maggie Hanusek

The Evaluation Plan for the LGBTQ+ Runaway & Homelessness Youth (LRHY) Outreach Program , Jade Matthews

Analysis of the Association between Physical and Mental Health in Adults: Understanding the Literature and Developing a Plan for Future Research , Max Moskowitz

Health Insurance Status and Severe Maternal Morbidity Outcomes in the United States - A Policy Review , Adejumobi Otekunrin

The Associations Between Overweight/Obesity Among Children and Select Social and Economic Predictors , Lauren A. Powell

“We Really are Seeing Racism in the Hospitals”: Racism and Doula Care , Ayeesha Sayyad

Concepts for Antiracist Policy Formulation , Sophia Steinberg

“a Doula Is Not a Visitor...a Birth Doula Is an Essential Part of the Birth Team”: Interprofessional Dynamics among Doulas, Doctors, and Nurses , Kaniya Williamson

Capstone Projects from 2021 2021

Challenges and Prospects of Implementing Mobile Health in Angola: Lessons Learned from Kenya and Denmark. , Maria da Graca Ambrosio

Evaluating Funding Structures of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Metropolitan Atlanta: A Basis for Public Policy , Mamta Sanam Chaudhary

Levels of Engagement in a Comprehensive Parenting Intervention to Reduce Child Neglect Among Mothers without a High School Diploma: A Profile Examination , De Gao

The Need for Speed: Broadband Access as a Social Determinant of Health , Mwoddah Habib

An Evaluation Plan for Georgia's Injury Prevention Program , Joy Ngene

Examining United States Drug Policy from 2010-2021: A Qualitative Summation Using PEST Framework Model , Izadora A. Nunes

U.S. Rural Healthcare Shortage: A Review of Strategies in the U.S., Canada, and Colombia. , Carlos Perez

Comparing Water Quality Data of Atlanta's Sewage Overflows and Spills , Bonnie M. Pirlot

Policy Recommendations to Address Disproportionate Health Outcomes Caused by Healthy Food Access in Relation to Housing Districts Segregated by Class and Race , Roselyn Quarcoo

Characterization of Hand Hygiene Techniques Among Intensive Care Nurses: A Descriptive Study , Ashley L. Reyes

Analysis of Loss of Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States , Mira Shah

Research Proposal: COVID-19 Pandemic and Birth Experiences: Describing the Relationship Between Policies and the Birth Experiences of Georgia Mothers , Katherine Thornburgh

Georgia Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Resource and Protocol Guide , Sanon Williams

Developing and Disseminating the Children’s Environmental Health Index with Web GIS , Allegra Yeley

Branched Chain Amino Acids and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Literature Review , Alina Yemelyanov

Capstone Projects from 2020 2020

The Role of Policy in Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Childhood Trauma in Georgia , Hallie Andrews

StayNeighbor: Community Platform for Essential Supplies and Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Samuel Archbold

Strategies in Maintaining Financial Sustainability of National Health Insurance Under A Single-payer System in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Canada: A Comparative Study , Arif Budiman

Aligning the Georgia Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Plan with Governor Kemp's Priorities and Initiatives , Taylor Jennings

Healthcare for All: Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the Strengthening of Health Systems , Diene Kaba

Youth Vaping: An Analysis of an Epidemic , Tina Kilpatrick

Georgia’s Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Technical Assistance Resource Guide (TARG) Evaluation Report , Maureen Oginga

U.S. Opioid Epidemic: Challenges and Opportunities for Evidence-based Policies , Imoh S. Okon

The Association between Mental Illness and Incarceration Among the African American/Black Population in the United States , Brittany Oladipupo

Capstone Projects from 2019 2019

A Cross-Sectional Study to Identify Factors Associated with Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Among Foreign-Born In DeKalb County Georgia During 2008-2018 , Chinedu F. Egbuonu

WHO Drinking Water Guidelines , Aja Jagne

Evaluating Strategies for Community-sourced Photography for Mapping Alcohol Adverts in the Urban Slums in Kampala, Uganda , Joseph Madden

Community Organizing as a Vehicle to Promote Public Health in Clarkston, GA: A Literature Review & Case Study of Georgia Refugee Health and Mental Health , Maylott Mulugeta

The Use of Art to Increase Awareness about Mental Well-being and Promotion of Mental Health among the African American Community , Andromada Murden

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Opt-out Testing in a Southern Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) , Leah Pinholster

A Resource Guide on the Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment of Opioid and Other Substance Use. , Anthony F. Rotoloni

Promoting an Urban Utopia: The Role of Community Gardens on Community Vitality , Kayla Danielle Staley

Augmenting Coastal Georgia’s Fresh-Water Supply while Reducing Local Salt-Water Intrusion into Groundwater Reservoirs , Forrest A. Strickland

Capstone Projects from 2018 2018

A Resource Guide To Empower Older Adults to Make Informed Health Decisions About Prescription Opioids And The Potential For Misuse , Kandia S. Al-Haddad

Program Evaluation Aspects of Atlanta Streets Alive , Rebecca A. Ament

A Systematic Analysis of Hepatitis C Virus Screening Trends and Linkage to Care Program in the United States , Ijeoma Azih

Understanding Educational Vulnerability in the Context of Disasters Using Visualizations , Cherish Caldwell

Tobacco-free Campus Post-implementation Program , Ashley Campbell

Examining the Relationship between Drought and Mental Health Outcomes of Depression and Anxiety in the U.S. , Robyn J. Cathey

Urban Water Planning in Lagos, Nigeria: An Analysis of Current Infrastructure Developments and Future Water Management Solutions , Adaure Chiori

A Review of Childhood Obesity Prevention Efforts among Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs , Olga Costa

Prevention Messages to Reduce the Risk of Shigellosis among Men who have Sex with Men , Steve Evener

A Baseline Comparison of PATSCH and Parent as Teachers , Irasema Garcia-Rosales

A Mobile Initiative for Waste Disposal in Bringing Awareness to the Damage Littering Behavior Has on Storm Drains , Kimberly Hung

Examining the Community Outreach Efforts of Local African American Religious Organizations in Relation to Drug Use and HIV Transmission , Alyshia Jackson

A Qualitative Analysis of the Environmental and Personal Factors which Influence the Help-Seeking Behaviors of Men who have Sex with Men in Light of the Emerging Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance to Shigella Bacteria , Kathleen Jacobson

Alcohol Use among Orphans in Sub-saharan Africa: a Literature Review , Megan M. Mallett

Community- Based Walking Programs to Reduce Chronic Illness Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Limited Resource Neighborhoods: A Literature Review and Program Materials for Walk the Line , Alanti McGill

Consolidating Resources for the Aged-Out Human Trafficking Population Using a Mobile Application , Soumya Nalli

Mobile Application for Survivors of Domestic Violence , Varsha Neelam

A Historical Review of the Influenza Outbreaks Within Military Settings and Understanding the Viral Spread of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic , Naomi Ngadiman

How Social and Lifestyle Factors of African American Women Influence Behavior and Prevalence of Obesity: Literature Review , Briana E. Oliver

The Epidemiology of Wasting in Nigeria , Oluwatoyin Victoria Omotosho

Understanding Open Access Data Using Visualizations in R , Hazel Shah

An Evaluation of A National Sexual Violence Prevention Program: The Rape Prevention and Education Program , Arielle Shiver

Protecting College Students with Good Samaritan Policies: A Call to Action! , Nia Sutton

Assessment of Policies and Programs That Apply Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study Research , Rohjan Tajik

Capstone Projects from 2017 2017

Policy Recommendations for Addressing Health Insurance Network Adequacy and Provider Network Standards in the Georgia Insurance Market , Oluwatoyin Adedapo-Jimoh

A Grant Proposal to Evaluate the Effect Antibiotic TB Treatment has on the Gut Microbiota and on Metabolic Functions of Pediatric TB Patients in Dekalb County , Oluwatobiloba Adeola Akingbade

An Evaluation of a School-based Behavioral Health Initiative in Three Rural Counties , Bianca Anderson

Relationships Between Physical Activity and Neighborhood Walking Characteristics: Analysis of the 2015 National Health Interview Survey , Colby Brown

Epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes in populations of African Descent , Kenyatta Bruce

Physical Injury as a Result of Intimate Partner Violence: An Individual, County, and State Level Analysis , Sharon Caslin

Factors That Contribute to The Disproportionate Rates of HIV among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Systematic Review , Santanna S. Comer

Exploring Mental Health Services for Women Post Incarceration , Jalisa Cruver

An Examination of Metabolic Syndrome in Asthmatic Subjects: A Study Using the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , Jasmine N. Cunningham

Health Interventions to Promote the Polio Vaccine within the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: A Systematic Review From 2000-2014. , Aime Serge Dali

Evidence of Injury Following Sexual Assault: A Research Proposal , Brea Echard

Street Medicine: A Program Evaluation , Ariel L. Edwards

Exploring Strategies to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Students in a School Cafeteria , Abigail Furtner

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MPH Capstone experiences: promising practices and lessons learned

Associated data.

The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/restrictions: The data were collected for internal program evaluation. We did not request permission at the time of data collection to disseminate these raw data. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to ude.cnu@deirfdnal .

To ensure workforce readiness, graduate-level public health training programs must prepare students to collaborate with communities on improving public health practice and tools. The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) at the end of their program of study that yields a high-quality written product demonstrating synthesis of competencies. CEPH suggests written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations.” However, there are limited examples of the ILE pedagogies and practices most likely to yield mutual benefit for students and community partners. To address this gap, we describe a community-led, year-long, group-based ILE for MPH students, called Capstone. This service-learning course aims to (1) increase capacity of students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that promote health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships. Since 2009, 127 Capstone teams affiliated with the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have worked with seventy-nine partner organizations to provide over 103,000 h of in-kind service and produce 635 unique products or “deliverables.” This paper describes key promising practices of Capstone, specifically its staffing model; approach to project recruitment, selection, and matching; course format; and assignments. Using course evaluation data, we summarize student and community partner outcomes. Next, we share lessons learned from 13 years of program implementation and future directions for continuing to maximize student and community partner benefits. Finally, we provide recommendations for other programs interested in replicating the Capstone model.

Introduction

Responding to public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic requires a public health workforce skilled in community partnership ( 1 , 2 ). Schools and programs of public health are thus charged with designing community-engaged learning experiences while also satisfying accreditation criteria ( 3 ). The accrediting body for schools and programs of public health, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE), which represents a culminating experience near the end of their program of study. The ILE must yield a high-quality written product (e.g., “program evaluation report, training manual, policy statement, take-home comprehensive essay exam, legislative testimony with accompanying supporting research, etc.”) that demonstrates synthesis of a set of competencies ( 2 ). Such products may be generated from practice-based projects, essay-based comprehensive exams, capstone programs, or integrative seminars ( 2 ). CEPH guidelines suggest ILE written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations” ( 2 ).

Within this paper, we describe promising practices employed within a community-led, group-based, year-long, critical service-learning course, called Capstone, for MPH students within the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health (Gillings) at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) ( 4 ). We explain the specifics of Capstone's staffing model; project recruitment, selection, and matching processes; course format; and assignments, all of which are designed to promote mutual benefit for students and community partners. Using internal and school-level course evaluations, we present findings on student and community partner outcomes. Next, we reflect on lessons learned from 13 years of implementation experience and suggest future directions for Capstone programming. Finally, we share recommendations for other programs interested in replicating Capstone. We hope the information presented in this paper will benefit other programs interested in ILEs that have mutual benefit for students and community partners.

Pedagogical framework

By design, Capstone is a critical service-learning course. Service-learning pedagogies and practices vary widely. Essential elements of service-learning include community-engaged activities tied to learning goals and ongoing reflection ( 5 – 7 ). The literature documents wide-ranging benefits students gain from service-learning programs such as improved critical thinking skills as well as stronger leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills ( 5 , 8 ). Participation in service-learning courses promotes program satisfaction ( 9 ), academic achievement ( 5 , 8 – 10 ), and job marketability ( 9 , 11 ) among students. Finally, service-learning experiences enhance students' civic engagement ( 2 , 4 , 7 ), cultural awareness, and practice of cultural humility ( 8 , 12 ).

Despite these benefits, service-learning implementation challenges are well documented. Service-learning courses require significant resources to cover program expenses and staffing dedicated to developing and maintaining community partner relationships ( 7 , 12 – 15 ). In addition, the academic calendar may not align with community partners' timelines ( 5 , 14 , 16 ). Students and community partners have additional responsibilities and competing priorities outside coursework, thus creating variable levels of engagement across program participants ( 13 – 15 , 17 , 18 ). In cases where students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 9 , 10 , 13 ), it can be difficult to achieve mutual benefits among students and community partners.

A prominent debate within the field is the degree to which service-learning projects perpetuate the status quo or facilitate social change. Specifically, researchers question which elements of service-learning best create the conditions for student learning and positive community transformation ( 5 , 19 – 21 ). To provide a framework for this debate, Mitchell ( 5 ) differentiates between “traditional service-learning” and “critical service-learning.” Traditional service-learning is often critiqued for prioritizing student learning needs over benefits to the community ( 5 , 21 ). In contrast, critical service-learning is explicitly committed to social justice ( 5 ). Key elements of a critical service-learning approach include: (1) redistributing power among members of the partnership; (2) building authentic relationships (i.e., those characterized by connection, mutual benefits, prolonged engagement, trust, and solidarity); and (3) working from a social change perspective ( 5 ).

Most service-learning program descriptions within public health training do not reference either a traditional or critical service-learning framework ( 8 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 22 , 23 ). Several published programs align with a traditional service-learning model, due to the exclusive focus on student benefits and the absence of an explicit commitment to power sharing, authentic partnerships, or social change. For example, Schober et al. ( 24 ) underscore service-learning as an effective means to train a younger workforce to address complex public health issues. Gupta et al. ( 8 ) describe the importance of self-reflection activities for personal growth and skill development, structured within a service-learning program for undergraduate students enrolled in a community nutrition course. While these courses contain many of the best practices in service-learning, including reflection, they discuss student outcomes without promoting or evaluating social change ( 6 ).

The literature also cites programs and courses that include elements of critical service-learning but do not use critical service-learning terminology. For example, a service-learning program at the University of Connecticut outlines how students contribute to structural changes and social progress through policy development and implementation as part of their applied practice experience, which culminates with a presentation to the state legislature ( 23 ). Additionally, Sabo et al. ( 12 ) describe a service-learning course at the University of Arizona oriented toward social justice, as the course is “modeled on the reduction of health disparities through exploration, reflection, and action on the social determinants of health” through strong community-academic partnerships across urban, rural, and indigenous settings. These examples highlight commitment to social progress, community impact, and equitable collaboration without overtly applying the language of critical service-learning.

A small number of service-learning practitioners define their programs explicitly as critical-service learning. Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) document the benefits of a critical service-learning experience for undergraduate public health students, endorsing it as a “feasible, sustainable” high-impact practice. In their model, students partner with community organizations to address social determinants of health; analyze and challenge power dynamics and systems of oppression; and gain skills. As evidence of power sharing and social change, the authors document that communities have continued their partnerships with the university due to the expansive reach and impact of their collaborations. Authentic relationships were also developed as students gained a stronger sense of commitment to communities. Derreth and Wear ( 25 ) describe the transition to an online critical service-learning course as universities grappled with changing instructional formats with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this course, public health students collaborated with Baltimore residents to create evaluation tools while participating in reflective activities. As evidence of critical service-learning, they documented students' changed perspectives, ongoing commitment to collaborate with residents after the course, and development of strong connections with faculty. These courses show the possibilities of critical service-learning ILEs. Detailed descriptions of program structures are needed for interested faculty to replicate best practices. To assist others with adopting or adapting elements of critical service-learning ILEs, this paper provides specifics about Capstone programming.

Learning environment

Program overview.

Community-Led Capstone Project: Part I and II (Capstone) is a graduate-level course situated within UNC-CH's Gillings' Department of Health Behavior (Department). The Department developed Capstone in response to faculty concerns about the variable investment in and quality of master's papers ( 26 ), coupled with a desire to design a practice-based culminating experience driven by community partners' needs, interests, and concerns. Capstone satisfies CEPH ILE requirements and serves as the substitute for UNC-CH's master's thesis requirement for students in the Health Behavior (HB) and Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights (EQUITY) MPH concentrations. The overwhelming majority of students in these two concentrations are full-time residential students pursuing an MPH within a two-year time frame, though there are a few students who are enrolled in a dual degree program to earn their MPH alongside a Master of Social Work (MSW) or Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) within 3 years.

During this year-long course, which occurs during the second year of the MPH program, students synthesize and apply their MPH training to community-designed public health projects. Supplementary material A , B include a list of HB and EQUITY required courses and their sequencing. The specific competencies applied and assessed during Capstone are listed in Supplementary material C . Each team of four to five Capstone students works with a partner organization and its constituents to produce a set of four to six deliverables (i.e., tangible products). Deliverables are based on the partner organization's self-identified needs. This community-led approach prioritizes partners' interests and gives students an opportunity to do applied public health work on a range of topics with a variety of organization types. Figure 1 details the tasks and timelines entailed in this programming. Table 1 presents information from selected projects that showcase the range of partner organizations, activities, and deliverables present in Capstone. Capstone's specific objectives are to (1) increase capacity among students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that advance health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for public health careers; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships.

Gantt chart illustrating major Capstone activities and timeline.

Sample projects.

Personnel and resources

Capstone involves numerous constituents and requires dedicated resources. Each partner organization is represented by one or two preceptors (i.e., main points of contact from the partner organization) who provide a vision for, direct, and supervise the project work. Preceptors spend 2–4 h per week meeting with students, providing guidance on the work, and reviewing deliverables. Student teams are responsible for managing Capstone relationships, processes, and tasks and producing deliverables that enhance their skillsets while meeting their partner organization's needs. They are expected to spend 6–9 h per week, outside of class time, on Capstone. One faculty adviser per project provides technical expertise and ensures that each team's project deliverables meet UNC-CH's master's thesis substitute and CEPH ILE requirements. Faculty advisers spend 30 min to an hour a week providing feedback and guidance on the project work. Advising a Capstone team every other year is a service expectation for Department faculty. The teaching team, which is comprised of course instructor(s) and teaching assistants (TAs), recruits the partner organizations and oversees and supports the Capstone experience. Each instructor manages ten to eleven teams (typically between forty and fifty students) and receives coverage equal to twenty percent full-time equivalent per semester. TAs, who are HB or EQUITY MPH alumni and/or HB doctoral students, each work with five to six teams and are expected to work 18 h a week on Capstone. TAs provide feedback on draft deliverables, direct students to resources, and help problem solve. Departmental administrative staff provide additional support to coordinate expenses associated with the program such as project-related travel, equipment, services (e.g., transcription, interpretation, translation), books, software, incentives, postage, and other costs. Capstone students pay a one-time $600 field fee to cover a portion of the expenses associated with Capstone. This fee was approved by the University and is paid when a student enrolls in the first semester of the course.

Project recruitment, selection, and matching

Recruitment.

The process of setting up Capstone projects takes 9 months of advance planning (see Figure 1 ). The Capstone teaching team solicits project proposals in December for the upcoming academic year. They send email solicitations with Capstone overview information ( Supplementary material D ) and the project proposal form ( Supplementary material E ) to current and former Capstone partner organizations, hosts of other experiential education experiences, and department listservs. The Capstone teaching team encourages recipients to share the solicitation information with their networks. Prospective partners' first step is to have an informational interview with a Capstone instructor to discuss their project ideas and to receive coaching on elements of successful proposals. These interviews are also an opportunity for the teaching team to assess an organization's capacity to support a student team and gain insights on the prospective preceptors' communication, work, and leadership styles. The teaching team invites prospective partners to submit draft proposals for their review prior to the proposal deadline. Prospective partners submit their finalized project proposals and a letter of support from their leadership to the teaching team by email in early February.

The teaching team typically receives twenty project proposals. To determine which projects will be presented to incoming Capstone students, a committee consisting of the teaching team and student representatives from the current Capstone class reviews and scores proposals based on the criteria listed in Table 2 . Reviewers score each criterion on a scale of one through five with one being the lowest score and five being the highest score. The fifteen community partners with the highest scoring proposals are invited to share their ideas with students via a recorded seven-minute project overview presentation.

Project selection criteria.

Incoming Capstone students have 1 week in March to review the proposal materials and rank their top five project preferences. Based on student rankings, the teaching team assembles project teams using the following guiding principles: (1) give as many students as possible their top-ranked project; (2) promote diversity of concentrations and experience levels within student teams; and (3) ensure the number of students per team is appropriate for the proposed scope of work. Once the student teams are assembled, the teaching team matches faculty advisers to projects based on faculty's interests and expertise. The teaching team announces final team composition in early April. The course instructor(s) facilitates an initial meeting with each student team, their preceptor(s), and their faculty adviser in May to build community, clarify expectations, and orient the student team to their project work and partner organization. Project work formally begins in August of the following academic year.

Course format

Capstone spans the fall and spring semesters (fifteen weeks per term) and is three credits per term. To help students, preceptors, and faculty advisers become familiar with expectations for Capstone, the teaching team reserves the first 4 weeks of the fall semester for onboarding. As part of the onboarding process, each team cocreates a team charter ( Supplementary material F ) to promote authentic relationships between students and their community partners and to clarify expectations for working together. They also produce a workplan ( Supplementary material G ), which elaborates on the partner's project proposal, to outline the team's scope of work. After the onboarding weeks, the teaching team meets with each student team during class three times per semester to receive project updates and provide support. The teaching team facilitates two whole-class reflection sessions per semester to help students make meaning of their experiences. All other Capstone class sessions are protected time for student teams to meet and work on their projects.

Course assignments

Capstone assignments are designed to ensure a mutually beneficial experience for students and community partners. They are also intended to facilitate critical reflection, yield high-quality written products, assess synthesis of selected competencies, and evaluate how students steward the relationships, processes, and tasks associated with their projects. To share power and collect their unique perspectives, preceptors and faculty advisers participate in the grading process. Tables 3 , ​ ,4 4 summarize course assignments, their descriptions, whether they are completed and assessed at the individual or group level, and the party responsible for assessing the assignment.

Capstone assignments for the fall semester.

TT, Teaching Team; P, Preceptor; FA, Faculty Adviser.

Capstone assignments for the spring semester.

Program evaluation

This study was exempted by UNC Chapel Hill's Institutional Review Board (IRB 21-0510) as it fell under the exemption category of “educational setting,” which includes research on instructional approaches and their effectiveness. To abstract and analyze data on the number of students who have completed Capstone, hours they dedicated to Capstone activities, and deliverables they produced, two authors referenced course records starting in 2009. The teaching team collects students' and preceptors' perspectives on Capstone through mid- and end-of-semester evaluations using Qualtrics. Gillings administers end-of-semester course evaluations that provide additional insights into student outcomes.

Core aspects of Capstone (e.g., program aims and our staffing model) have remained constant over the past 13 years. However, a variety of lessons learned and external conditions have led to program changes. Use of class time and project recruitment, selection, and matching processes have evolved to further promote health equity and maximize mutual student and community partner benefit. The EQUITY concentration joined Capstone in 2020, which led to changes in team composition. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a transition from in-person to a remote course format in academic years 2020 and 2021, introducing the opportunity to work with organizations across the nation.

To present qualitative findings that reflect our most current programming, two authors analyzed data from academic years 2020 and 2021. Ninety-eight students and twenty-two preceptors participated in Capstone during that time. The teaching team received a 100 percent response rate to their mid and end-of semester evaluations completed by students and preceptors and a seventy-two percent response rate to the Gillings-administered student course evaluations during academic years 2020 and 2021.

To identify key outcomes for students and preceptors, two authors completed a thematic analysis of evaluation responses ( 27 , 28 ). For students, they analyzed eighty-eight qualitative responses to the Gillings' course evaluation question, “What will you take away from this course?” Next, the two authors familiarized themselves with the data and inductively created a thematic codebook. To ensure consistent code use, they simultaneously coded approximately twenty-five percent of transcripts, coded remaining transcripts separately, and flagged any transcripts that required further review. To identify key preceptor outcomes, the two authors analyzed the twenty-two responses to the spring end-of-semester evaluation question, “Please describe how, if at all, your organization benefited from hosting a Capstone team.” They reviewed the responses to inductively create a codebook and then worked together to apply codes to all quotations to identify thematic groups.

Student outcomes

Since its inception in 2009, 574 students across 127 teams have completed the Capstone program, provided over 103,000 h of in-kind service, and produced more than 635 deliverables with our partner organizations. Between 2020–2022, ninety-eight students completed the current version of Capstone, provided 35,280 h of in-kind service, and produced eighty deliverables. Through our thematic analysis of course evaluation data, we identified two overarching themes for student outcomes: skill development and satisfaction.

Skill development, students' greatest takeaway from Capstone, was reflected in fifty-three percent ( n = 47) of students' qualitative evaluation responses. Students directly named interpersonal skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, collaboration, conflict management, facilitation, community engagement, coalition building) the most. They also commented on acquisition of technical skills (e.g., project management; content development; and data collection, analysis, and reporting). In most cases, students named a mix of skills in their responses. For example, one student said they will take away:

Skills developed on the project, including survey design and implementation as well as strategies for engaging with community advisory board authentically and successfully. Shared skills among team will stick with me as well – project management, inter–team communication, strategies for setting clear expectations and holding each other accountable.

Skill development helps achieve Capstone's course aims of increasing students' capacity to address public health issues and promote health equity while enhancing their preparedness and marketability for public health careers.

Twenty-four students commented on their satisfaction with the experience when sharing key takeaways. Seven students expressed dissatisfaction, primarily with course assignments, while seventeen others remarked on their satisfaction with the experience, particularly the applied format of the course. For example, one student shared,

This Capstone project really was special. Having a community partner that demonstrated how helpful these projects would be and work with us to shape the deliverables was such a unique process. I wish we had more community–focused classes like this one.

In alignment with Capstone's objective of strengthened campus-community partnerships and CEPH ILE goals, these Capstone partnerships afford students the opportunity to see the impacts of their learning and create meaningful work that benefits external constituents.

Community partner outcomes

Over the past 13 years, we have partnered with seventy-nine organizations representing a variety of sectors including healthcare, social services, education, and government. Twenty-five (31.6%) of our partner organizations have hosted multiple Capstone teams. Based on the twenty-two preceptor responses analyzed for this paper, two authors identified four major themes within community partner benefits: deliverable utility, enhanced capacity, broad impacts, and more inclusive processes. Sixteen (72.7%) preceptors said that they benefited from the deliverables (e.g., toolkit, communication tool, datasets, evaluation plan, report, oral history products, protocols, presentation, report, curriculum, manuscript, engagement plan) produced by their team. These findings reflect Capstone's course aim of creating new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies.

Fifty-seven percent ( n = 12) of preceptors noted that project outcomes would not have been possible without the support of a Capstone team. The resources teams developed increased partner organizations' capacity to further their work. For example, a preceptor shared:

The Capstone team provided us with SO many hours of highly skilled person power that we would not otherwise have had. We now have a draft of a thorough and high quality [toolkit], which I don't think could have been created without their labor, given the resource constraints of [our organization]. This toolkit will serve as a tool to start conversations with many […] stakeholders in the future. I think it will also serve as a model for other states.

Not only can students' in-kind service and the work they produce help increase the capacity of our partner organizations, but also the Capstone project work can have long-term and far-reaching impacts for public health practice at large. Indeed, preceptors ( n = 8) reported impacts that extend beyond the partner organization. For example, another preceptor noted,

[Our organization] will use the presentation and report that the Capstone team produced for the next decade. Not only will [our organization] benefit from advancing our strategic priorities and deepening our partnerships, but we believe this report will be used by other agencies across the county to advance behavioral health priorities in need of support.

This is an example of how Capstone can yield new and improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that have lasting impacts beyond those directly benefiting our partner organizations.

A final theme that emerged was organizations' increased ability to implement more inclusive processes. Four preceptors commented on expanded commitment to equity initiatives as illustrated by the following quote:

The work the team did for [our organization] is work that we've talked about doing for several years - but we never had the time. The protocols are important for injured children, so we're grateful for the team's work. We also have never addressed social equity as a group. Working with this team has prompted us to take a look at our practices. The evaluation plan the students developed will provide a mechanism for us to assess and trend our implementation of the protocols and our efforts to reduce inequities in trauma care.

This example demonstrates how Capstone's commitment to working from a social change orientation can impact our partner organizations' cultures. Overall, these findings illustrate the myriad community partner benefits present within Capstone.

These results show that Capstone mutually benefits community partners and students. Overall, students gained skills in collaborating with communities and contributed to collective capacity to improve public health practice and tools for promoting health equity. Our finding that skill development was a key student outcome aligns with Mackenzie et al.'s ( 13 ) and Gupta et al.'s ( 8 ) evaluations of similar service-learning courses. Among skills developed, both studies cited teamwork and professional development skills as key components ( 8 , 13 ). Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ), Derreth and Wear ( 25 ), and Sabo et al. ( 12 ) also report additional student outcomes that were not explicitly measured in our evaluation, including a deeper commitment to work with local communities, a deeper commitment to engaged scholarship, and stronger relationships with faculty.

In our evaluation, community partners benefitted through useful deliverables, enhanced capacity to do more public health work, impacts beyond the scope of the project, and more inclusive and equitable processes. Like our study, Gregorio et al. ( 23 ) found that their students' work products were very useful. Moreover, the Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) study cited that students were able to offer additional capacity to organizations by “extending the[ir] reach,” which reinforced our main findings of enhanced capacity and impacts beyond the scope of the project. While not all service-learning course evaluation studies included data from community partners, our results aligned with those that did.

Lessons learned

After 13 years, we have identified several lessons learned about implementing a critical service-learning ILE. First, despite proactive planning efforts, the teaching team has learned to expect challenges related to project scope and relationships. The solicitation and refinement of projects and partnerships starts 9 months before the beginning of Capstone. Through extended individualized support and engagement, the teaching team hopes to build trust with community partners and collaborate in shaping and strengthening their project proposals. While there are benefits of this level of engagement, no amount of planning completely insulates projects from the unforeseen challenges of community-engaged work. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how Capstone could engage with community partners, their priorities, and their staffing. In particular, preceptor turnover creates numerous challenges for team morale and project ownership, satisfaction, and impact.

Second, Capstone course assignments are designed to maximize positive experiences for students and community partners and to uphold the principles of critical service-learning, but students are often frustrated with them. The teaching team refers to the workplan and team charter as the “guardrails” of the Capstone. They exist to clarify expectations, promote power sharing and authentic relationships, and reinforce Capstone's commitment to social change. The teaching team has observed that teams who invest deeply in these documents are the least likely to encounter significant interpersonal and logistical setbacks during the experience. Despite the teaching team's messaging about the importance of these structures for mutually beneficial experiences, students routinely assert that the start of Capstone contains too much “administrative” work. While the teaching team continues to respect and incorporate students' critical feedback, they have learned to expect a certain amount of student dissatisfaction at the start of the experience.

Third, the Department has learned that having the appropriate amount of staffing and material resources to support projects is essential to ensuring positive impacts. Limiting partners to only those with material resources is one way that funding models both within public health and the non-profit sector often exclude organizations with more explicit social change agendas. Therefore, to maximize student learning and community partner benefit while minimizing community partner burden, Capstone has a high university-staff-to-project ratio and covers project expenses. To fund Capstone, the Department uses a combination of state resources and field fees. There is an enduring tension, especially because resources are scarce, to scale back spending on courses like Capstone. For experiences like these to sustain and grow, additional resources, not fewer, are needed.

Finally, programs like Capstone must adapt to shifting social, political, economic, and educational landscapes to ensure sustained positive impacts. For example, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching team limited the eligible pool of Capstone community partners to those within a forty-mile radius of UNC-CH. The pandemic resulted in the teaching team broadening community partner eligibility criteria and now Capstone works with community partners across the nation. Capstone's expanded reach is aligned with the new vision for Public Health 3.0 where public health professionals are expected to “engage multiple sectors and community partners to generate collective impact” while improving social determinants of health ( 29 ).

Future directions for Capstone

Public Health 3.0 ( 29 ) looks to promote health, equity, and resilience. With more community partners working on projects that explicitly tackle upstream factors like education, housing, and poverty in addition to health, Gillings will need to update its MPH training program to ensure that students enter their ILEs with the skills needed to meet these challenges. Below we describe ongoing quality improvement efforts internal to the Capstone program to strengthen outcomes for students and partner organizations.

The teaching team hopes to continue to enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health. Much like other experiential learning models that report benefits to career readiness, professional leadership, and confidence ( 15 , 18 ), students report a host of positive outcomes from their Capstone experience that imply preparedness and marketability. Students note the breadth and depth of technical and interpersonal skills gained, as has been reported elsewhere ( 13 , 30 ). These reports of enhanced preparedness align well with findings that among undergraduate seniors seeking employment immediately after graduation, students whose course history included service-learning and capstone courses experienced greater odds of starting a new job compared with those who did not engage those high-impact practices ( 31 ). In recent years, the teaching team has offered skill-building workshops, as replicated in other programs ( 3 ), to coach students on how to present their Capstone work on résumés and how to talk about their projects during interviews using sample scripts. To simulate job applications and increase engagement with partner organizations, the teaching team will consider inviting preceptors to review and provide feedback on students' résumés and project description scripts.

The teaching team also aims to further strengthen community partnerships. One way to maximize Capstone's benefit for community partners is to adapt recruitment strategies so that the teaching team reaches more organizations for whom the Capstone experience would be most impactful. This may mean further refining the application process to lessen the time burden on potential partners and disseminating the call for Capstone projects through different channels. To enhance the experience of selected community partners, the teaching team plans to implement more preceptor-specific programming such as check-in meetings and skill-building workshops to build community and encourage collaboration among community partners.

Finally, there is a clear need for a comprehensive Capstone evaluation. The teaching team has yet to administer surveys, interviews, or focus groups that explicitly evaluate course aims and the elements of critical service learning. Furthermore, our understanding of the long-term impacts of Capstone is currently limited to anecdotal information from exchanges with former students and preceptors. By conducting a strategic evaluation, including modifications to existing course feedback opportunities and an additional alumni survey moving forward, we can better assess how Capstone is achieving course aims, operationalizing the elements of critical-service learning, and having long-term impacts.

Recommendations for program replication

Capstone's model can be adopted or adapted by individual faculty or by schools of public health. We welcome faculty members or program and school leaders to contact us to further discuss what this might look like. In general, though, we recommend that the following core components remain consistent:

• Program staff invest effort to ensure community partners understand the overarching goals of the experience, general timelines, logistics, and roles and responsibilities of all involved parties prior to submitting a project proposal.
• Community partners are selected using clearly defined criteria, including equity.
• Community partners lead the development of, and direct, students' scope of work and have flexibility in determining deliverables.
• The experience spans two semesters (vs. something shorter like one semester or a summer).
• Students have ample time during their assigned class time to make progress on their projects.
• Course assignments (e.g., workplan, team charter, weekly updates) provide “guardrails” for the project experience to help ensure mutual benefit.
• There are robust staffing supports in place to recruit and maintain community partnerships, minimize community partners' burdens, and maximize student learning. Such supports are especially important when students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 10 , 13 ).

As shown in Figure 1 , program staff work on Capstone activities year-round and recruit new community partners while managing a current cohort of preceptors. Clear job descriptions with timelines will be helpful in negotiations and will assist with sustainability as different faculty and staff cycle through leading this kind of experience.

Our description and analyses have many strengths. First, the detailed and transparent information contained in this paper will allow interested faculty to replicate and benefit from best practices found in Capstone. We openly share our course materials in the Supplementary material section and invite others to adopt or adapt these resources for their own use. Second, our results illustrate the benefits of Capstone and highlight mechanisms for ILEs to be transformative for students and community partners alike. Lastly, all authors on this paper have been members of the Capstone teaching team, students enrolled in the course, or both. This uniquely qualifies us to write this paper and share lessons learned with others in the field to advance public health training and practice.

Limitations

As noted above, our evaluation of Capstone has some limitations. First, we designed our evaluation and analyzed data retrospectively. Therefore, evaluation tools were not explicitly aligned to our four program objectives or the elements of critical service-learning. Second, we narrowed in on qualitative data from the past 2 years instead of the past 13 years because of changes implemented in 2020. To present reflections and feedback on the current version of Capstone, we had limited data to analyze.

By applying elements of critical service-learning to an ILE, Capstone is uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of public health leaders and positive community change. Community partners' project visions undergird the project selection and the course structure, which emphasizes authentic relationships, mutually beneficial processes, and practical synthesis of applied public health competencies. Through 13 years of experience, we have developed an ILE that is nimble enough to benefit community partners and rigorous enough to satisfy accreditation requirements. Capstone is a promising culminating experience practice for training skilled, collaborative public health practitioners and effecting community-driven public health change.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

ML developed the course and its content along with peer colleagues, wrote the abstract along with the learning environment, program evaluation, and results sections. ML and LS conducted the thematic data analysis. MC and LS completed a literature review, drafted the introduction and pedagogical framework section, and provided continual editing. EC wrote the discussion section and provided overall guidance for manuscript preparation. DE provided guidance, structural editing, and formatting. BP provided line edits. All authors contributed to the conception of the paper, manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the 579 students and seventy-nine community partners we have learned from and with over the past 13 years. Many thanks to the editors and reviewers of this article for their comprehensive and helpful feedback including Laura Linnan, Beth Moracco, Kelsey Accordino, and Naya Villarreal. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Jo Anne Earp.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1129330/full#supplementary-material

Senior capstone course

The capstone course provides a culminating, integrative curricular experience for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program. The course draws on students' prior training in the five core areas of public health at Wayne State:

• Social and behavioral aspects of health
• Public health policy and practice
• Biostatistics
• Epidemiology
• Research methods

In addition to incorporating elective coursework in areas of students' choice and real-world experience gained in the field. More than just providing a review of the curriculum, however, the capstone course is designed to give students a chance to link up with an individual mentor to further challenge students to reflect and integrate their training and experience with the goal of developing their own individual point of view regarding the role of public health in contributing to the improvement of the health and well-being of populations in the United States, as well as abroad. During the semester students will complete a mentored and individualized capstone project, as well as a final project presentation.

Because the capstone course pulls together the training students have received in prior coursework and field experience, it provides the opportunity to round out the development of the full set of competencies viewed as essential for bachelors-prepared graduates in public health. Therefore, this course is structured so that students may reach the following learning outcomes:

• Evaluate major concepts and arguments within a core area of public health knowledge (i.e., social and behavioral aspects of health, public health policy and practice, biostatistics, epidemiology and research methods).
• Apply concepts and arguments from one core area of public health to a real-world, public health context.
• Demonstrate the ability to independently gather and analyze data related to public health topics (i.e., through a literature review, policy review, practicum-related project or faculty-mentored research).
• Assess how core competencies in public health match with public health practice and/or research careers, including how they intersect with your own career goals.
• Effectively communicate the results of public health research to varied and specific audiences, by written, visual and oral means.

The main purpose is to provide a culminating, integrative curricular experience for students enrolled in WSU's bachelor's program in public health. The course will utilize students' prior training in the five core areas of public health at WSU (social and behavioral aspects of health, public health policy and practice, biostatistics, epidemiology and research methods), as well as elective coursework in areas of students' choice and "real world" experience gained in the practicum.

Each student will individually identify a project that can and MUST be completed in one semester and complete that project. Beginning in spring/summer 2018, in order to optimize the student's public health experience in our program, it is strongly recommended that the project is related to students' practicum experiences in PH 4100/4150 in some way. Your project (most often a literature review) will result in a paper that is due at the end of the semester. Students will also create a final poster presentation from their projects.

We prefer that you pick a project that builds on, in some way, the practicum experience. This can happen in several ways. For example, if you are still involved with your practicum site and there is work left undone (e.g., outreach materials to be made or data analyses to be completed), you might continue with that work and write up a summary of those experiences or that work by the end of the semester.

Alternatively, if you no longer have direct contact with your practicum site, you could consider doing a literature review on a topic connected to your practicum work. For example, was the focus of your practicum site children's health? Nutrition? Vaccinations? Infant mortality? HIV/AIDS prevention? Homelessness? Practicum-related projects are varied and we will help you think about the best options for practicum-related projects.

You do not have to be and most likely will not be, located at your practicum site to do your capstone project. Especially if you choose a literature review option, you do not have to maintain contact with your practicum site. It is not required, although it is strongly suggested that your research topic be related in some way to the focus of the practicum work. This will allow you to build a portfolio of work in a particular area of public health before your graduation.

If by chance, you really want to do a capstone project that is unrelated to your practicum experience, contact your academic advisor to discuss other options.

Yes, in many ways, this is a self-paced course. For the spring/summer 2018 term we will give you certain due dates for various parts of your paper/project, however, there are six mandatory class sessions during the fall 2018 semester. Please check registration.wayne.edu for details. You will also be assigned a faculty mentor if you are completing a literature review project.

You will be responsible for keeping in touch with your assigned mentor. If you are completing a practicum-related capstone project, then you may also keep in touch with your practicum site mentor. It's the student's responsibility to work with the instructor and their mentor to ensure the project is completed during the semester.

Your initial step should be to narrow down your research/project topic. Think of all the health-related topics your practicum site was involved in and decide which one interested you the most. Then, think about what more you would like to know about that topic or issue. Narrow it down to a one-sentence question. This will form the basis of the proposal you will give us at the beginning of the semester.

The final paper will include, at a minimum, a title page, abstract, body of the paper, in-text citations and bibliography, and be double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in 12-point font. The style that must be used is APA and you are required to buy a short guide to APA style.

The poster, due at the end of the semester, is based on your paper, 24 inches by 36 inches large and printed at Student Center Graphics. You will make a very brief presentation of your poster, as well.

The honors capstone project requires an additional number of pages and references to be included in the final paper. If you are  university honors or department honors student, then you should enroll in the honors section of PH 5100.

Thehonors capstone project can double count as the university honors thesis.

Program Capstone for the Master's in Health Informatics, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

• Post-baccalaureate
• Undergraduate
• Professional Development
• Pre-College
• Center for Public Safety
• Get Information

Health Informatics Capstone

Health Informatics

What is the Capstone project?

As a culminating experience , each student will independently put into practice the knowledge and skills they learned during their coursework through a Capstone Project.

Students will have the opportunity to develop and implement a Health Informatics project in their workplace or other academic / industry organizations . The project will challenge each student to conduct research and apply knowledge, skills and competencies built through coursework completed in the MHI program.  

If students are unable to find a real-world project, they can alternatively develop a culminating, two-part project, that will leverage health informatics to provide a solution to a need or problem arising as part of a case study. Note: Finding a real-world project would be preferred over working on a case study.

Each student will work with the course instructor to identify a “Knowledge Expert” for their capstone project along with a faculty advisor from the Northwestern University Health Informatics program.   

What can students expect during the MHI Capstone course?

A challenging but rewarding experience that would prepare or enhance their professional skills in the field of Health Informatics. There will be a focus on more career and real-world experiences than the other courses in the MHI program.  The Capstone course is more about the hands-on (or applied experiences) in the world of Health Informatics.  Depending on the complexity of your project, you can expect to spend 5 to 10 hours a week, or 50 to 100 hours during the quarter working on your project.

With whom can you do a capstone project ?

Your Employer / Workplace: You may work on a discrete project from your workplace for your capstone project.  This will need to be above and beyond your day-to-day job responsibilities.  You will need to identify a Knowledge Expert / Mentor at your organization to support you during the project.

“Sponsor” organization projects : You may partner with an external organization in the industry who may be interested in sponsoring a capstone project.  There may be opportunities available through Northwestern University or you will need to find one on your own.

Academic Partners:  You may work with a MHI Faculty member, or with other academic partners at Northwestern University (such as Feinberg School of Medicine or Northwestern Memorial Hospital), or other academic institutions to work on an informatics or research based capstone project.

Capstone Project Cases : Alternatively, if you are unable to find a real-world project, you may choose to work on one of the capstone project cases made available through the course.

What is the Capstone Course timeline?

The MHI Capstone Course can only be done in the last quarter of the MHI program prior to your graduation.  Like the other courses in the program, you will have 10 weeks to complete your capstone project. Due to this aggressive timeline in the quarter, we will divide your capstone project in the following phases:

• Capstone Identification and Proposal: 1-2 weeks
• Capstone Implementation: 5-7 weeks
• Capstone Paper and Presentation: 1-2 weeks

How to Prepare for the Capstone

Capstone pre-work: complete prior to starting the capstone course.

• Reflect on your career goals. What do you want to do after you graduate from the MHI program?  There is no right or wrong answer to this.  If you have not yet thought about it, this exercise should help you get started.
• Prepare your CV / Resume that includes your most up to date professional and academic experiences (including the MHI program) prior to the start of the MHI Capstone Course.
• Start thinking about capstone project ideas that ideally align with your career goals.
• Do you already have a “sponsor” or organization in mind to do your capstone with?
• If you are currently working in the healthcare industry, explore possible capstone project opportunities with your employer that would be above and beyond your day-to-day job responsibilities. I would also encourage you to reach out to any relevant contacts in your professional network to find a capstone project opportunity, if needed.
• Some “sponsors” or organizations will work with you in a virtual environment, while others may prefer an in-person or hybrid model.
• If you have already selected a project for your capstone, then complete any onboarding work such as contracting, drug tests, training, IRB approvals, etc. as soon as possible so that you can start working on your project implementation during the capstone course.

Capstone Advising Sessions

This Capstone course has been overwhelmingly successful with respect to the student experience based on feedback. The only critique of Capstone is the timeframe – students feel that one quarter to complete the project limits the potential for projects.

In order to address the time constraint of a single quarter, students will be given the opportunity to meet with their capstone instructor during pre-capstone advising sessions in the quarter prior to their capstone. This will allow students to navigate the pre-work with the support of their instructor, allowing for more time to connect with potential partners for their proposed project leading to a more time fulfilling project experience.

Students approaching their final quarter will be contacted to set up an appointment with the capstone instructor during the quarter prior to the capstone.

The MHI Capstone Experience

Student reflections.

MHI faculty member Imran Khan interviewed two of his graduating students, Regina Schwind and Angela Mazzari, to discuss their experiences in the MHI program and their respective Capstone projects.

Recent Capstone Project Topics

• Reducing Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates in the Black Populations of Athens, GA
• Population Health Provider and Patient Engagement Strategy
• Scalable Monitoring System to Address Emergency Care Usage among Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions
• Improving Anticoagulation Safety & Drug Compliance (of cardiac patients) through a Remote Monitoring System
• WordGlass: Technology to Provide Live Closed Captioning for the Hearing- Impaired in the Health Care Setting
• Hand Hygiene Audit Tool  
• Adoption of an Electronic Lab Notebook in a WSU Research Lab
• Digital Health Solutions for a Rural Healthcare System
• A Comprehensive Solution to Improving Diabetic Outcomes and Improved Shared- Savings Returns by Achieving the Together to Goal Program Metrics
• Hierarchical Condition Category Risk Adjustment Documentation in Epic
• Clinical Decision Support System for the Prenatal Care of Obese Patients at a Family Practice Residency Clinic
• Engaging High-Need Patients to Produce Scalable High-Value Health Care
• A Care Management Dashboard for Population Stratification using Johns Hopkins ACG System in the Enterprise Data Warehouse

• Public Health-Global Health Major
• Current Requirements

Public Health Capstone

The Public Health Capstone is intended to be an integrative service-learning experience in which students bring together much of the  competencies and skills  acquired during their time in the Public Health Major and in college. The capstone will count as 5 credits and a minimum grade of 2.0 is required.

A recent student shared this about Capstone :   “SPH 491/492 class has honestly been my favorite class I've taken at UW! [This] made me more aware of a population I had never worked with, it gave me the opportunity to apply skills I had learned as an undergrad, and helped me understand how to assess and address a public health problem.”

The Capstone integrates previous knowledge, applies it in a real world setting, and helps develop skills such as cultural competency and civic responsibility as students seek to identify, assesses, and address public health problems.

In Capstone, students engage in a service-learning experience, a literature review, reflections, a synthesis paper, and a presentation.

Students may register for the following options to complete their Capstone:

• SPH 496 – one 5-credit course completed in one quarter; offered AUT & WIN quarters
• SPH 491 & SPH 492 – two courses, total 5 credits, completed in two quarters requiring enrollment in the same discussion section across quarters; SPH 491 is offered in WIN quarter for 2 credits, and SPH 492 is offered in SPR quarter for 3 credits
• Grand Challenges Impact Lab: India – one quarter study abroad, 5 credits may be applied to meet the Capstone requirement; offered WIN quarter
• Grand Challenges Impact Lab: Seattle – one course, total 5 credits; offered SPR quarter

The service-learning component, which is a community based, real-world experience completed in small groups and will be arranged ahead of time by the course instructor. The service-learning sites are predominantly direct service organizations that support efforts to address a wide range of public health issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, access to health care, educational opportunity gaps, recent immigrant and refugee services, housing and many more.

Service-learning sites in recent quarters have included the following:  The American Heart Association, Bailey-Boushay House, Chinese Information and Services Center, Cleveland High School, East African Community Services, HS3 High School in the Highline District, KC Juvenile Detention Center, Mary's Place, Noel House, Planned Parenthood, Votes NW, Redmond High School, Refugee Women’s Alliance, Seattle Public Library, Teen Feed, Union Gospel Mission, United Way of King County, Urban Rest Stop, the Vulnerable Populations Strategic Initiative, and Within Reach.

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In the medical field, clinicians treat diseases and injuries one patient at a time. But in public health, we prevent disease and injury. Public health researchers, practitioners and educators work with communities and populations. We identify the causes of disease and disability, and we implement large-scale solutions.

Suggestion/ advice for capstone project

I’m currently working on my capstone project and wondering how I could get research for it. It’s about the impact of built environment on individuals with chronic illnesses & I want to interview people who have chronic illnesses about their experiences as well as their opinion on the concept of a sustainable, walkable city. However I ran into some problems since I can’t interview or send a survey to PCA’s, nurses or doctors to give to their patients. So what is the best solution to this do I just send a random survey to who ever or is there any other way?

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For School Systems: What to Know about the Master’s in Public Education Management

The  Master’s in Public Education Management is designed for high-performing, dedicated mid-career professionals working in large urban school systems across the country. The 14-month, tuition-free program fosters the skills, knowledge and perspectives for outstanding leaders in mid-level leadership positions to deepen and strengthen their impact on schools, students, and communities.

Students in the Master’s program continue to work full-time in their roles in eligible urban school systems, including school districts, charter management organizations, and state education agencies. By continuing to serve their school systems full time for the duration of the program, students are able to directly apply their learning to their work, benefitting their organizations and the students they serve.

For school systems, having an employee in the Master’s program at TBC at Yale SOM is not only a way to invest in a specific individual’s development and build internal talent pipelines – it also means the school system gains from their new perspectives, applied learning, and growing network of other education leaders across the country. 

What to Expect

Master’s program calendar and schedule.

Students travel to the Yale SOM campus in New Haven for five one-week sessions throughout the 14-month period of the program (from July through August of the following year). Throughout the program, students engage in monthly virtual sessions and independent work that bridges their in-person experiences. Students are expected to continue meeting the obligations of their professional roles, as well as the requirements of the program. 

What is the program calendar for the 2025-26 cohort?

Virtual Orientation: May 29, 2025 Residence 1: July 14-18, 2025 Residence 2: October 20-24, 2025 Residence 3: February 23-27, 2026 Residence 4: June 1-5, 2026 Residence 5: August 3-7, 2026 Virtual Sessions: Monthly, day-long virtual sessions (exact dates to be shared with students at a later date) 

Independent Capstone Project

The final requirement for successful completion of the program is an independent capstone project, allowing students to demonstrate their ability to apply new learning from the TBM coursework to drive improved and more equitable outcomes within the student’s school system.

Capstone projects are an opportunity for students to tackle a persistent challenge or bring new solutions to bear that ultimately benefit schools and students, with the benefit of structures and supports along the way, including a capstone adviser, faculty consultation, peer consultancy, and more. Students are asked to work with their manager to define a project that will be meaningful for the school system, in addition to meeting the requirements of the project. 

Previous capstone projects have included:

• Ensuring that students with disabilities have access to career and technical education (CTE), and that special education and CTE teams are collaborating to support students with their post-secondary plans.
• Developing an innovative staffing and leadership structure to provide greater support to under-enrolled schools while remaining budget-neutral.
• Creating a network-wide school operations dashboard to ensure clarity and aligned expectations on key metrics for operations staff, and school and network leaders.

Learn more about the  Master’s program curriculum → 

Eligibility Requirements

The Master’s program is open to mid-career public education professionals working in large, urban K-12 school system central and network offices who are committed to excellence and equity.

Participants in the program must work in central or network office-based roles that impact multiple schools, located in large, urban K-12 school systems. Participants must supervise at least one direct report, and/or hold a role with significant time spent coordinating cross-organization projects.

Eligible school districts serve at least 15,000 students drawn primarily from historically underserved communities. Eligible public charter organizations operate a minimum of five school sites and are located in areas that would otherwise qualify under the district size eligibility requirements.

School systems must give permission for their employee to join the Master’s program. Applicants must complete the  Supervisor & Organization Acknowledgement Form during the admissions process, including the signature of the applicant’s supervisor and an individual who can make a commitment on behalf of the organization that the applicant may participate if selected. Typically, the applicant has reviewed the program dates, both in-person and virtual, with their school system to ensure they are able to attend.

Learn more about  eligibility requirements and our admissions process → 

Program Costs

The Master’s in Public Education Management is a tuition-free program, covering programmatic costs and room and board while students are on campus. School systems have no additional cost required for team members who are admitted. Students are responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel to and from the Yale School of Management campus in New Haven, CT for the five on-campus program weeks, and some school systems choose to support this cost. 

For More Information

Find more information about the benefits to organizations of the Master’s in Public Education Management and what to expect in our Frequently Asked Questions for School Systems . 

Nominate a Candidate

To nominate an eligible candidate from your school system for the Master’s in Public Education Management, please submit our  nomination form . The Broad Center will reach out to them directly to share more information about the program and our admissions process.

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Spring 2024 Capstone Projects

Company sponsors.

Some of our spring 2024 company sponsors for capstone projects included:

• The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - BRL-CAD
• American Airlines
• Boom Boards
• Program of Excellence for Mothers, Children and Families
• Detectachem

BRL-CAD Graphics Acceleration

BRL-CAD's existing ray tracer is not up to industry standards. Our project was aimed at researching an existing high performance ray tracer and implementing it in place of BRL-CAD's current ray tracer to improve the user's workflow. Research Area: Graphics, Visualization and Computational Fabrication.

Chatbot for American Airlines which offers a unified resource for information to increase customers' ease of navigation. The three main personas for this app included first-time travelers, non-native speakers, and assistance-dependents. Research areas: Human-Computer Interaction, Databases, Data Mining, Information Retrieval Systems.

Autonomously Driving through Imitation Learning

Machine learning can address transportation disparities in rural communities through a relatively new autonomous driving approach known as imitation learning. This method involves training a model on collected human driving behaviors, enabling cars to navigate autonomously. Research Area: AI, ML, NLP

Interactive cornhole

Boom Boards uses interactivity of a smartphone app with catchy voice narration to engage players in cornhole. It offers a fun new way for experienced and new players to interact with cornhole, elevating the normal game experience by adding real time narration and score boards. Research area: Embedded Systems.

Oliva-NAVIGATOR

Olivia-Navigator is a public health record database. It contains the patient's medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory test results. The user can log in and view past submissions of forms along with submitting new ones. Research Areas: Software and Software Engineering; Health.

SEEKER Pro Algorithm Enhancement

Team DetectaChem was tasked with augmenting an existing chemical reaction detection algorithm. The goal was to reduce false negatives and maintain or reduce false positives. Our solution approach included image processing and machine learning to discover avenues DetectaChem could further explore to improve detection accuracy. Research areas: Computer Vision, AI, ML, NLP.

Quantum Cryptography

As quantum computing becomes more viable, we need a way to easily implement quantum-safe cryptography into everyday applications. In doing so, we need to also know how this will affect our network performance. Research area: Cybersecurity.

Capstone Project Helps Online Master’s Student Land Dream Job at Winery

Can a love of wine lead to a dream job? For Emily Atkinson, it did — along with a Master of Science in Digital Media Management from USC. 

Atkinson, who graduated from the program in 2023, impressed her professors with her capstone project on digital marketing efforts for a local winery. It didn’t only leave an impact on her professors, though. It also impressed her future employer.

Atkinson graduated from San Jose State University in 2018, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing. But when she returned home to Stockton, California, with no job lined up, she was at a loss for what to do next.

“ I knew I just needed something to start working again and something to fill my time,” she said. “I was just sitting at home doing nothing! So I applied for a job to work in a tasting room out in Lodi, California, which is only 20-ish minutes away from Stockton.”

The tasting room was where Atkinson’s passion for wine bloomed. 

“I got to serve wine. I got to learn all about it. That’s really where I started to love knowing about wine and learning it and getting to see all these things behind it,” Atkinson said.

The job also enabled her to try a new career path when she started to work on the winery’s marketing efforts, including its social media and email campaigns. Atkinson went on to become a social media specialist for the University of the Pacific, where she was soon promoted to a manager role. It was at this point that she realized it was time to further her education.

“I’d always known … that I really wanted to get my master’s degree,” Atkinson said. 

As she researched different programs, an ad for the Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) online program at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism caught Atkinson’s attention. 

The more Atkinson looked into the MSDMM program, the more it appealed to her. She loved that it was online, so she could keep her job and wouldn’t have to move away from her family. She appreciated the various digital media aspects it covered and knew the school itself had an amazing reputation.

“I was like, OK, I’m going to try. I don’t know if I’m going to get in. I don’t think I am. Who knows?” she said. “And then it did happen! That was such a special moment.”

Atkinson said the program was “a fantastic experience.” She was nervous at first, especially because she had struggled with time management and procrastination during her undergraduate career. But that wasn’t a problem with the MSDMM program, she said.

  “I found it so much easier this time around to be able to manage my time because it was a topic that I was incredibly interested in,” Atkinson said. “So I felt invested and I was so excited to read all the readings and watch all the videos and be a part of the discussions and do the assignments … and it continued to line up with the things that I was doing in my job.”

In fact, Atkinson found she was regularly applying lessons she learned in class to her day job, whether it was creating digital media campaigns, perfecting briefs or finding ways to employ artificial intelligence. She cited the faculty’s real-world expertise as a big reason she felt invested in the program.

“There were so many amazing things that these professors were able to bring to the table,” she said. “They were not teaching us from readings or audios or whatever. They were actually giving us real-life examples and walking us through how something was going to look in day-to-day life, whether it’s at an agency or major company, a startup, whatever it is.”

Atkinson was also initially concerned about how being an online student would impact her experience. But she appreciated USC’s effort to ensure online students feel connected to the Trojan community, she said.

“We had access to everything that an in-person student had, whether it was joining groups or being a part of the campus conversations, or seeing different motivational speakers that were coming on to campus, or internship opportunities, job opportunities … you just felt connected,” she recalled.

The program didn’t just teach Atkinson valuable skills, however — her capstone project also helped her land the perfect role.

While Atkinson was narrowing her focus for the capstone, the professor teaching the capstone class helped her see that her true passion was wine and encouraged her to follow that path. 

“My capstone ended up being a digital marketing agency that focused on wineries in the Lodi, California area. What I ended up doing was I worked with a photographer and videographer, and we were able to partner with a local winery in Lodi, California to create content for them,” she explained.

Atkinson built a website for the winery, filmed a promotional video, created comprehensive social media and digital marketing plans and even crafted an updated tasting flight to drive people’s interest in the winery’s story.  

“My capstone really was telling the story of the wine and trying to make it easier and feel more approachable and more friendly in that sense — because wine can feel standoffish,” she said.

Her capstone professor — Joseph James Itaya , who is also the MSDMM program director — loved Atkinson’s project. 

“This is a marvelous success story about how DMM’s Capstone serves as a launchpad for our students’ careers,” Itaya said. “I recall distinctly that early on, Emily was torn about her career path. But through the DMM curriculum process of examining her own Ikigai and professional life purpose, she honed in on the wine industry. She built a proof of concept for her dream job, and the rest is history.”

Since the project helped Atkinson determine that wine was her true passion, she began applying for jobs in the industry. When she interviewed at E & J Gallo Winery for a social media specialist position, she was able to point to her capstone as evidence of what she could achieve. She was hired.

“I’m so happy with where I ended up and the capstone really helped me,” she said. “It demonstrated my abilities, my passion.”

Learn more about the Master of Science in Digital Media Management (MSDMM) online program at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism today.

• Equity & Inclusion

Discovery Fall 2024 Overview

• By Semester
• Research Partners
• Student Researchers

Discovery Projects

​​academia / education.

• Oakland Natives Give Back Fund Inc - Informing Early Warning System for Chronically Absent Students
• Penn State University : Understanding patterns in ride-sharing use in the United States
• Petris Center on Consumer Welfare and Health Care Markets : Global Private Equity
• SFSU Ecole Lab : Text Simplification for Children- Evaluating Large Language Models against the human baseline
• UCB Berkeley Speech Group : Model Interpretability in LLMs
• UCB Berkeley Speech Group : Creating Generative Spoken Language Models
• UCB Berkeley Speech Group : Editing Knowledge in LLMs
• UCB Berkeley Speech Group : Making LLMs Better Poker Players
• UCB Big Ideas Course - From Imagination to Innovation : Activating creativity for transformational change: Assessing Creative Agency in the Big Ideas Course: From Imagination to Innovation
• UCB Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services : Evolution of Aging Concepts in Scholarly Literature
• UCB CITRIS : Enhancing Managerial Excellence with ChatGPT and Retrieval Augmented Generation: The Berkeley Administrative Management Professionals' (AMP) Toolkit
• UCB Cognition and Computation in Design (Co-Design) Lab : A Dynamic Visualization Protocol for Data on Designer's Perception of Cybersecurity Risk in Cyber-Physical Systems
• UCB Datahub Infrastructure Team : Analyze and Visualize Datahub usage data from GCP logs
• UCB Political Science Department : Objective Measurement of Democracy
• UCB ReVision : AI-Copilot Tool for Mitigating Bias
• UCB Shift Research Institute : Secondary Analyses of California Community of Practice Meetings Promoting the Use of Research Evidence from Intermediary Websites for Social and Emotional Learning in Schools
• UCB Terner Center for Housing Innovation : Historical Low-Income Tax Credit Database Construction
• UCB Transportation Sustainability Research Cente r: Improving the Collection, Dissemination, and Analysis of Truck Parking Availability Information
• VIOLA Walk Home : A new mobile safety app
• Michael DeBellis , Semantic Search Portal for Dental Clinicians in India

Business / Economics

• Coeuraj : Topic Segmentation Analysis During Multi-Party Conversation
• DECOM : Optimization of Decentralized GPU Utilization for Machine Learning Workloads 
• Gilead : Identifying Fraud in Gilead's General Ledger
• Gong - Evaluation of NLP/LLM Quality
• GrapeData Limited , Data Insight Generator based on GrapeData's Crowdsourced Knowledge Base
• Koer A.I., Inc ., Project AEI
• UCB Sociology : Ideas and the Changing Global Economy
• Petris Center on Consumer Welfare and Health Care Markets : Curating and Analysis

Environment / Sustainability

• Ava Community Energy : Weather Normalization on Energy Demand
• BART : Explore optimal forecast model of temperatures at the train control rooms
• Carbon Sustain, Inc. - 5 Year Plan: Decarbonize your operations with AI
• LBNL Climate : ML upscaling of U.S. coastal wetland greenhouse gas emission
• Outer Rim Exploration , ORE subsurface modeling
• Spherical , Hydroscope
• Ten Strands : Catalyzing Change in the K-12 Education System
• Ten Strands : Expanding the Data Initiative for Environmental and Climate Action
• UCB Earth and Planetary Science : Automated mapping of river floodplain landforms
• UCB Environmental Science, Policy, and Management : COEQWAL- Equitable stewardship of California’s water in a changing climate
• UCB Environmental Systems Dynamics Lab : AI applications for water supply and streamflow forecasting: a case study in the Russian River Basin, CA
• UCB Environmental Systems Dynamics Lab : Floodplain and wetland mapping and classification of the Okavango Delta, Botswana
• UCB Environmental Systems Dynamics Laboratory : AI applications for water supply and snowpack forecasting: a case study in the Tulare Basin, CA
• FactGrid Wikibase : Wikidata NLP & Digital Publication Pipeline
• FactGrid - Building Lexicons for 1000+ languages, using Wikibase and Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• UCB Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures Department , Building a High-Level Linguistic Annotation Pipeline for Akkadian
• 99P Labs & Honda Research Institute: LLM-Powered Trip Planning
• Bastille Networks Data Exploration , collecting wireless device data
• BLCK UNICRN : Data Science Project 
• IBM : Multimodal Chatbot on Mangrove Forests using Open Source Generative AI
• Riff: Empowering Music Producers with Generative Audio Tools
• Rivian : Rivian Product Development AI Assistant
• Synergies Intelligent Systems , Use data science to help traditional industries achieve digital transformation
• VebAI : Building an AI Copilot for you professional Network

Physical Sciences / Engineering

• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management : Data Analytics and Visualization of rock properties in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and California
• Covariant, Inc. -  Inventory control and reporting
• Intel Silencio : Synthetic Singer Detection for Voice Cloned Songs
• JetskiAI : Zipline - Building Natural Language pipelines to extract insights from unstructured human-AI conversations
• LBNL Networks : Time-series forecasting for understanding network utilization in scientific data flows
• Nexa Speech , Building a Multi-Agent System for Real-Time Conversations
• Qlay Technologies : AI-powered Recruiting Platform
• SFSU Adelstein Materials Research Group , Automate the workflow of generating machine learning surrogate models for the study of sustainable materials 
• Thoughtly AI : Voice Mail Detection
• UCB Nuclear Engineering and Geography : AI applications for Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactor Control and Fuel Management

Public Health / Medicine

• American Heart Association : Visualizing the Relationships Between Coronary Artery Disease and Social Determinants of Health Factors
• California State Water Resources Control Board : Language model supported data scraping tool for wastewater related contaminants
• Mentia : Assist people living with Dementia through AI/ML
• Merck : Fusing deep learning and 3D molecular models for drug discovery
• Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases :  AI for automation of RR\ID preprint prioritization and peer reviewer selection
• Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases :  Optimizing Editorial Workflows and Visualizing Productivity for Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases
• Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences : Racial Representation in Law Enforcement as an Institutional Determinant of Health
• UCB Blum Center for Developing Economies : EpiNu- AI for Prenatal Nutrition Security with Food Insecure Women
• UCB Haas School of Business : ChatCHW: Mobilizing AI for community health workers in poor nations
• UCSF : Multi-omics in clinical and pre-clinical research

Social Sciences / Policy

• Administration for Community Living - Analysis of Centers for Independent Living
• African Diaspora International Trade Association - Visuals and Maps for Reports: Creating Impact via Modeling Investment Opportunities
• Aspiranet : Can Texting Reminders Boost Youth Attendance in Therapy?
• Aspiranet : Mandated Reporting impact on Youth Services
• Callisto : Analyzing Match Success and User Engagement Through Data Insights
• City of Berkeley, Police Department : Social Network Analysis App
• GAMMA-UL Chair in Regional Integration and Sustainability - The Impact of Quality of Democracy on Sustainable Development
• UCB Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) : Compiling and data-wrangling the first comprehensive dataset of all security forces in Latin America and the Caribbean
• UCB Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) - Post-conflict Security Structures and Citizen Buy-In in Latin America 
• UCB Life Sciences Law & Policy Center : Empirical Study of Citizen Petitions