FINDING AN INTERNSHIP SITE
There are several ways that students can locate an internship site, however,
students MUST ALWAYS receive approval from the UMD internship coordinator prior to beginning the internship. NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN IF A STUDENT FAILS TO OBTAIN APPROVAL AND COMPLETE THE CONTRACT.
Information on a variety of agencies is kept on file in the internship coordinator’s office. The coordinator interviews the student to ensure the best possible fit between the student’s career goals and the agency’s mission. This is important as quality experiences are sought for students and agencies seek quality-minded students.
Students may pursue their own internship locations, however, the site desired MUST be approved by UMD’s internship coordinator. It would serve the student well to become familiar with the site supervisor’s responsibilities to the intern and to the UMD internship coordinator (See pg. 4). Even if the student is certain the site would meet these qualifications, FINAL APPROVAL MUST BE GRANTED BY THE INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR.
Regardless of how the desired internship site is found, ALL STUDENTS MUST MEET WITH THE INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR PRIOR TO STARTING AN INTERNSHIP.
WHEN TO BEGIN LOOKING FOR AN INTERNSHIP
Typically students begin to look for an internship site after completing the following courses: Hlth 3301 (Foundations of Health Education), Hlth 3303 (Principles of Program Planning), and Hlth 3305 (Community Health Methods). However, students are welcome to look for potential internship opportunities anytime after they have been admitted to the health education program, providing that they understand they cannot intern until the requirements have been met.
The latest students should seek an internship site is during the midterm of the semester prior to when they plan to intern. For example, if a student plans to intern in the Spring, by midterm of the Fall they should be consulting with the internship coordinator to secure a site.