MPH Practicum

• You are eligible to begin your practicum once you complete three (3) MPH Courses. We strongly recommend that these three classes include two MPH Core Courses (502, 503, 510, 512) and one Concentration Core Course. You may choose to start your practicum while concurrently taking your third MPH Course. You must get your practicum approved by the Practicum Director before you can begin your practicum.
• You must have at least a 3.0 GPA

• Student Legal Form – sign and email it to the Practicum Coordinator along with a copy of your health insurance card once you receive confirmation that your practicum has been approved. Once these are submitted, you can officially begin your practicum!
• Creating your Practicum Portfolio site – Go to the practicum website (http://practicum.usc.edu) and click on “First Time Setup” and follow the prompts to create your portfolio site so you can log your hours using the Time Card function.

If the organization/agency you are working with is not on the Official Practicum Sites list, your supervisor will need to submit the Agency Application and Affiliation Agreement before you can start your hours.

Go to the practicum website (http://practicum.usc.edu) and click on “First Time Setup” and follow the prompts to create your portfolio site. You will need to enter the name and email address of your supervisor, so s/he can approve your hours.

1. Log-in to your portfolio site and click on “Time Card.” Enter your hours for the dates listed and submit it for approval by the submission date as seen in the Time Card.
2. If you forgot to log your hours and you need to enter “old” hours for dates that you do not see in the regular Time Card, you can use the Catch-Up Time Card.
   1. You will need a personalized password to access the Catch-Up Time Card. Email your request for the Catch-Up Passcode to the Practicum Coordinator.

Once your MPH Practicum Approval Form has been reviewed and approved by the Practicum Director, you can request D- clearance by emailing the Practicum Coordinator directly.

• The Capstone course is the final culminating experience for all MPH students. The Capstone course is taken in the last semester and the course draws on students’ training in the five core areas of public health and their required track courses. Additionally, students will draw from an experience they have had in the field, which means students could use their practicum experience to inform their final Capstone project assignment, but it is not mandatory to use the practicum if the student has some other relevant public health experience he/she would like to use for the Capstone course.
• If the student would like to use their practicum experience for their Capstone final project, it is recommended that he/she complete the practicum hours and requirements before registering for the Capstone course. This way, the student has enough experience in the field to adequately complete the Capstone assignments, which are all related to the final project. Some examples of Capstone final projects include but are not limited to: research paper, program evaluation, community needs assessment, policy analysis, and grant proposal.