Camp Public Health
Specialization: Health Behavior and Health Promotion
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Agency Name: Columbus Public Health
Agency Location: Local (county or city) Health Department
This experience was a dream come true and it makes me excited to see what the future holds for me as a public health professional.
Major Projects:
My responsibilities as a summer intern for Camp Public Health included planning the week-long camp public health, organizing and scheduling all activities, providing new ideas to make camp more efficient and fun, ordering all promotional items and supplies, creating a budget request, leading some camp activities, editing and sending parent/guardian newsletters, communicating across all departments to ensure materials are complete, developing the camper workbook, and answering all questions parents/guardians had leading up to the week of camp.
I loved being able to do a lot of the behind the scenes work and plan the entire camp. I have never had an internship experience that allowed me to plan a large program and then later implement that program. During my first year in the MPH program, I learned about the steps to planning a program but for the first time ever I was able to do all of the program planning in a real world setting essentially on my own. After the program planning was complete, seeing the program being implemented was an amazing experience. Confirming all presentations/activities scheduled and witnessing the campers participate was extremely rewarding. I have more confidence in myself as a public health professional and I feel comfortable taking on other programs later in my career.
Working at Columbus Public Health has always been a dream of mine so finding the perfect practicum at my dream location was an amazing find. This experience has given me many opportunities to connect with staff across the department and open my eyes to the endless possibilities public health has. As I worked with numerous staff members and other community partners, I saw how well we all organized a great experience for the teens in our community. We may have our own projects through our departments but ultimately, we all have a common goal of creating positive change in people’s lives.
