Internships and Public Health Experiences at Metro Public Health

Internships and other unpaid public health experiences offered at Metro Public Health are intended to offer meaningful, real-world learning opportunities for both students and volunteers. Our goal for Clinical and Non-Clinical internships is to create and nurture a limited number of mutually beneficial relationships between Metro Public Health and students from a variety of public health and medical programs.

Although we can only accommodate a few each year, we accept Class Project requests from schools, professors and teachers whose students may not need a formal internship to accomplish their specific learning goals.

Shadowing is yet another way for students or interested community members to come to us for a brief exposure to how public health services are delivered in Davidson County.

Finally, particularly for those interested in helping where help is needed the most, we offer monitored, but informal Volunteering opportunities to all interested citizens in our community.

Internships

Clinical Internships

Limited to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at an institution having an Affiliate Agreement with Metro Public Health, a Clinical Internship is typically part of a student’s graduation requirement from their chosen clinical or residency program. Clinical interns gain hands-on experience in one of our public health clinics under the guidance of an experienced public health professional. For more information, please review the Internship Process.

Non-Clinical Internships

Non-Clinical internships are immersion experiences for current undergraduate or graduate students attending schools having an Affiliate Agreement with MPHD. These internships are designed to provide meaningful, real-world experiences for students interested in pursuing careers in public health. For more information, please review the Internship Process.

Class Projects

Class Projects are created through the collaboration of a faculty member and the Intern Coordinator for the purpose of allowing students in a specific course to apply course content to a real public health program, process or issue. As with internships, the academic institution involved must have a current Affiliate Agreement with us before a Class Project opportunity can be created. Please contact the Internship Coordinator to discuss logistics.

Shadowing Opportunities

Students seeking important, but time-limited exposure to how we deliver public health services may be able to participate in a Shadowing Opportunity. Shadowing Opportunities allow a student to spend eight or fewer hours observing an experienced public health professional. The goal is to provide the student an introduction into the responsibilities and scope of practice involved in working for a large public health department. Because of our limited resources we are only able to accommodate a few Shadowing Opportunities per year. Please contact the Internship Coordinator to discuss logistics.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are individuals who donate their time to Metro Public Health. Volunteers are typically not pursuing a specific curriculum requirement for a degree and typically volunteer to gain additional experience or for their own personal satisfaction. An example of a volunteer experience would be working at our Metro Animal Care and Control facility (Individuals who receive no pay from Metro Public Health, but receive a stipend from their university or from another third party entity, are still considered volunteers for our purposes).

Volunteer opportunities are currently available at Metro Animal Care and Control and Public Health Emergency Preparedness.