MPH 570 Module 7 Internship and Capstone Plan Example

Blueprint for the Capstone: A Base Plan for a Youth Vaping Internship Project

Student Name

Master of Public Health Program, Aspen University

MPH 570: Evidence-Based Practice in Public Health

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Blueprint for the Capstone: A Base Plan for a Youth Vaping Internship Project

The catalog describes this course as preparing students to create a base plan for the public health internship and capstone. This paper presents that plan for a county project on teenage vaping, built on the problem statement and evidence review developed earlier. It sets goals, objectives, activities, a timeline and an evaluation approach, and it explains how the internship will produce material for the capstone.

Host Site and Preceptor

The county health department's tobacco prevention program will host the internship, with its program manager as preceptor. The program runs retailer compliance checks, works with schools and has data systems the intern can use. The site's priorities match the project, which increases the chance that results will be used.

Goal and Objectives

Goal: reduce high school students' access to e-cigarettes and improve support for those who want to quit. Objectives: by the end of the internship, analyze two years of compliance check data and identify retailers with repeat violations; draft recommendations for a tobacco retail licensing ordinance; with the school district, draft a vaping policy that pairs consequences with cessation referral; and train school counselors to refer students to a youth quit program.

Logic Model

The logic model links the project's parts.

Activities and Timeline

Weeks one to three: orientation, data access and approvals. Weeks four to seven: analyze compliance data and summarize evidence on licensing. Weeks eight to ten: meet with school leaders and draft the policy. Weeks eleven to thirteen: train counselors and present recommendations to the health department. Weeks fourteen to sixteen: collect initial feedback and prepare materials for the capstone. A shared calendar with the preceptor will track each milestone and flag delays early.

Data Sources

The project will use compliance check records, the state youth survey, school incident data and counselor referral logs. National figures on youth e-cigarette use provide context for local findings (Cooper et al., 2022). Each source will be documented with its limitations. Data will be stored on health department systems and summarized without identifying students or individual clerks.

Evaluation Approach

The RE-AIM framework will guide evaluation: reach, the share of students affected by the policy and counselors trained; effectiveness, changes in referrals and illegal sales; adoption, whether the district and county act on recommendations; implementation, whether training and policy are carried out as planned; and maintenance, whether changes last after the internship (Glasgow et al., 1999). Within one internship term, the focus will be on reach, adoption and implementation.

Using Evidence Throughout

The plan follows evidence-based public health principles by grounding choices in the evidence review, local data and stakeholder input and by building in evaluation and dissemination (Brownson et al., 2009). Where evidence is weak, the plan treats activities as tests to be evaluated rather than proven solutions.

Ethics and Approvals

The intern will complete the health department's confidentiality training, use only de-identified data and obtain approval from the university's review board if any activity qualifies as research. School data will be shared under a district agreement. Counselor training materials will be reviewed by the district.

Risks and Contingencies

Risks include delays in data access, changes in school leadership and limited time for policy adoption within the internship. Contingencies include starting data requests early, engaging more than one district contact and defining success for the internship as a completed draft and recommendations rather than full adoption.

Link to the Capstone

The capstone will explain and defend the project: the problem, evidence, methods, results of data analysis, the policy and training developed, early evaluation findings and implications. Keeping a project log, saving drafts and recording stakeholder feedback during the internship will supply material for the capstone paper.

Stakeholder Engagement Plan

The plan includes meetings with the preceptor every week, a presentation to the school district's health advisory council in week eight, consultation with two retailers about compliance training and a student focus group on the draft policy. Documenting input from each group will strengthen the capstone.

Deliverables

By the end of the internship, the student will deliver a data report on retailer compliance, a policy brief on licensing, a draft district policy, a counselor training module and a short presentation to the health department. These products also serve as appendices for the capstone.

Budget and Resources

The project needs little money: printing for training materials, access to data systems and the preceptor's time. The health department will cover printing, and the district will provide meeting space. Identifying resources early prevents delays.

Supervision and Communication

The student will meet with the preceptor weekly and with the faculty adviser every two weeks, sharing a brief progress report each time. Regular check-ins keep the project on track and allow early adjustment if problems arise.

Measuring Success Within the Internship

Success within the internship term will be measured by deliverables completed, stakeholder feedback, the number of counselors trained and whether the district places the draft policy on its board agenda. Longer-term outcomes, such as fewer illegal sales, will be measured by the health department after the internship.

Professional Competencies

The project will build competencies in data analysis, evidence review, policy development, communication and partnership, which are core to public health practice and will be documented in the internship portfolio.

Reflection and Learning

The student will keep a reflective journal during the internship, recording challenges, decisions and lessons. Reflection supports professional growth and provides insight for the capstone's discussion of what worked and what did not.

Conclusion

This base plan turns the problem statement and evidence review into a feasible internship project with clear objectives, a logic model, a timeline, data sources and an evaluation approach. It focuses on retail access and supportive school policy, where evidence, local need and the host site's capacity align, and it sets up a strong foundation for the capstone.

References

Brownson, R. C., Fielding, J. E., & Maylahn, C. M. (2009). Evidence-based public health: A fundamental concept for public health practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 30, 175-201. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100134

Cooper, M., Park-Lee, E., Ren, C., Cornelius, M., Jamal, A., & Cullen, K. A. (2022). Notes from the field: E-cigarette use among middle and high school students: United States, 2022. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 71(40), 1283-1285. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7140a3

Glasgow, R. E., Vogt, T. M., & Boles, S. M. (1999). Evaluating the public health impact of health promotion interventions: The RE-AIM framework. American Journal of Public Health, 89(9), 1322-1327. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.89.9.1322