HEB Internships & Practicums

The internship credit hours are determined by the student’s specialization.

Community Health Promotion

HEB majors enrolled in the Community Health Promotion specialization must complete a 12-credit full-time internship.

Health Studies

HEB majors enrolled in the Health Studies specialization may choose to complete a full-time or part-time internship. The full-time internship is 12 credits, and the part-time internship is 6 credits.

• The full-time internship requires students to work 40 hours per week for 12 weeks (480 hours total).
• The part-time internship requires students to work 20 hours per week for 12 weeks (240 hours total).

HSC4876, Internship in Health Education, is a practical experience in which the intern maintains a professional workload of a Health Education Specialist in a community/public health, worksite health promotion, or clinical/wellness setting. This capstone experience is the culminating requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Health Education (BSHE) degree program.

The internship is meant to be a time of service and innovation to the supervising agency and a significant learning opportunity for the intern. Only through practical experience can the efficient application of knowledge, ideas and skills in a realistic work setting occur. Both the intern and the agency should benefit immeasurably.

The primary objectives for the internship experience should enable the intern to:

• Complete tasks required of a professional in the health education field.
• Apply knowledge and skills attained during course studies to practical community health, patient health, worksite health promotion, and/or wellness issues.
• Develop skills and enhance knowledge in areas of interest within health education.
• Contribute significantly to the activities and projects of the internship agency.
• Prepare for future employment or advanced education in health education or related fields.

The internship goals and assigned duties will be communicated to the HEB Internship Coordinator via the Internship Application (due the semester before the internship in HSC4800). The internship goals and assigned duties will be evaluated through bi‐weekly reports and the midterm and final evaluations.

The agency supervisor and intern will receive all necessary forms and instructions from the HEB Internship Coordinator before the start of the internship semester. HSC4876 is housed in Canvas e‐Learning.

The student-centered internship goals and duties are determined by the student and agency supervisor and will be based on the strengths, needs and interests of the student and the agency. The intern’s duties and 85% of an intern’s hours must align with the Areas of Responsibility for Health Education Specialists (NCHEC, 2020).

The Eight Areas of Responsibility include a comprehensive set of competencies defining the role of the health education specialist. These responsibilities are the basis of the CHES® exam and the HEB undergraduate curriculum. Interns must meet a minimum of four Areas of Responsibility during their internship work and are encouraged to meet all eight.

It is also highly encouraged that each intern completes a major project, start to finish, during the internship experience.

View HEB Internship Sites

The internship experience includes, but is not limited to, those agencies that employ health education specialists in community/public health, worksite health promotion, or clinical/wellness settings. Typical internship settings include public health departments, nonprofit health agencies, voluntary health agencies, hospitals and clinics, wellness centers, fitness centers, and corporate wellness programs (employee wellness programs).

The Department of Health Education and Behavior currently has internship agreements with more than 200 internship sites. These internships are largely in Florida, and many are within the University of Florida and UF Health.

Students are not required to select an internship from the approved list. If an HEB major would like to explore interning with a different agency, they must schedule a meeting with the HEB Internship Coordinator, Dr. Holly T. Moses. This meeting should happen at the start of the semester in which the student is enrolled in HSC4800.

If an agency is interested in learning more about the HEB Internship Program and requires information regarding the internship site review process, please contact Dr. Dr. Holly T. Moses.