In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Podcast Interview Transcript
  • Lee Bone and Fran Close

In each volume of Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, the PCHP editors select one article for our Beyond the Manuscript podcast interview with the authors. Beyond the Manuscript provides authors with the opportunity to tell listeners what they would want to know about the project beyond what went into the final manuscript. Beyond the Manuscript podcasts are available for download on the journal's web site (www.press.jhu.edu/journals/pchp). This issue's Beyond the Manuscript podcast was conducted by Associate Editor Lee Bone and features Fran Close, the lead author of "Community-Based Internships to Address Environmental Issues: A Model for Effective Partnerships." The following is an edited transcript of the Beyond the Manuscript podcast.

Lee Bone:

I'd like to start with the issue of community benefit and intern benefit of these internships.

Fran Close:

There are various types of benefits that I think the community received as well as our interns did. The main thing is starting with the interns. Those graduate students are taking their didactic work to the community, meaning that they are able to learn how to design a survey, how to design effective communication. As far as health education literature with fact sheets and newsletters, they are able to take that and look at how that type of information can be used at a community level with real issues and concerns that a community would have when it comes to, in this case, environmental health issues.

As far as the community is concerned, the community doesn't have those types of skills. A lot of the community-based organizations that we were involved with, they were very organized and they did bring something to the table, so to speak. But our students were able to assist in those areas that they lacked or needed more assistance with, as far as survey design, fact sheets, and things like that.

Lee Bone:

Where do you think the future, then, is in these community benefits and intern benefits? Can you see any changes that you might make to this whole program, now that you've just informed me that this is now part of your program in public health?

Fran Close:

It is a requirement for our Masters of Public Health students to do an internship, they have various venues where they can do that at a community-based organization or at a health department, either locally or our state health departments. I think that this model and this type will be beneficial for, not just only the students, but for those types of environments that the students will utilize their skills in.

Lee Bone:

Do your students actually continue on with these community-based organizations? [End Page 89]

Fran Close:

Absolutely. We have documented evidence that we do have those students. Also part of our program, we have students who rotate in various concentrations of public health, and a lot of them, because the mission of our institute and of our university, we assist or are involved with those communities that are underserved. A lot of students come here and we tell them about that in course work and other things that we do, so a lot of them go out and not only do internships but remain there as permanent employees in some cases.

Lee Bone:

Given that these are very special interns that are part of your program, can you tell me more about how you recruit and select them?

Fran Close:

We produced flyers trying to attract, just do things as far as getting students just to catch their eye on a nice flyer. So we had the criteria, telling them about this particular program, we posted them in various colleges and schools here at the university. We also utilized our FAMU Info System, our e-mail system that we have here at the university. If a student, faculty member, staff person, or anyone who has a FAMU e-mail address receives this flyer that way. We did get some hits from students, or even faculty members, who wanted their students in their college or school to be...

pdf

Share