Master of Public Health (MPH) students gain practical skills and career experience through the public health Integrative Learning Experience (ILE).

The ILE can be an internship at a leading public health organization in the Philadelphia region. It can also be a capstone course or a data analysis project, working closely with Dornsife faculty. The ILE is determined by the student's major. 

The ILE can lead a student to publish research findings or receive a job offer from their host agency.

Dornsife Student ILEs in 2020

Community Health and Prevention ILEs

• Examining preliminary data on a recovery support study on bladder cancer patients and caregivers with Fox Chase Cancer Center.
• Providing data analysis and identifying areas of gaps in health programming based on 5 years of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development health outcome data with a community services organization.
• Examining the relationship between immigration climate (sanctuary status, population composition) and school performance among children of Latino immigrants comparing families who are not separated and separated due to deportation.
• Analyzing medical records of women who take a specific type of birth control, and looking at their demographics and sexually transmitted infection rates with St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.

Environmental and Occupational Health ILEs

• Surveying hotel housekeepers and analyzing risk factors for pain and injury for a local union.
• Developing a messaging toolkit for a hypothetical anthrax outbreak, for use in a field exercise by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's Preparedness and Bioterrorism Program.
• Conducting a systematic review of the literature on the impact of extreme ambient extreme heat on pediatric morbidity with Dornsife faculty.
• Developing an emergency management plan for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health's Primary Care Health Center Network.
• Conducting a systematic review of the literature on residential exposure to municipal solid waste incinerators and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Epidemiology ILEs

• Analyzing the COVID-19 impact on first responders (fire-based EMS) with Dornsife's Center for Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends (FIRST) Center.
• Analyzing the impact of neighborhood green space on hypertension among adults living in Philadelphia.
• Understanding associations relevant to pathways that connect neighborhood diversity and well-being using data from the Neighborhood Diversity and Well-Being Study in the Washington, DC area.
• Describing how the incidence of non-driving related suspensions among New Jersey drivers varies by race/ethnicity, sex, and age, and examining spatiotemporal relationships between non-driving related license suspensions and driver’s race/ethnicity, sex, and age.
• Examining how the risk of Black men experiencing gun violence in Philadelphia has increased in 2020 compared to 2019.

Health Management and Policy ILEs

• Conducting the first steps in St. Christopher Hospital’s community health needs, including reports from various Philadelphia Community Health Needs Assessments that serve the surrounding ten zip codes.
• Assisting Autism Speaks in carrying out federal governmental advocacy work to positively impact employment, health and education policy.
• Working on an Emergency Management Plan for Philadelphia Health Centers creating an incident command structure, and completing an emergency management plan.
• Creating a Standardized Process for optimizing patient flow through the Department of Healthcare Quality and Analytics and understanding how various social determinants of health affect all aspects of patient care.
• Mapping an innovation ecosystem with Independence Blue Cross to design the external partnership strategy for non-profit outreach.

Dornsife Student ILEs in 2019

Community Health and Prevention ILEs

• Exploring provider practices and approaches on breastfeeding among HIV positive women with Health Federation of Philadelphia
• Identifying women's identity perception of calling themselves a cancer survivor and how this may influence quality of life with Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Developing a formative survey to assess neighborhood gentrification with Urban Health Collaborative
• Conducting a client satisfaction survey of family planning clinics focused on equalizing access to sexual and reproductive health care for teens with AccessMatters
• Measuring the impact of an Overdose Prevention Site in Kensington in response to the overdose crisis with Dornsife SPH faculty

Environmental and Occupational Health ILEs

• Monitoring air quality across Philadelphia with Dornsife SPH faculty
• Conducting a literature review of long-haul trucker health and developing a prototype for a risk assessment tool with Dornsife SPH faculty
• Identifying and classifying environmental exposures using GIS with the Environmental Protection Agency
• Analyzing exposures and pollutants of greatest risk to children's and adults' health with the Environmental Protection Agency
• Developing and testing a pandemic influena response plan for the effective coordination of a response with Chester County Health Department

Epidemiology ILEs

• Exploring the effect of fish intake on the development of autistic traits with A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
• Examining invasive Salmonellosis cases in rural vs urban counties in Pennsylvania with Pennsylvania Department of Health
• Investigating the association between household income and car seat use on airplanes with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Examining cases caused by Legionella outbreaks due to various building characteristics with Drexel University College of Engineering
• Analyzing spatial data of alcohol outlets and their correlation to alcohol consumption with Dornsife SPH faculty

Health Management and Policy ILEs

• Optimizing functionality and usability of electronic medical record system at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals
• Improving maternal and child health on a global scale with Foundation for the Medical Relief of Children
• Evaluating the implementation of a vaccine policy change for school immunizations at Philadelphia Department of Public Health
• Researching and comparing community referral sites at HealthShare Exchange
• Improving patient safety and quality of services at Wills Eye Hospital

Advance your career in the field of public health with an MPH from Drexel Dornsife.

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