The undergraduate internship project is a culminating experience, completed in the final semester of the academic program.  Graduate internship projects are typically completed during the second year of their academic program.

The internship experience is designed to provide the student with a hands-on learning experience that will provide them with the opportunity to practice the learning competencies they learned throughout their academic program. During the internship, students must complete or participate in a service project appropriate to their academic skills level that provides real life experience.  The service project must provide a positive benefit to your organization and a learning experience for the student.  This internship project plan will help the student and preceptor identify and articulate an appropriate project for the internship experience.  At the completion of the internship project, students will complete an assignment that will identify the project purpose, actions taken and project outcomes.

The host site’s preceptor will oversee the internship student’s experience and provide feedback to UNLV for the purpose of student growth and development.  The student is required to be enrolled in a UNLV practicum course, earning academic credit, while completing the internship experience.  The course grade will be determined by the course instructor, per the course syllabus.  All internships must be pre-approved by the Internship Coordinator before the student may begin working any hours at the site.

It is the sole responsibility of the internship host site to determine if they will provide paid or unpaid internships. We are grateful for all community partners that work with us to provide internship projects to our students. We understand that many sites only offer unpaid internships. Before offering an unpaid internship experience, please review the Fair Labors Standards Act (FLSA) in regards to legal standards for unpaid internships.

Are you considering offering a paid internship experience? We always welcome paid internship opportunities for our students. Paid internships are more competitive and can be more attractive to students, increasing your application pool. If your organization chooses to offer paid internships, you would be responsible for hiring and paying students for all hours worked per your organization’s practices and policy. The internship student would be considered your employee and submit to all policies, rules, and responsibilities accordingly. As a paid intern, in addition to becoming part of your organization, the student would continue to earn academic credit for their internship course and earn credit towards their degree per the course syllabus.

Please consult your human resources or legal department to determine which internship option is appropriate for you.

Before a student can begin an internship experience, community partners must establish an Educational Affiliation Agreement (EAA) with UNLV’s School of Public Health. The EAA is a legal agreement that specifies the rights and responsibilities of both UNLV and the organization during student internships. This agreement is not specific to an individual student but is an agreement between UNLV and the organization.

The Internship Site Supervisor (Preceptor) oversees the student’s internship project at your facility. The site supervisor may vary by internship semester, project, and student. Although site supervisors may be the main point of contact for the student, students should have the opportunity to work with other team members, as appropriate, throughout the experience. Since the site/supervisor will vary, based on experience, their name and credentials will be collected as needed. Internship Supervisor (preceptor) information will be collected on the internship project form.

Qualifications for Preceptors: Minimum criteria for internship preceptors includes a graduate degree, or baccalaureate degree plus a minimum of 2 years of work experience in public health, healthcare administration or a related field.

It is the sole discretion, of the host site, to select appropriate internship students, based on resume, application, and interviews to fill their internship project opportunities. The total number of internship opportunities, at your site, will always be determined by the host site.

Although we would like to fill every internship project opportunity available at your site, we cannot guarantee placement of students. The total number of interns available varies each semester based on course enrollment and available internship sites.  Students have the freedom and responsibility to apply for and accept their internship project based on their skills, interests, and academic needs.

Each student is required to meet a minimum amount of internship hours for their internship experience. Students will track their hours on a UNLV timesheet and ask for your approval signature at the end of the semester. As the host site, you may ask students to submit time, as appropriate for your organization, but the course timesheet will also be required for a student’s grade at the end of the semester.

To allow academic credit, for all internship hours, students must be enrolled in an approved experiential learning course and only work hours during the semester dates for that course. The internship coordinator can provide semester dates, upon request; however, you may review the UNLV academic calendar for planning purposes.