All MPH students do Applied Practice Experiences (APEx) in collaboration with public health practice partners outside of the School of Public Health. Students develop two “products” that show competence in various areas of public health and epidemiology.
One Day Closer is a community event held by the Rogel Cancer Center. The event is geared toward providing education about cancer to a lay audience and introducing high school students to cancer research. In 2018-2019, nine epidemiology students embarked on an ambitious APEx that included developing a cancer knowledge questionnaire in key areas: human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, sunscreen use, obesity, and smoking/vaping. The students made contact with two local high school principals who agreed to have 10th grade students complete the questionnaire. Based on the results of the questionnaire, the students created a cancer prevention “Jeopardy” game that was presented at our booth at the One Day Closer event. Take some time to scroll through the pictures – the students did a great job and cancer prevention “Jeopardy” was very popular at the event! The students also prepared a presentation of the questionnaire results for the school principals.