1. Project Option Ass Prof Peter Hill School of Population Health

2. What is it? Allows students to engage in research or project work in their specialist field of public health study within the workplace  Workplace practicum: apply academic coursework and training in a public health agency setting under the direction of an on-site supervisor  Guided study: under guidance of workplace supervisor/ academic supervisor, students work independently to develop an understanding of public health concepts, explore a specific issue or investigate a research question  Minor research project: undertake a small scale research project Worth the equivalent of two courses (subjects)

3. Who is it for?  Students who are working in agencies or institutions wanting to convert some of their core work into an academic document (potential for submission) and gain academic credit  Students undertaking the course-work option (not dissertation)  Students not thinking about PhD study (unless you are taking the 16 unit MPH option) Notes:  Can only do ONE project in your MPH degree

4. When can you do it? Like the dissertation – it  best done AFTER you have completed core subjects  ideally should be undertaken at the end of your MPH program of study  Required to receive approval from proposed supervisor (at UQ) and program coordinator (QUT/Griffith) to enroll  Full-time in one semester  Part-time over two semesters  semester 1, 2 or the summer semester

5. What do you have to do?  Worth the equivalent of two courses (subjects) so:  Full-time: 20 hours/week for one semester  Part-time: 10 hours/week for two semesters  Allow six weeks before semester to ensure approval to enroll  Identify principal advisor within School  Obtain support from workplace supervisor (if practicum)  Draft clear 2 page proposal with agreed evaluation criteria  Submit ethics approval application if appropriate  Assessment is specific to the type of project …see your home university coordinator for details

6. What else needs to be done?  Your workplace supervisor/principal supervisor is responsible for your assessment  At UQ, Project guidelines are available on the web  For Griffith and QUT, more structured documents have been created (available from your program coordinator)  Project proposal  Project contract  Project proposal evaluation  Project final evaluation  Once completed, provide a copy of your final project proposal document to your principal advisor (UQ) and program coordinator (QUT, Griffith)

7. Final remarks  Since its inception, several students have successfully (& enjoyably) completed the project option  The key is to find: 1.an appropriate academic/workplace supervisor 2.a feasible and relevant public health problem 3.a well-defined timeline with clear expectations between supervisor and student, and agreed upon milestones …any questions?