Public Health Education Resources

The mission of the Department of Public Health Education is to prepare students academically and professionally to assume leadership positions in public health. Students develop proficiency in the application of theory, content, and skills to promote, support and enable healthy communities. Students learn how to assist communities in identifying and defining health issues; in designing, implementing, and evaluating effective strategies to address those issues; and in securing resources to successfully implement those strategies. We prepare our students to work in a variety of settings, including state and local health departments, schools, private non-profit organizations, hospitals and worksites in both domestic and international communities.

A secondary mission of the Department of Public Health Education is to promote the health and well-being of communities through departmental course offerings, faculty research and community service. Department faculty, staff, and students work within communities to promote life-long, self-directed behaviors conducive to health, to advocate for policies supportive of health, and to achieve a more equitable distribution of the resources necessary for health.

Health education emerged as a profession in the 1940s. The development of standards, professional preparation, and associations has occurred over many decades.  A concern for disparities in health status between black and white Americans led to the creation of the Health Education program at North Carolina Central University in 1945.  Dr. James E. Shepherd, founder of NCCU, developed the new academic department with the assistance of Dr. Milton Rosenau, a pioneer in the field of public health and director of the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  At that time, Dr. Shepard’s goal was to prepare black public health workers for the Southern region of the United States, and he initially organized a graduate program in health education leading to the Master of Science in Public Health. 

The initial curriculum was modeled after that of the School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, and UNC professors agreed to teach the same courses here that they taught at Chapel Hill.  Dr. Lucy S. Morgan, a professor from UNC who helped develop the program at NCCU and taught many of those early classes, served as the first chairperson of the department. She is one of the namesakes of the Miller-Morgan Building, which houses the Department of Public Health Education.

Some of the most striking aspects of the graduate program in health education at NCCU included efforts to promote some limited interracial cooperation at a time when Jim Crow laws were still very strong.  A journal club established for health education students at both NCCU and UNC met alternately at the Durham and Chapel Hill campuses.  When students met in Chapel Hill, it was sometimes necessary to pull down the window shades to avoid being harassed for racial mixing.  Perhaps more importantly, black and white students were assigned to the same field training centers at local health departments and in the community, and they worked together on a variety of community health projects, learning together what was needed to effectively address public health problems.

Unfortunately, students from the two programs did not fair equally well upon graduation.  In 1958, a national organization for health educators conducted a survey confirming reports that a large proportion of graduates from the master's program at NCCU were unable to secure employment as public health educators.  Only 28% of the 82 graduates of NCCU’s department who completed the survey were employed in public health.  Another 12% were teaching health education or a related subject. The most common reason given by respondents for not working in the field was "race." The employment difficulties facing our master's-prepared graduates in health education contributed to a drop in enrollment, and the graduate program at NCCU was discontinued in 1960, the same year that the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill admitted its first black students.  In its 15 years, the NCCU program graduated 104 masters-level health educators.

Fortunately, NCCU’s undergraduate curriculum in health education continued to thrive despite the demise of the graduate program. Established in 1948, the Department was part of the College of Arts and Sciences until 2007, when it joined the newly established College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

The Department of Public Health Education is among the nation’s leading academic institutions in undergraduate public health education.  The program enjoys the unique distinction of being the only Historically Black College/University holding approval credentials awarded by the Society for Public Health Education and the American Association for Health Education (SABPAC).

NCCU’s regional and national influence in public health education practice has been achieved through a half century of growth and expansion, and we have led many prevention initiatives on a broad range of health topics, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, lead poisoning, tobacco control, nutrition and physical activity, blood and organ donation, health disparities, and health literacy.  Grants secured by faculty have funded most of these initiatives. The department is one of the most productive in the university in generating research funds.

In 2007, the university approved a name change for the department from Health Education to Public Health Education. This emphasis on “public” health reflects many factors: greater public awareness of health issues and the importance of prevention; greater public access to information through technological innovations; greater perceived health threats from regions outside our own communities; and greater concerns about the global health consequences of environmental degradation, such as water and air pollution.

The term public health education underscores the fact that our discipline is an essential component of public health.  It also suggests the community focus of our work. A critical way in which public health differs from medicine is that public health works primarily at the community level, while medicine usually works at the individual level.  Our students do their fieldwork in community agencies developing community programs.  This is how we “do” health education at NCCU, and this is the essence of public health.

The sponsoring organization agrees to provide a preceptor to oversee the student’s internship. The preceptor should have expertise in the issues the student will address during the internship, experience and status within the organization, and an interest and competence in supervising and mentoring. Each student is assigned a field supervisor from the Department of Public Health Education at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) who assists the student in identifying professional and career objectives, clarifying learning objectives, and identifying appropriate internship sites. The preceptor works in conjunction with the field supervisor to make sure that students have a fulfilling and a successful public health practice internship experience.

The internship is an integral part of the undergraduate training in Public Health Education following the completion of all other required courses in the major. The Public Health Education Associate (PHEA Intern) will work with the preceptor and the field supervisor to develop an internship agreement that matches his or her learning objectives to the needs of the host organization. The intern helps to organize a meeting during the middle of the internship called a Midpoint Update, during which the field supervisor visits the site. The midterm evaluation, held after the intern has worked between 140 and 180 hours, allows the preceptor and field supervisor to point out strengths and weaknesses of the intern. Over the course of the internship, the intern plans, implements, and evaluates a special project.  Developed with input from and approval of the preceptor and field supervisor, the special project should involve application of most of the seven basic responsibilities of entry-level health educators and should contribute to the mission of the host agency.  At the conclusion of internship, the intern prepares a conference-quality poster about his/her special project, develops a PPT presentation on the internship for the Department’s exit interview, and completes a portfolio on the internship. 

The Public Health Internship Program at North Carolina Central University is designed to align with the Department of Public Health Education’s strategic plan as well as support the individual intern’s progress toward a career in public health. To this end, the Internship Program will:

• Provide an opportunity to participate in training and professional development activities
• Orient future public health practitioners to program planning and evaluation methodologies
• Provide each student with an in-depth exposure to the work of one public health agency
• Through the work and presentations of peers placed at other agencies, expose students to a wide range of work sites, career options, and public health issues (e.g., rural health policy, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, access to health care chronic disease, and injury prevention in an attempt to strengthening the Department’s partnerships with public health service organizations)

The role of the preceptor is that of a mentor and/or supervisor for the student during the internship. The preceptor may or may not be the intern’s direct supervisor on the project(s); however, we ask that all preceptors:

• Provide an orientation to the organization
• Provide access to individuals and meetings to assist in providing a context for the work performed
• Meet with the student at least once per week to provide regular professional feedback on progress, both strengths and weaknesses
• Provide opportunities to explore career options and other skill areas through informational interviews within and outside of their office
• Secure a work space and needed resources the student will need to be able to successfully complete assigned work and projects
• Participate in the Mid-point Update,  a meeting in the middle of the internship (usually in conjunction with a site visit by the field supervisor) to do the following:
  • review and assess progress in achieving work assignments and learning objectives (including review of personal and professional growth and development)
  • identify and discuss learning issues, strengths, and challenges
  • identify resource needs that have emerged during the internship
  • update the Internship Agreement to reflect any changes
• Complete a final evaluation of the student and the internship process

We have found that people with an M.P.H. degree or related advanced degree are the most effective preceptors for our students. The Department of Public Health Education seeks alumni and professionals in the field who have the teaching and mentoring skills needed in preceptors. It is important to us that the person has the desire, willingness, time, and aptitude for the work.

August–September: The Department of Public Health Education will work with students and agencies to determine goodness of fit.

September 1: Review student applications and select your organization. 

September 28: Commence the internship process by officially welcoming the intern and introducing them to appropriate staff at the job site. Identify and secure a workstation for your intern at your job site. If not done earlier, meet with your intern to complete the Internship Agreement within the first week of the beginning of the internship. Assist the intern with arrangements to shadow and conduct interviews with key staff and community leaders.  Assist intern with identification and planning of their special project.

October 19–27:  Participate in the Mid-point Update and site visit by the field supervisor.  Assist the intern with implementation and evaluation of the special project. In the seventh week of the internship, complete the preceptor evaluation of the student and internship process and review the completed evaluation with the intern before the end of his/her internship. In the last weeks of the internship, advise the student on the preparation of a poster and PPT presentation for their exit interview.

November 23:  Last day of internship

December 1:  If possible, attend the Internship Exit and Preceptor and Student Recognition event on campus.

Swim for Charlie, the Dr. Charles van der Horst Water Safety Initiative, was founded in memory of Dr. van der Horst. In his actions as a social justice activist, caring clinician, internationally known infectious disease medical researcher, Public Health crusader, and philanthropist, Charlie was involved in many activities benefiting vulnerable populations.

In keeping with Charlie’s values, his love for swimming, and his interest in youth, Charlie’s fellow swimmers and friends, inspired by his actions, have formed a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 charitable organization in his name with the mission “To equip children with life-saving water safety skills by providing a high-quality water safety program to second grade North Carolina students."

One of our students was placed with the Swim for Charlie program, Jade Peterson, Class of 2022, and was hired as soon as the internship finished as the program administrator.