Program Requirements
Community-Based Research Internship
Students must complete a consecutive two-quarter long community-based research internship under the supervision of an SPRC faculty mentor. Students will receive 6 total units for their internships, which are all unpaid positions. The primary learning goal of these internships is for students to apply their coursework and implementation science in a community or lab setting by engaging community members and faculty to create innovative, research-based, chronic disease prevention solutions addressing community health challenges.
We have currently identified over 40 placement opportunities for potential internships. Our community partners include K-12 schools, social service agencies/shelters, religious and ethnic community organizations, advocacy/activist groups, health care organizations, SPRC’s WELL Living Lab, campus partners at Stanford, and many more.
CHPR students (not including coterminal students) will enroll in Program Internship and Engagement (CHPR 239) during the Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters and Community-Based Research Internship (CHPR 299) during the Winter and Spring Quarters.
Important Note about Beginning Your Internship (for coterminal students only)
Coterminal students must fulfill the following requirements in order to enroll in Program Internship and Engagement (CHPR 239) and Community-Based Research Internship (CHPR 299):
- Complete or be enrolled in one of the following courses:
- The Role of Causal Inference, Study Design, & Outcomes in Community Research (CHPR 225)
- Theoretical Foundations and Design of Behavioral Intervention Trials (CHPR 228)
- Complete or be enrolled in at least 1 approved Biostatistics course.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, the earliest that students may begin their community-based research internships is in the Winter Quarter.
For coterminal students who plan to begin their community-based research internships in the Winter Quarter 2016, it is highly recommended that they follow the below sequence:
- Autumn Quarter: Take at least one of the following courses:
- CHPR 225: The Role of Causal Inference, Study Design, & Outcomes in Community Research
- CHPR 254: Disease Control Systems: epidemics, outbreaks, and modeling for public health
- Winter Quarter: If only CHPR 225 or CHPR 254 was completed in the Autumn Quarter, it is highly recommended that students take the following Winter Quarter course:
- If completed CHPR 225 in the Autumn Quarter, then take Meta-research: Appraising Research Findings, Bias, and Meta-analysis (MED 206)
- If completed CHPR 254 in the Autumn Quarter, then take Theoretical Foundations and Design of Behavioral Intervention Trials (CHPR 228)
Master’s Thesis
Students are required to complete and present a master’s thesis. The master’s thesis allows students to demonstrate knowledge, application, and thoughtful scholarly communication of theoretical principles central to community health interventions, study design, research and analytic methods, as well as depth in a substantive area of community health and prevention research. The thesis is intended to be 30 pages in length ("article-length"), double-spaced, including supporting tables, figures, and references. The thesis can take one of the following forms:
- Analysis of original data collected via a student’s internship
- Comprehensive literature review with meta-analysis of data or critical reanalysis of data
- Evaluation of a methodological problem using real data
- Comprehensive literature review with a grant proposal (NIH-style format) for a new study to bridge a gap in existing knowledge
- Organizational health improvement and evaluation plan written for a student’s internship organization
- Faculty mentor approved, independently designed thesis.
We encourage students to use extant data sets for their projects. Students are not limited to quantitative data sets; many SPRC faculty possess qualitative data sets that may be analyzed for an M.S. thesis project. Students also have the option of collecting original data, for example, through the use of surveys. Students will be strongly encouraged to develop their thesis into a manuscript for publication or a credible research grant application, and students will be provided the mentorship to do so.
A master’s thesis committee will evaluate students’ master’s theses. Each student will identify the members of his/her thesis committee, comprising 3 thesis readers. The core reader is typically the student’s faculty mentor. One co-reader will typically be an SPRC faculty member selected by the student, with the Program Director’s approval. The core reader and SPRC co-reader share primary supervision of the student’s thesis research and writing. The second co-reader may be a mentor from a student’s community internship placement and/or a faculty member outside of SPRC serving as a "content expert."
Funding
Undergraduate students who have received financial aid should check with the Stanford Financial Aid Office before applying to determine the impact of enrolling in the coterminal M.S. on their financial aid package.
Currently, the Stanford Prevention Research Center has no funding available for M.S. students. To learn more about graduate financial assistance, please visit the Stanford Financial Aid Office.
Potential Funding Resources
The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (coterm students not eligible)