Host a PHUSP Intern
The success of Pitt’s Public Health Undergraduate Scholars Program (PHUSP) hinges on the commitment of our community and academic partners that serve as internship sites. Keep reading to learn more about the internship program and how your organization can participate as an internship site!
Internship Sites
- PHUSP partners with community-based non-profits, health systems, government agencies, and universities to offer internship opportunities for undergraduate students.
- Partnering organizations address a broad range of public health issues, such as food security, access to health care, health promotion and disease prevention, community development, environmental health, housing, education, the social determinants of health, and much more.
Internships
- Internships are intended to provide students with meaningful experiences in public health settings. (Interns can complete some administrative tasks, but it should not be the focus of their work.)
- To the extent possible, internship projects should focus on maternal and child health, environmental justice, climate and health, or health equity.
- Internships should be in-person or hybrid.
- Internships may be research- or practice-based.
- Most research-based internships are based at Pitt, while practice-based internships occur in organizations throughout Pittsburgh.
- For research-based internships, the mentor has the dual role of mentor and internship supervisor since the intern will be assigned to work on a research project that the mentor leads or is involved in.
Role of Internship Supervisors
- Provide day-to-day supervision of the intern as they complete their internship project.
- Liaise with the intern’s mentor, as needed. (Mentors are often university-based faculty.)
- Provide input on and review the poster the intern will present about their internship experience at CDC. (The intern’s mentor is primarily responsible for overseeing completion of the poster.)
- May supervise from one to three interns.
PHUSP Dates
- PHUSP will be held from June 9 - August 1, 2025.
- Interns will make an initial visit to their internship site on June 11, 12 or 13, 2025. They will be fully engaged at their internship sites from June 16 - July 23, 2025.
- The PHUSP Poster Showcase will be held on-campus the afternoon of July 24, 2025. Internship supervisors will be invited to attend.
- Interns will be at the CDC in Atlanta from July 27 – 30, 2025 to present a poster on their internship experience.
Intern Work Hours and Logistics
- Interns work a minimum of 20 hours/week and a maximum of 28 hours/week.
- Interns are available to work full shifts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and half-day shifts on Monday and Friday afternoons.
- Most interns use public transportation to travel to and from their internships, and all can ride Pittsburgh Regional Transit for free.
- The program provides interns with on-campus housing, a $3200 stipend, funds for meals/groceries, and transportation to and from Pittsburgh and Atlanta.
Internship Site Registration
- Fill out the online registration form to indicate your organization’s interest in hosting an intern. Forms for Summer 2025 will be available here in February or March 2025.
- If your organization would like to host more than one intern, a separate form is required for each intern position. Each intern should have a different project but can share a supervisor.
- See a PDF of the 2024 registration form.
Internship Matching
- PHUSP will carefully match interns with sites.
- In making matches, we consider the scope of work of the internship, an intern's skills and interests, the suitability of the internship project, and program need. We will do our best to match an intern with every site that requests one, but we cannot guarantee it.
- Matches will take place in April and May.
Orientation for Internship Sites
- Internship supervisors are required to attend an online orientation session that will be scheduled in mid to late May 2025.
