Background
The Academy is dedicated to its mission of educating the next generation of public health and health providers in Delaware while promoting a “health in all policies” approach to public health. To further this mission, the Academy will partner with educational institutions throughout the state, work with students of many different backgrounds and interests (health sciences, anthropology, business, law, health care economics, media and communication, etc) to further their education and spark their interest in the field of public health, and provide learners of all ages and backgrounds a unique and stimulating opportunity to discover the role public health plays in our Delaware communities.
The Academy opens three internship cohorts per year:
- Spring (January – April) 2027 – Applications open November 1
- Summer (May – August) 2027 – Applications open March 1
- Fall (September – December) 2026 – application period is now closed
If you have any questions, please e-mail our internship program coordinator at ksmith@delamed.org.
High School Internship
The Academy’s high school internship program is entirely virtual, and works with the student to schedule their internship around any other time commitments they may have.
Core Competencies
By the end of an internship with the Academy, high school students will be able to:
- Describe the characteristics of a public health-based problem;
- Reference public health data sources and identify gaps in information;
- Make community-based inferences using qualitative and quantitative data;
- Retrieve and analyze qualitative and quantitative data;
- Use public health theory to inform program implementation;
- Create a programmatic logic model for use in implementation and evaluation;
- Present qualitative and quantitative data to address public health issues in writing.
Requirements
Students must be currently enrolled in a Delaware high school (10th – 12th grades).
Student Interview
High school students will meet with the internship coordinator of the Academy to discuss the internship position, requirements, and deliverables of the internship.
College / University Level Internship
Core Competencies
By the end of an internship with the Academy, students will be able to:
- Describe the characteristics of a public health-based problem;
- Reference public health data sources and identify gaps in information;
- Make community-based inferences using qualitative and quantitative data;
- Create a programmatic logic model for use in implementation and evaluation;
- Present qualitative and quantitative data to address public health issues in writing
Requirements
Students must be currently enrolled in a college or university undergraduate or graduate program, and have a connection to Delaware.
Student Interview
The student will meet with the internship coordinator of the Academy to discuss in person the internship position, time requirements, and deliverables of the internship. Working together, the internship coordinator and the student will come up with an internship experience that satisfies any academic requirements the student may have, while offering the student the chance to further their education in the field of public health.
Previous Internship Topics
- Adverse Childhood Events
- AI Equity in Health
- Air Pollution and Respiratory Health
- Allergies in a High School Setting
- Artificial Intelligence and Health
- Cancer Screening Inequalities
- Cardiovascular Disease & Racial Disparities
- Children’s Program for Improved Health and Physical Fitness
- Chronic Disease (Check out our students’ research at the Delaware Chronic Disease Coalition website)
- Concussions
- Contraception Access in Homeless Populations
- COVID-19 Vaccine Education
- Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome
- Dementia Care
- Diabetes Prevention and Management
- Drought and Its Public Health Implications
- Eating Disorders in High School Girls
- Energy Drinks
- Fertility Care
- Firefighters and Cardiovascular Disease
- Food Insecurity in Urban Populations
- Food Preservatives
- Health Equity in Marginalized Communtities
- Health Literacy
- Immunizations, HPV
- Improvement of Healthcare Access for IDD Communities
- Infant Mortality
- Language Access
- LGBTQ Health Care Disparities
- Low Income/Communities of Color and Health Risks
- Lung Cancer Screening in African Americans
- Meals on Wheels as a Vehicle for Health Checks
- The Effect of Media on Mental Health and Body Image
- Medicaid/CHIP Disenrollment
- Medical Respite Homes for Homeless Individuals
- Mental Health & Body Image
- Mental Health for Emergency Healthcare Workers
- Microaggressions in Healthcare
- Microplastics and their Impact on Human Health
- Midwifery
- Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
- Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease
- Obesity
- PCOS Detection and Awareness
- PFAS Awareness, Education, and Policy Change
- Public Health / APHA Policies
- Racism in Medicine: Targeting Microaggressions in Dealware Healthcare
- Rural Health
- School Shootings
- Sleep in High School Populations
- Socioeconomic Disparities Pertaining to Surgery – Access, Outcomes, and Perspectives
- State Health Improvement Plan / Maternal and Child Health
- Stroke
- Substance Misuse, Disorders, and Stigma
- Telehealth and American Sign Language
- Trauma Informed Care
- Tobacco, Nicotine, and Addiction
- Veteran’s Health: PTSD, Mental Health
- Women’s Health – Health Screening, Self-Care, and Self-Advocacy