In connection with the Master of Science in Public Health programme, students are able to do internships in private or public organisations/companies in Denmark or abroad.
Doing an internship will allow you as a student to:
- bridge the gap between theory and practice
- sharpen your educational profile and generate focus for your further education
- create networks and open doors to the labour market.
The internship is completed with a written report
In the third semester (first or second quarter) of the master programme, you can choose between:
- Elective modules
- Internships domestically or abroad
- Studies abroad or at another Danish University
The length of the internship period must equal a workload of 15 ETCS points corresponding to 8 weeks of full-time employment (37 hour workweek) or 16 weeks part-time employment (18,5 hour workweek). Part-time internship is possible if the student attends two electives (15 ECTS), one in each period of the third semester along the part time internship.
It is up to you as a student to make contact with the place of internship. However, SDU RIO, may also be able to help with inspiration and good ideas.
If the place of internship wishes to know more about internships at Public Health Science, you may give them the below letter:
Letter to the place of internship GB(.pdf)
Letter to the place of internship DK (.pdf)
You might also find inspiration on Its Learning in the course Internships - MScPH where you can find internship evaluations from previous students.
A written agreement on the purpose and content of the internship as well as the planning of the work must be made between you and the place of internship. The agreement must be approved by the Academic Study Board. Furthermore, an academically qualified employee (must as a minimum hold a Master of Science degree) from the place of internship must be assigned as the student’s supervisor. However, this employee will not act as supervisor in connection with the student’s written report. A supervisor from the University will be appointed for this.
The written agreement must contain the following details:
- Name of organisation/company
- Name and job- and academic title of the supervisor of the organisation/company
- Description of the content and tasks of the internship
- Description of the purpose
- A detailed description of one specific internship/work task, effort or product
- Period of internship
- Weekly working hours*
* Be aware that the internship must equal a full time study/work, that is 37 working hours per week, unless the internship period exceeds 8 weeks
It is important that the content of the internship as well as your work tasks are described in such a detail that the Study Board can evaluate whether the internship can be preapproved. Furthermore, it is important for your own sake, as a detailed description will secure that both you and the place of internship have equal expectations. Should disagreement or problems occur during your internship, a detailed, approved and signed written agreement will give you something to relate to.
The agreement should be signed by the supervisor and the student.
Here you can download a template for the internship agreement:
Your application for an internship must be pre-approved by the Public Health Study Board. The pre-approval can be withdrawn, if the internship report does not live up to the conditions of agreed upon in the pre-approval. Thus it is important to inform the Study Board if major changes in the internship agreement are made.
You apply for this by submitting a form via SPOC. The form “Internship – Master in Public Health” can be found under the "study secretariat".
The internship agreement must still be signed and uploaded in the SPOC form.
The deadline for internships in the autumn semester is at the Study Board’s meeting in August.
When the internship has been pre-approved by the Study Board and you approach the beginning of you internship, you must contact the internship coordinator in order to get a supervisor assigned. Together with the supervisor you will agree on the terms and form of supervision.
The general rule is that each internship is entitled to two sessions of supervision.
When you finish your internship you must prepare a written report.
The internship assignment must focus on a topic, situation or task you encountered or worked with at the specific place of internship.
Since the content of the internships vary a lot, the assignment may differ due to the individual internships. The precise shape and content of the report will therefore need to be decided between the student and appointed supervisor from SDU.
An example of an outline for the written report could be:
- Introduction
- Problem statement
- Considerations regarding the methodology
- Presentation of results
- Conclusion
The length of the report is 15 normal pages and will be graded pass/fail
After completing your internship you must complete an evaluation form describing the place of internship, your experiences and evaluation of the internship period. The form is available in a Danish and English version. Fill out one of them and hand it in along with your internship report.
Evaluation form - Danish (.docx)
Evaluation form - English (.docx)
The deadline for submission is: 15 February at 12:00 (if the 15th falls on a Sunday, the dealine is moved to the proximate Monday)
The written report and the evaluation form must be submitted at Digital Exam in pdf format. (Please upload your evaluation form as appendix)
The written report will be graded pass or no pass.
If you fail your internship, you will have to resubmit the assignemnt after modifying and correcting it in accordance with the requirements and comments given by the examiner.
Make-up and re-examination will take place in the same or the subsequent semester.
A substantiated, written application on exemption to the above instructions must be submitted to the Public Health Study Board.
Assessment complaints must be submitted to the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences no later than two weeks after the publication of the grade.
If you are a non EU/EEA citizen with a permit to study in Denmark, you need to apply for a work permit in order to do an internship during your studies.
From autumn 2021 it is possible for students to engage in an internship in their own ‘company’ as an alternative to an internship in a host organization.
If you have an idea, project og perhaps even a cvr. registered company, you can decide to use that as fundament for your internship. The general purpose is to clarify whether there is a market for your idea, ensure professional grounding in your studies and not least reflection on being an academic in practice.
The internship-course is ECTS rewarding and is run as a 16-week project and your internship you can focus on different topics such as (but not limited to) product-market-fit, customer journeys, business model, pricing, usability test etc. However, your internship in your own company still requires a supervisor within your field of study.
You will also be matched with an external supervisor – which is a business develop manager from SDU Entrepreneurship Labs.
As part of the internship you will become part of a network with other students who have chosen the same course and/or works with their startup-projects.
What to expect?
Two business development meetings pr. month – eight in total. Participation in three workshops with fellow students. The themes for these workshops vary from time to time, but often include customer journeys, budgeting, user experience and marketing. This is on top of your meetings with your academic supervisor. The purpose with the business development meetings is to guide and help you progress with your project in general and specific tasks formulated by you.
Report
The report must live up to the provisions of the Public Health curriculum, but it is crucial that emphasis is placed on characterizing and thematizing the company / conditions in the company with the inclusion of theory. The theory used can e.g. used to unfold and deepen a learning about whether and how the company is sustainable.
More information
You are more than welcome to contact business developer Jens Martinus Pedersen via jensp@sdu.dk and internship coordinator Anne Seneca Terkelsen asterkelsen@health.sdu.dk
Internship coordinator:
Anne Seneca Terkelsen
E-mail: asterkelsen@health.sdu.dk