Health Department

• Internships: Tailored for current undergraduate or graduate students, offering immersive experiences lasting a minimum of two weeks. These placements, often integral to degree completion, provide a captivating blend of hands-on learning and professional development. Internship priority is given to students required to complete the internship for course credit and graduation.
• Clinical Rotations: Clinical rotations typically entail brief 1–2 day clinical experiences designed for nursing, nutrition, medical or dental residents affiliated with academic institutions.
• Academic Projects: These are structured and planned opportunities between a faculty instructor and a designated health department employee. Students can apply specific course content to address real programs, processes or issues. Also known as community-based service learning.
• Research Opportunities: Research encompasses a broad spectrum, spanning from the recruitment of participants for external studies to practice-based research within the health department. Interns may undertake major research projects; while in other instances, students engage in research through specialized topics or research methods courses.
• Volunteering - Volunteering opportunities are open to current students, prospective students and community members.

To request other educational experiences, please contact kchd.ahd@knoxcounty.org.

Student involvement is for the benefit of the student’s education. Students do not replace employees but work under close supervision of designated staff.

Students will:

• Develop an understanding of the health department’s core services for disease prevention and health promotion in the context of the local public health system.
• Accomplish defined learning objectives in a particular area.
• Contribute to a project, program or service.
• Adhere to professionalism, policies and procedures.

• Students agree to follow all KCHD policies and procedures.
• Students must be enrolled as a current undergraduate, graduate, medical student, fellow or on a medical rotational assignment (some exceptions can apply for shorter experiences). 
• To receive course credit, an affiliation agreement must be on file with the student’s academic institution prior to the start date.

In addition to completing evaluation forms required by the school, the health department monitors the experience through the following procedures:

• Midpoint check-in: The preceptor meets with the student around midpoint to discuss progress, concerns and plans for the remaining time.
• Final evaluation: At the end of a student’s experience, the AHD Manager will conduct a final evaluation as an opportunity for the student to provide feedback to the health department and to receive feedback for growth opportunities. References or letters of recommendation may be requested upon successful completion of internship.