At Suburban Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, we support your academic and professional development in community health improvement. The Community Health and Wellness (CHW) division is a dynamic team of public health professionals, registered nurses, and community health workers invested in supporting students to excel in their public health careers.

Full-time, unpaid internships are offered in the fall, spring, and summer semesters for undergraduate or graduate students seeking credit with their school. We welcome you to apply, and will reach out to schedule a 30-minute virtual meet and greet upon the application period end date if you meet the eligibility requirements.

More than an Intern

We are seeking highly-motivated and passionate self-starters who bring an objective point of view to approach public health challenges with a sense of curiosity, a balance of creative and analytical approaches, and the skills to work with a variety of individuals and partner organizations. Students will be assigned to a preceptor who will serve as the main point of contact with the student’s school, deliver on-going feedback and evaluation, and professional development. Students will be assigned semester-long projects for which they will oversee planning, implementation, and evaluation, working closely with CHW points of contact for each project. Free parking, a workstation with a desktop computer, and a Johns Hopkins email address are provided. 

Programs, Projects, and much more!

As a member of the CHW division, interns are integrated among the team. They attend all division meetings and provide on-going feedback to colleagues. Staff provide a variety of learning opportunities that allow students to collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders and partners, including physicians and hospital clinical staff, non-profit organizations, and local government. Each student will be responsible for a minimum of two long-term projects comprised of planning, implementation, and evaluation phases. With guidance from their academic program and support from their preceptor, students will establish learning goals for both the semester and each project, which will serve as the basis for their evaluation. Depending on the semester, project examples include: 

• American Lung Association’s Better Breathers Club: Students will research speaker topics for this support group, whose audience includes those living with chronic lung diseases and family members, create digital promotional materials, facilitate a meeting, and analyze post-session evaluations.
• Southern Maryland Senior Shape: The student will research health disparities in Prince George’s County and contribute to Suburban’s cardiovascular outreach for older adults. They will lead data collection (surveys or fitness assessments) for 2–3 Senior Shape cohorts, analyze results, and contribute a narrative for the annual report to the State of Maryland.
• Health Advocacy and Outreach: Suburban Hospital celebrates a variety of health awareness months throughout the year, including Heart, Colorectal Cancer, Diabetes, and Community Health Improvement. The student will lead an educational outreach activity to hospital staff and guests that will measure a behavior change.
• Adopt a Family: Fall semester students will oversee the implementation of a holiday gift drive in support of families in need. The student will coordinate with both external organizations as well as internal department. The implementation of this program requires a high level of organization and attention to detail, resulting in delivery an abundance of joy during the holiday season.

In addition to the semester-long project examples, students may have the opportunity to contribute to other public health programming. Examples include:

• Blood Drives: In partnership with the American Red Cross, Suburban Hospital hosts a quarterly blood drive for community members and hospital staff to address the national shortage for access to whole blood.
• Community Benefit: Students will contribute to this annual reporting process by supporting assessment and analysis of data submitted from departments across the hospital.
• Champion for community-based partner organizations: Suburban is proud to support many local non-profit organizations that support the health and socio-economic needs of the community. For example, students will help coordinate the Socktober sock drive for community members experiencing housing insecurity.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants must receive course credit from their accredited college or university and will confirm course requirements before submitting application.
• Applicant must be available a minimum of two 8-hour days for the entirety of the semester (16 hours per week for 12 weeks); preference will be given to those available for 4 days per week.
• The applicant understands that this is an unpaid learning opportunity.
• If accepted for this opportunity, the student must complete a medical clearance process from Suburban Hospital Occupational Health prior to orientation.
• If accepted for this opportunity, the student must attend a two-hour in-person orientation from Suburban Hospital Volunteer Services Office before officially commencing the internship.

Application Timeline

Apply Today!

Questions?

Contact Kate McGrail, Community Health Improvement Manager, at kmcgrail@jhmi.edu