Public Health Specialist Internships
Public health specialist internships give university students, recent graduates, and early-career switchers hands-on project experience in epidemiology, community health, and health policy, mentorship from working public health specialists, and, at many employers, a path toward a full-time offer. Demand is strong across {{top_industries_phrase}}, with State of Ohio, City of Fishers, and N STREET VILLAGE among the employers posting roles now.
Find Public Health Specialist InternshipsOverview
Showing 5 of 9+ Public Health Specialist Internships
Position Title: Public Health Intern
Location: Elizabeth, NJStatus: Internship 10-15 Hours per week
About the Urban League of Union County
Founded in 1944, the Urban League of Union County (ULUC) is a nonprofit community service organization dedicated to helping African Americans and other underserved individuals achieve social and economic equality. Through education, employment, housing, health, and advocacy, ULUC connects individuals and families with resources that strengthen stability, expand opportunity, and promote economic self-reliance.
ULUC’s work includes youth entrepreneurship, housing counseling and community development, reentry services, financial education, and mental health and wellness initiatives.
Position Summary
The Urban League of Union County seeks a Public Health Intern to support , a statewide Black health navigation initiative focused on reducing health inequities affecting Black and African American residents in New Jersey with concentrated activity in Essex, Hudson, Union, Camden, and Salem counties. This role is designed for a graduate student pursuing a Master of Public Health or related degree. The intern will support community assessment, outreach, education, partner mapping, data collection, evaluation, and reporting. The intern will help gather community voice, identify barriers to care and resources, support health education activities, and contribute to tools that improve navigation and service connection.
Key Responsibilities
Community Assessment
- Support resident surveys, listening sessions, focus groups, and key informant interviews.
- Help collect data on health needs, social determinants of health, service gaps, community assets, and trusted partners.
- Assist with public health data review, partner mapping, and resource scans.
- Summarize findings for reports, presentations, and planning.
Outreach and Education
- Support community outreach events, health fairs, partner meetings, and education sessions.
- Assist with flyers, resource guides, outreach materials, and digital communications.
- Track residents reached, education sessions delivered, materials shared, and event participation.
- Help document outreach, education, navigation, and convening activities.
Navigation and Resource Support
- Help maintain resource lists for health care, food access, transportation, housing, benefits, and community support.
- Assist with referral tools, partner directories, and resource maps.
- Support documentation of barriers residents report during outreach and intake.
Evaluation and Reporting
- Support data collection, cleaning, tracking, and analysis.
- Assist with resident surveys, partner feedback forms, and event evaluations.
- Help prepare data for quarterly progress reports.
- Identify themes from listening sessions, surveys, interviews, and partner feedback.
- Support reports on successes, challenges, outcomes, and opportunities.
Partner Engagement
- Assist with meeting preparation, agendas, notes, attendance tracking, and follow-up.
- Support communication with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, health providers, public agencies, and Urban League affiliate partners.
- Help identify new partners and referral pathways.
Capstone, Practicum, or Thesis Opportunities
The intern’s academic project may focus on:
- Community needs assessment; Social determinants of health; Public health outreach and education; Health navigation; Partner mapping and referral pathways; Community-based evaluation, etc.
Possible final deliverables include:
- Community assessment summary; Partner and resource map; Survey analysis report; Listening session findings brief; Health fair evaluation report, etc.
Desired Qualifications
- Current graduate student pursuing an MPH, MPA, MSW, MA, or related degree.
- Strong interest in health equity, racial justice, community health, public health practice, or social determinants of health.
- Coursework or experience in public health, evaluation, health education, epidemiology, health policy, or community engagement.
- Strong writing, research, and organizational skills.
- Ability to collect, organize, and summarize quantitative and qualitative data.
- Comfort working with community members, nonprofit partners, and public agencies.
- Familiarity with Excel, Google Workspace, survey tools, or basic data tracking systems.
- Respect for confidentiality, community voice, and participant privacy.
Preferred Skills
- Experience with community-based participatory research or evaluation.
- Experience supporting interviews, focus groups, or listening sessions.
- Familiarity with New Jersey public health systems or community-based organizations.
- Ability to prepare clear charts, briefs, tables, and presentations.
- Bilingual ability is helpful but not required.
Work Location: In person
Position Title: Public Health Intern
Location: Elizabeth, NJStatus: Internship 10-15 Hours per week
About the Urban League of Union County
Founded in 1944, the Urban League of Union County (ULUC) is a nonprofit community service organization dedicated to helping African Americans and other underserved individuals achieve social and economic equality. Through education, employment, housing, health, and advocacy, ULUC connects individuals and families with resources that strengthen stability, expand opportunity, and promote economic self-reliance.
ULUC’s work includes youth entrepreneurship, housing counseling and community development, reentry services, financial education, and mental health and wellness initiatives.
Position Summary
The Urban League of Union County seeks a Public Health Intern to support , a statewide Black health navigation initiative focused on reducing health inequities affecting Black and African American residents in New Jersey with concentrated activity in Essex, Hudson, Union, Camden, and Salem counties. This role is designed for a graduate student pursuing a Master of Public Health or related degree. The intern will support community assessment, outreach, education, partner mapping, data collection, evaluation, and reporting. The intern will help gather community voice, identify barriers to care and resources, support health education activities, and contribute to tools that improve navigation and service connection.
Key Responsibilities
Community Assessment
- Support resident surveys, listening sessions, focus groups, and key informant interviews.
- Help collect data on health needs, social determinants of health, service gaps, community assets, and trusted partners.
- Assist with public health data review, partner mapping, and resource scans.
- Summarize findings for reports, presentations, and planning.
Outreach and Education
- Support community outreach events, health fairs, partner meetings, and education sessions.
- Assist with flyers, resource guides, outreach materials, and digital communications.
- Track residents reached, education sessions delivered, materials shared, and event participation.
- Help document outreach, education, navigation, and convening activities.
Navigation and Resource Support
- Help maintain resource lists for health care, food access, transportation, housing, benefits, and community support.
- Assist with referral tools, partner directories, and resource maps.
- Support documentation of barriers residents report during outreach and intake.
Evaluation and Reporting
- Support data collection, cleaning, tracking, and analysis.
- Assist with resident surveys, partner feedback forms, and event evaluations.
- Help prepare data for quarterly progress reports.
- Identify themes from listening sessions, surveys, interviews, and partner feedback.
- Support reports on successes, challenges, outcomes, and opportunities.
Partner Engagement
- Assist with meeting preparation, agendas, notes, attendance tracking, and follow-up.
- Support communication with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, health providers, public agencies, and Urban League affiliate partners.
- Help identify new partners and referral pathways.
Capstone, Practicum, or Thesis Opportunities
The intern’s academic project may focus on:
- Community needs assessment; Social determinants of health; Public health outreach and education; Health navigation; Partner mapping and referral pathways; Community-based evaluation, etc.
Possible final deliverables include:
- Community assessment summary; Partner and resource map; Survey analysis report; Listening session findings brief; Health fair evaluation report, etc.
Desired Qualifications
- Current graduate student pursuing an MPH, MPA, MSW, MA, or related degree.
- Strong interest in health equity, racial justice, community health, public health practice, or social determinants of health.
- Coursework or experience in public health, evaluation, health education, epidemiology, health policy, or community engagement.
- Strong writing, research, and organizational skills.
- Ability to collect, organize, and summarize quantitative and qualitative data.
- Comfort working with community members, nonprofit partners, and public agencies.
- Familiarity with Excel, Google Workspace, survey tools, or basic data tracking systems.
- Respect for confidentiality, community voice, and participant privacy.
Preferred Skills
- Experience with community-based participatory research or evaluation.
- Experience supporting interviews, focus groups, or listening sessions.
- Familiarity with New Jersey public health systems or community-based organizations.
- Ability to prepare clear charts, briefs, tables, and presentations.
- Bilingual ability is helpful but not required.
Work Location: In person
Public Health Specialist Internship Market
Who's Hiring
Tips for Your Public Health Specialist Internship Search
Apply for summer roles in the fall
Large employers, including federal health agencies and major hospital networks, open summer public health specialist internship applications as early as September and close them before winter break. If you wait until spring, the structured cohort programs are already full. Set a reminder in early fall and treat the application cycle the same way you would a semester registration deadline.
Build a portfolio before you apply
Public health specialist intern candidates without formal work history need something concrete for a recruiter to assess. Document two or three academic or independent projects, naming the data sources, analytical tools such as R, SPSS, or Tableau, and the public health question you addressed. A written report, a slide deck, or a published analysis gives hiring managers something to evaluate beyond your coursework list.
Work your campus network and apply directly at the same time
Campus career fairs surface structured internship programs tied to your university, and professors with agency or nonprofit connections often know which organizations recruit from your school before roles post publicly. Running direct applications to smaller health departments and community organizations alongside campus activity gives you access to cohorts that never appear at university events.
Practice your interview format out loud before applying
Public health specialist intern screens often include a case-style question asking you to design a study, interpret surveillance data, or recommend an intervention for a hypothetical population. Practice answering out loud, walking through your reasoning step by step, since interviewers weigh how you structure a public health problem as much as the final recommendation you land on.
Target structured public health associate programs early
Federal agencies and national organizations run cohort-based public health associate and fellow programs built to train candidates new to the field, with rotations across epidemiology, policy, and community health. These programs recruit on a fixed annual cycle and fill fast. Identify the ones aligned with your interests and apply in the first wave rather than waiting to see if easier opportunities materialize.
Set your work-type filter before you start
On-site roles are 25% of the public health specialist internships listed here. Decide what you can realistically commit to before you start sorting through openings, since many on-site placements are in specific cities tied to a health department or clinic. Filtering by location and work type upfront keeps you focused on roles you can actually accept.
Public Health Specialist Internships: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a public health specialist internship?
Lead your application with coursework and personal projects rather than work history, since hiring teams expect limited experience at the intern level. For public health specialist roles, the concrete artifact recruiters want to assess is a documented project, such as a data analysis, a community health assessment, or a policy brief, with the tools and methods clearly named. Pair direct applications with campus career fairs, where recruiters often move faster for students they meet in person.
Can a public health specialist internship turn into a full-time job?
Many employers extend return offers to strong interns, but conversion is never guaranteed. For public health specialist interns, what actually drives it is performance on real project deliverables, available headcount on the team at the end of the term, and how early you signal interest in returning. Position for a return offer by treating every assignment as a demonstration of full-time readiness, without counting on a specific outcome.
When should I apply for public health specialist internships?
Earlier than most expect. Large employers, including government agencies, hospital systems, and national nonprofits, recruit summer interns the preceding fall, often wrapping up offers before December. Smaller organizations, co-ops, and local health departments post closer to their actual start dates, so openings appear year-round. Checking listings consistently from September onward gives you the best coverage across both timelines.
Are public health specialist internships paid?
Most professional public health specialist internships in the United States are paid. Compensation varies by company size, industry, and location, and some government or nonprofit placements may offer stipends rather than hourly wages. Where an employer discloses pay, the listing will show it, so you can compare opportunities directly as you apply.
What should a public health specialist internship resume include?
Lead with projects, not work history. Include two or three complete, documented projects that name the tools you used, such as SPSS, R, or ArcGIS, and link to the deliverable where possible, whether that is a published analysis, a policy brief, a community needs assessment, or a health communication sample. Add relevant coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, or health policy, and keep the whole document to one page.
Are there remote public health specialist internships?
Yes. Remote and hybrid roles make up 75% of the public health specialist internship listings here, with the rest on-site. Remote cohorts fill fast because they draw applicants nationally, so apply early once you decide what works for your situation. Use the work-type filter to see only the format you can commit to before you start sorting through openings.
What is a public health associate or fellow internship program?
Several federal agencies and national health organizations run structured public health associate or fellowship programs designed specifically for people new to the field, placing cohorts in rotations across program areas such as surveillance, policy, and community health. These programs recruit on a fixed annual cycle, typically in the fall for the following summer or year, and are competitive, so identifying target programs and applying in the first wave significantly improves your chances.
Can international students get public health specialist internships?
Yes. F-1 students can intern through CPT while enrolled or through OPT work authorization after finishing a degree, and the employer does not have to file anything for either, so many companies are open to international interns. Confirm your eligibility and timing with your university's international student office before accepting an offer.
See All 9 Public Health Specialist Internship Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Public Health Specialist Internships