Getting Started

  • Learning Agreement information: All students will write a Learning Agreement that will be signed off on by the student, preceptor, and practice course faculty. See your practice course Canvas Assignment for full details. The Learning Agreement describes the scope of your work, deliverables, and general work plan. Students must have an approved Learning Agreement before beginning their practicum.
  • Prior Practice Sites: This is an excellent resource to see what students have done in the past. Check out multiple fields of study for ideas. The Practice Office has contact information for preceptors on request (it is not listed on the website).
  • CareerConnect: Host organizations post practicum projects in CareerConnect. If you see a posting you like, apply right away. Note that many of these opportunities can be shaped by the student, so if it is not exactly what you were thinking of, but you are generally interested, feel free to inquire. Only apply to postings you have a genuine interest in, as each prospective preceptor becomes a new relationship in your professional network. If you are applying to multiple openings and have a chance to have a meeting, let the preceptor know that you are exploring more than one opportunity – honesty and responsiveness are so important when exploring more than one option concurrently.
  • Your own research: Most students actually find their practicum through their own research and reaching out directly! And don’t forget to talk to other students – you all have networks!
    • Google conference search adventure: An interesting way to find contacts is to search for a conference, and look up presenters. Why? Because conference presenters love to share their work, make new connections, and usually have more ideas about how to pursue their work than they have time to do themselves. Perhaps you are a great person to partner with! Just google your topic of interest plus “conference”, and see what comes up. Conferences can be located anywhere, within the last few years, and you can generally find a list of presenters (keynote presenters are not the best choice). You can contact them and let them know that you noticed they presented XYZ at ABC conference, and you’d love to talk more with them.
  • LinkedIn Harvard Chan People Search Tool: You can search for Harvard Chan alumni by location, organization, type of work, etc. Meeting with alumni while you are a student, for your practicum search or just to learn about their work is an excellent investment of time. Note: You must follow the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to be able to access this link (it is also the Alumni tab, once you are in the LinkedIn site). This is not a Google group.
  • How to contact potential preceptors, including sample email
  • Student FAQs
  • Useful language: Review the competencies for your field of study to identify skills and language that may be useful in discussing your scope and deliverables; and identifying which skill sets you really want to focus on.
  • Setting up practicum advising appointments
  • Compensation for practicum and Federal Work Study
  • Office of Career and Professional Development: Many resources are available through OCPD, including this Career Toolkit. The “Preparing Your Materials” section can be especially helpful at this stage.