Program Requirements

Community-Based Research Internship

Students must complete a consecutive two-quarter long community-based research internship under the supervision of an SPRC mentor. Students will receive 6 total units for their internships, which are all unpaid positions. The primary learning goal of these internships is for students to apply their coursework and implementation science in a community or lab setting by engaging community members and faculty to create innovative, research-based, chronic disease prevention solutions addressing community health challenges.

CHPR students will enroll in Community-Based Research Internship (CHPR 290) during the Winter and Spring Quarters.

Important Note about Beginning Your Internship

Students must fulfill the following requirements in order to enroll in Community-Based Curricular Practicum Training (CPT) and Internship (CHPR 290):

  1. Complete Research in the Community (CHPR 220);
  2. Complete or be enrolled in Theoretical Foundations and Design of Behavioral Intervention Trials (CHPR 228); and
  3. Complete or be enrolled in at least 1 approved Biostatistics and Research Methods course.

Master’s Thesis

Students are required to complete and present a master’s thesis. The master’s thesis allows students to demonstrate knowledge, application, and thoughtful scholarly communication of theoretical principles central to community health interventions, study design, research and analytic methods, as well as depth in a substantive area of community health and prevention research. The thesis is intended to be 30 pages in length ("article-length"), double-spaced, including supporting tables, figures, and references. The thesis can take one of the following forms:

  1. Analysis of original data collected via a student’s internship
  2. Comprehensive literature review with meta-analysis of data or critical reanalysis of data
  3. Evaluation of a methodological problem using real data
  4. Comprehensive literature review with a grant proposal (NIH-style format) for a new study to bridge a gap in existing knowledge
  5. Organizational health improvement and evaluation plan written for a student’s internship organization
  6. CHPR mentor approved, independently designed thesis.

We encourage students to use extant data sets for their projects. Students are not limited to quantitative data sets; many CHPR mentors possess qualitative data sets that may be analyzed for an M.S. thesis project. Students also have the option of collecting original data, for example, through the use of surveys. Students will be strongly encouraged to develop their thesis into a manuscript for publication or a credible research grant application, and students will be provided the mentorship to do so.

A master’s thesis committee will evaluate students’ master’s theses. Each student will identify the members of his/her thesis committee, comprising 3 thesis readers. The core reader is typically the student’s CHPR mentor. One co-reader will typically be an SPRC faculty member selected by the student, with approval from their mentor. The core reader and SPRC co-reader share primary supervision of the student’s thesis research and writing. The second co-reader may be a mentor from a student’s community internship placement and/or a faculty member outside of SPRC serving as a "content expert."

Funding

Stanford's central Financial Aid Office (not the Medical School Financial Aid Office) is the appropriate department to contact regarding all aspects of tuition and financial aid.  Below are some links you might find useful:

 

Currently, the Stanford Prevention Research Center has no funding available for M.S. students. To learn more about graduate financial assistance, please visit the Stanford Financial Aid Office.

Undergraduate students who have received financial aid should check with the Stanford Financial Aid Office before applying to determine the impact of enrolling in the coterminal M.S. on their financial aid package. 

Potential Funding Resources

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (coterm students not eligible)

Knight-Hennessy Scholars program