American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American psychological association (7^th ed.). Author. ISBN: 9781433832178

Students may complete their practicum in their employment setting, provided there is an Affiliation Agreement between the practicum setting and CMU. Students are required to carry liability insurance procured through CMU while in this course. Students are required to provide proof of required immunizations and other information pertinent to the practicum setting. All students are required to sign a form that indicates their understanding of HIPPA, and will obey HIPPA requirements and guidelines for practice while participating in the practicum. Failure to comply with any of the above mentioned items will result in termination of the practicum experience.

The student spends a minimum of 2 weeks full time (240 contact hours), longer than 6 weeks if part time, shadowing a mentor in a health care provider/business setting. Each week requires the student to observe and assess a different aspect of the work environment, based on the core topics of the Health Sciences degree. Students provide weekly summaries of these assessments and identification of observed opportunities for improvement. Special attention is paid to the observed leadership, conflict management, communication, employee management, and customer service/satisfaction styles as they apply to the core topics and are exhibited in the practice setting. Each student develops a final PowerPoint presentation of their practicum experience. Included in the final PowerPoint is a detailed recommendation developed to address a specific opportunity for improvement identified within the practicum setting.  6 Credit Hours.

Upon successful completion of the course, each participant should be able to:

• Identify and describe formal and informal leadership in the practice setting.
• Exhibit the ability to conduct research of current internet literature for the purposes of defining, supporting, discussing, and/or defending informed positions relevant to the core topics for each week’s discussion.
• Demonstrate through discussion the relevance and importance of each week’s topic to the practice setting.
• Demonstrate an understanding of performance improvement through the development of recommendations applicable to the practicum setting.