Wisconsin AHEC's Community Health Internship Program

Plans for the 2010 CHIP Program

Application materials for the 2010 Statewide Community Health Intern Program are now available. 

The full application will require

1. Completion of the online application

2. Two letters of recommendation

3. A complete set of official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended

Key program dates for the 2010 program are expected to be as follows:

Friday, March 12, 2010 - application deadline

* We hope to finalize all matches by the end of April *

Thursday, June 3, 2010 - Orientation and Training on UW Madison campus (all day)

Monday, June 7, 2010 - Interns report to agencies

Friday, July 30, 2010 - Last official day of work for interns

The application must be completed on-line in one sitting - you cannot save and return later.  We recommend that you download the pdf version of the application and complete your reponses off-line, then copy and paste to complete the application.

The potential site list includes all sites confirmed as of 12/16/09.  We still have sites in development and will revise and update the list at the beginning of February.  You should check for the revised list before you complete your application.

New in 2010: Additional CHIP Program Options for SEARCH-Eligible Students

Through a National Health Service Corps SEARCH (Student/Resident Experiences in Community Health) program contract, Wisconsin AHEC is currently working to develop elective opportunities during the summer at Community Health Centers (CHCs). These opportunities will be available to National Health Service Corp scholars and other eligible students as CHIP program placements and/or as supplemental experiences.  We will not have complete information on available experiences until early spring 2010.  Interested students should apply through the on-line application for the CHIP program and check the options for SEARCH-eligible students.

To be eligible to participate through the SEARCH program, students must have matriculated into and/or begun health professional training in one of the following disciplines:

o      medical students who are candidates for the MD or DO degree,

o      primary care certified nurse practitioners (NPs) who specialize in adult, family, pediatric, psychiatry/mental health, geriatrics, or women’s health;

o      psychiatric nurse specialists;

o      certified nurse-midwives (CNMs);

o      physician assistants (PAs) who specialize in primary care;

o      general practice dentists (DMD or DDS); pediatric dentists; dental hygienists;

o      health service psychologists;

o      licensed clinical social workers;

o      marriage and family therapists; licensed professional counselors.

 

Wisconsin’s CHCs are located in communities across the state.  Most summer SEARCH program opportunities are expected to be at rural CHC sites and other locations outside Milwaukee or Madison.  (For more information on Wisconsin’s CHCs, see www.wphca.org )

 

What is CHIP?

The Wisconsin AHEC Statewide Community Health Internship Program (CHIP) is one of two internship programs sponsored through the Wisconsin AHEC System each summer. The Statewide program is coordinated though the Wisconsin AHEC Program Office in Madison and serves a 67-county area that encompasses southwest, central, and northern Wisconsin.   Milwaukee CHIP is coordinated through Milwaukee AHECa and serves a cluster of five urban counties (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties) in the southeast corner of the state.

Both programs recruit undergraduate and graduate students interested in gaining real-world public health experience and link them with public health agencies and organizations to work on a variety of public health projects. The Statewide program runs full time for 8 weeks and offers a $2400 stipend.

The Milwaukee program runs for 6 weeks with a $2100 stipend.

Wisconsin Statewide CHIP creates a 3-way partnership among local public health agencies, student interns, and the Wisconsin Area Health Education Center System. The success of the program depends on partners having both an appreciation for the roles they play in the partnership and a commitment to collaborative learning.

You can get a sense of what interns do in the Statewide Program by looking at the Preliminary 2010 Internship Listing.  Several internships are still in development, so be sure to check back in February for updates.

The 2010 Statewide program will kick-off on Thursday, June 3rd with a full day of orientation and training on the UW Madison campus. The program will conclude on Friday, July 30th.

The 2010 Milwaukee program will begin on Monday, June 14th and run through Friday, July 23rd.

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following requirements:
-Wisconsin resident or student attending a college or university in Wisconsin (see exception* below)
-U.S. citizen or permanent resident
-Currently enrolled in a technical, undergraduate, or graduate program (may participate the summer following graduation)
-GPA of 3.0 or higher
-Demonstrated and/or well-articulated interest in public health

*We will consider applications to the CHIP program from non-resident students who have completed at least one year of training in one of the SEARCH-eligible disciplines.  See "New in 2010," above.

The online application will be made available on this website on December 18; applications may be electronically submitted up until midnight on Friday, March 12, 2010. Placements will be finalized by the end of April.  

If you are interested in being considered for placement in either the Statewide program or the Milwaukee program, you MUST use the on-line Statewide CHIP application.  All eligible students interested in being considered for the SEARCH program options (see below) must use the Statewide on-line application.  If you are interested in the Milwaukee program only, you may use either the on-line application or the Milwaukee-only application available through the Milwaukee AHEC website.


Please direct questions about Statewide CHIP to:
Nancy Sugden
nasugden@wisc.edu
(608) 263-4927

Please direct questions about Milwaukee CHIP to:
Virginia Thomas
vthomas@milahec.org
(414) 344-0675