Schedule and Programming

Weekly Schedule

The internship lasts 10 weeks. Interns are based in the Environmental Health Services Branch, where they engage in summer-long projects. Interns also participate in trips and activities designed to acquaint them with many facets of environmental health. Placements may occur individually or in pairs.

Week 1: Orientation

• Day 1: Trip to CDC Roybal campus for initial orientation, fingerprinting, badges, vehicle registration, and a campus tour (including the current Global Health Odyssey exhibit). Travel to Chamblee campus for mentor introductions, summer project announcements, office set up, and a tour of Chamblee campus, where the National Center for Environmental Health is located.
• Day 2-3: Orientation sessions, including branch orientation, lab tours, computer awareness and safety survival skills training, basic orientation, and introduction to projects.
• Day 4-5: Introductory lectures: Dr. Howard Frumkin, Director of NCEH/ATSDR, leads a group orientation to CDC/ATSDR to learn the history and mission of those organizations. Some directors or representatives from NCEH/ATSDR divisions or offices participate in a panel discussion about their professional responsibilities.

Weeks 2-8: Ongoing project participation.

Week 9:Prepare final presentation.

Week 10:Presentations, wrap up, next steps, evaluations, short slide presentations on summer activities, luncheon with interns and mentors, evaluation forms, badge return, and other concluding activities.

Activities

• Temporary field assignments with federal, state, and local environmental public health agencies such as the Houston Quarantine Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Park Service, Georgia Department of Agriculture, county and state health departments in Georgia, Vessel Sanitation Program, and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
• Shadowing of senior officials/scientists in NCEH/ATSDR.
• Informal brown-bag lunches with CDC staff.
• Field trips related to environmental health topics.
• Formal lunch presentations/lectures from persons outside CDC who are involved in environmental health and involved in fields that intersect environmental health, such as transportation and urban planning.
• Open CDC lectures/presentations.
• Possible travel to local meetings/conferences on environmental health topics.
• Social activities, such as attending an Atlanta Braves game. SUPEH interns and interns in the Collegiate Leaders for Environmental Health (CLEH) program attend field trips and other activities together. Information about things to do in Atlanta can be found on the CLEH Web site.

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