healthcare capstone project

Biomedical Graduate Education

Capstone Projects

2022-2023 graduates, nelson moore.

Data Scientist at Essential Software Inc

Capstone Project: Modeling and code implementation to support data search and filter through the NCI Cancer Data Aggregator Industry Mentor: Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research: FNLCR

Joelle Fitzgerald

Business Analyst at Ascension Health Care

Capstone Project: Analysis of patient safety event reports data. Industry Mentor: MedStar Health. National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare

Kader (Abdelkader) Bouregag

Healthcare Xplorer | Medical Informatics at Genentech (internship)

Capstone Project: Transforming the Immuno-Oncology data to the OMOP CDM Industry Mentor: MSKCC/ MedStar/ Georgetown University/ Hackensack

Junaid Imam

Data Scientist at Medstar Institute

Capstone Project: Create an [trans-] eQTL visualization tool

Industry Mentor: Pfizer Inc / Harvard

Abbie Gillen

Staff Data Analyst at Nice Healthcare

Capstone Project: Nice Healthcare: Predicting Nice healthcare utilization

Industry Mentor: Nice Healthcare

Capstone Project: Next Generation Data Commons

Industry Mentor: ICF International

2021-2022 Graduates

Ahson saiyed.

NLP Engineer/Data Scientist at TrinetX

Capstone Project : Research Data Platform Pipelines Industry Mentor: Invitae

Walid Nashashibi

Data Scientist at FEMA

Capstone Project: Xenopus RNA-Seq Analysis to Understand Tissue Regeneration Mechanisms Industry Mentor: FDA

Tony Albini

Data Analyst at ClearView Healthcare Partners

Capstone project: Data Mining to understand the patient landscape of Chronic Kidney Disease Population Industry Mentor: AstraZeneca

Anvitha Gooty Agraharam

Business Account Manager at GeneData

Capstone Project: Computational estimation of Pleiotropy in Genome-Phenome Associations for target discovery Industry Mentor: AstraZeneca

Natalie Cortopassi

Researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Capstone project: Analysis of Clinical Trial Attrition in Neuropsychiatric Clinical Trials using Machine Learning Industry Mentor: AstraZeneca

Christle Iroezi

Business System Analyst at Centene Corporation

Capstone project: Visualize Digital HealthCare ROI Industry Mentor: MedStar Health

R & D Analyst II at GEICO

Capstone project: Heat Waves and Health Outcomes Industry Mentor: ICF

Research Specialist at Georgetown University

Capstone project: Mental Health Data Commons Industry Mentor: ICF

2020-2021 Graduates

Technology Transformation Analyst, Grant Thornton LLP

Capstone Project: Research Data Platform Pipelines Industry Mentor: Invitae

Research Technician at Georgetown University

Capstone Project: Using a configurable, open-source framework to create a fully functional data commons with the REMBRANDT dataset Industry Mentor: Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research – FNLCR

Consultant at Deloitte

Capstone Project: Building a patient centric data warehouse Industry Mentor: Invitae

Marcio Rosas

Project Manager of Technology and Informatics at Georgetown University

Capstone Project: Knowledge-Based Predictive Modeling of Clinical Trials Enrollment Rates Industry Mentor : AstraZeneca

Yuezheng (Kerry) He

Data Product Associate at YipitData

Capstone Project: ClinicalTrials2Vec – Accelerating trial-level computing using a vectorized model of clinical trial summaries and results Industry Mentor: AstraZeneca

Data Programmer at Chemonics International

Capstone Project: Multi-scale modeling to enable data-driven biomarker and target discovery Industry Mentor: AstraZeneca

2019-2020 Graduates

Pratyush tandale.

Informatics Specialist I at Mayo Clinic

Capstone Project: Improving clinical mapping process for lab data using LOINC Industry Mentor: Flatiron Roche

Shabeeb Kannattikuni

Senior Statistical Programmer at PRA Health Sciences (ICON Pl)

Capstone Project: NGS Data Analysis for the QA of viral vaccines Industry Mentor: Argentys Informatics

Fuyuan Wang (Bruce)

Software Engineer at Essential Software Inc , Frederick National Labs

Capstone Project: Cancer Data Model Visualization framework Industry Mentor: Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Ayah Elshikh

Capstone Project: NGS Data Analysis for the QA of viral vaccines

Industry Mentor: Argentys Informatics

Yue (Lilian) Li

Biostatistician and Statistical Programmer , Baim Institute for Clinical Research

Capstone Project: Analysis of COVID-19 Serological test data to improve the COVID-19 Detection capabalities Industry Mentor: Argentys Informatics

Algorithm Performance Engineer at Optovue

Capstone Project: Socioeconomic factors to readmissions after major cancer surgery Industry Mentor: Medstar Health

Jiazhong Zhang

Management Trainee at China Bohai Bank

Jianyi Zhang

MMHC Capstone Strategy Project

The Capstone Project engages teams of students on projects of significant importance to their organizations. The student team is responsible for diagnosing the critical problem, defining an appropriate scope of work, managing institutional expectations, and producing a suitable recommendation in both written and presentation form.

Your Capstone Team

It takes many managers, healthcare practitioners and other executives to care for a patient and to manage a healthcare organization. Having the skills to manage a team, evaluate critical problems, and execute solutions is required to be an effective business leader. This is why your Capstone Team will be comprised of a cross-functional group of 4-5 executives, each with a diverse set of backgrounds and industry experiences, giving you an experience that emulates the work environment of a healthcare delivery organization. Support includes coaching on team dynamics and the progress of your work together, checkpoints to ensure you’re on track, and guidance for projects that serve as a real-world learning lab.

The Project

The Capstone Strategy Project complements the classroom instruction and is defined as learning by construction. It is a total immersion experience in which students are challenged to use all of the tools and concepts learned to date to tackle a current business problem for a healthcare organization.

With faculty oversight, you demonstrate rigorous application of business concepts and disciplines. Leading a project of utmost importance for your organization provides immediate impact that benefits the student and the sponsoring organization.

Your team will kick off the Capstone Strategy Project in Mod 3 by meeting with the client sponsor to outline and discuss the initiative at hand. Your team will spend the next six months working on all aspects of the project, including:

As the class makeup represents a very diverse talent pool within a healthcare organization, it promotes working outside of our comfort zones and valuing the skills and experiences of others.  There is no doubt that the biggest thing I will miss after graduation is the weekly (and often several times weekly depending on team project deadlines) camaraderie experienced by the class. Gaelyn Garrett MMHC 2015

The Benefits For You

For the students, the Capstone Strategy Projects are opportunities to exhibit the healthcare business management knowledge you’ve acquired. You will demonstrate, to yourself and your organization, your ability to problem-solve creatively, make strategic decisions, and manage as part of a high-level executive team. Learn More .

The Benefits for Your Organization

For an organization, the Capstone Strategy Projects is an opportunity to have a team of experienced mid-level health care professionals conduct an intense engagement to address a current business need.  Learn More .

See how MMHC students' capstone helped improve Emergency Department wait times and efficiency at VUMC.

How MMHC benefits your organization

A closer look at the program through the eyes of students, faculty and sponsoring organizations

• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 19 May 2020

A global health capstone: an innovative educational approach in a competency-based curriculum for medical students

• Stacey Chamberlain   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8642-2129 1 ,
• Nicole Gonzalez 1 ,
• Valerie Dobiesz 2 ,
• Marcia Edison 1 ,
• Janet Lin 1 &
• Stevan Weine 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  20 , Article number:  159 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

3436 Accesses

3 Citations

Metrics details

Global health educational programs for medical and public health professionals have grown substantially in recent years. The University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine (UICOM) began a global medicine (GMED) program for selected students in 2012 and has since graduated four classes. As part of the four-year curriculum, students complete a longitudinal global health capstone project. This paper describes the global health capstone project as an innovative educational tool within a competency-based curriculum.

The authors define and describe the longitudinal global health capstone including specific requirements, student deliverables, and examples of how the global health capstone may be used as part of a larger curriculum to teach the competency domains identified by the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. The authors also reviewed the final capstone projects for 35 graduates to describe characteristics of capstone projects completed.

The global health capstone was developed as one educational tool within a broader global health curriculum for medical students. Of the 35 capstones, 26 projects involved original research (74%), and 25 involved international travel (71%). Nine projects led to a conference abstract/presentation (26%) while five led to a publication (14%). Twenty-one projects (60%) had subject matter-focused faculty mentorship.

Conclusions

A longitudinal global health capstone is a feasible tool to teach targeted global health competencies and can provide meaningful opportunities for research and career mentorship. Further refinement of the capstone process is needed to strengthen mentorship, and additional assessment methods are needed.

Peer Review reports

Participation in global health activities by U.S. medical students has grown substantially in recent decades [ 1 ]. Although global health interest has grown, many schools still do not offer structured global health curricula, and there is little standardization for didactic, clinical, scholarly, and cultural components across programs [ 2 , 3 ]. The past decade saw the development of essential competencies to guide global health curricular development [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. However, many programs lack well-defined competencies outlining critical skills for global health practitioners. The most notable global health competency framework identifies 39 competencies across 11 domains and was published in 2015 by an interdisciplinary expert panel from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH). Many of the identified competencies include not only knowledge acquisition but also skills building and attitude formation [ 4 ]. Particularly in resource-limited settings involving different cultures, political climates, and power dynamics, effective global health practitioners need competence in cultural humility, inter-professional collaboration, ethical conduct, and promotion of health equity. One major challenge is for educators to identify methods to teach these competencies that will enable students to become successful global health practitioners.

Aspects of various global health curricula have been published. Some describe didactic curricula focused on topics such as cultural competency and communication [ 11 ]. Others describe educational formats including e-learning or simulation-based learning to teach competencies such as ethics or professional practice in low-resource settings [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Many programs involve international electives or service-learning experiences, and best practice approaches have been proposed to help students in short-term global health experiences build skills in cross-cultural effectiveness, capacity building, and collaboration while addressing the needs of host communities and partners [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Although there are some published descriptions of global health capstones for pharmacy and bioengineering students, there are no known published descriptions of global health capstones as part of an educational curriculum for medical students [ 19 , 20 ].

The Global Medicine (GMED) Program is a longitudinal four-year track for select medical students that began in 2012, in response to increased interest in global health at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine (UICOM). Completion of a longitudinal capstone project is required as part of the GMED program. Using a global health capstone project as an educational method for medical students is a novel construct. Although capstones are reported in other disciplines, they have not been routinely incorporated into global health medical student programs. Other fields found capstones beneficial because they allow students to:

Become involved in sustainable impact-oriented research [ 21 ].

Build skills in scholarship and professionalism including writing, presenting, and integrating “core theoretical concepts to form a broad view of professionalism.” [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]

Develop research mentorships and relationships with faculty [ 21 ].

In this paper, we describe the global health capstone including how the capstone can be used to teach essential global health competencies, and we report on characteristics of the global health capstone for the first 35 graduates of the GMED Program. This educational method may be of value to other global health educators who wish to develop or strengthen their global health training programs for health professions students.

Development of the Global Health Capstone

The UICOM GMED Program recruited its first class in 2012 and has since graduated four classes. The program’s goal is to improve the health of populations worldwide by training the next generation of global health leaders [ 24 ]. As part of the program, each GMED student must develop, implement, and present a capstone project to successfully complete the program. The global health capstone is defined as a longitudinal scholarly work focused on expanding knowledge and understanding of global health issues among underserved populations throughout the world. The capstone culminates in an oral presentation and reflection paper at the end of the final year of medical school. In 2019, we added an additional requirement of a formal written paper. The capstone is designed to allow students to acquire knowledge and skills through project planning and implementation.

The global health capstone was developed by a multidisciplinary group of faculty with global health and education experience following the steps outlined in the following section:

Develop Global Health capstone objectives

Faculty identified global health capstone objectives that focused on skills-building and complemented other components of the global health curriculum. The following objectives were identified for GMED students completing the capstone project:

Demonstrate and apply an understanding of global health education competencies;

Identify and utilize credible and scholarly sources of information concerning global health topics and perform an in-depth review of the literature;

Define an overall purpose and associated specific aims for the project;

Collaborate with a faculty mentor to ensure adequate progress on the project and receive regular feedback and evaluations;

Demonstrate effective professional and scientific communication skills through written products and presentations;

Apply critical thinking skills and a scientific methodology to the analysis of a project.

Define capstone focus and parameters

Koplan defines global health as, “an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global health emphasizes transnational health issues, determinants, and solutions; involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes interdisciplinary collaboration; and is a synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care.” [ 25 ] Using this definition of global health to frame the focus of the capstone, students were instructed to identify a global health area that they might want to study further.

Because the UICOM has additional special tracks that address urban and rural health, we further required that global health capstone projects should focus on issues in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) or people from LMICs. This narrower focus allowed our program to avoid overlap with the other programs at our institution that concentrate on domestic health disparities.

Describe capstone structure

Capstone projects could vary in structure and content depending on students’ interests. All students received faculty advising that provided guidance for capstone completion. Projects could focus on original global health research or be comprised of curriculum design, program implementation, field practicum, systematic review, or a meta-analysis. All students were expected to demonstrate an understanding of these accepted global health core competencies: [ 4 ]

Global Burden of Disease

Globalization of Health and Healthcare

Social and Environmental Determinants of Health

Capacity Strengthening

Collaboration, Partnering, and Communication

Professional Practice

Health Equity and Social Justice

Program Management

Sociocultural and Political Awareness

Strategic Analysis

Table  1 identifies how the global health capstone can be used as a tool to address each competency domain and provides illustrative examples from completed student projects.

Identify capstone requirements and timeline

Specific deliverables were identified for the capstone project that would be required throughout the 4 years of medical school (Fig.  1 ). During the first year, each student identifies a particular global health issue, performs a literature review, writes a brief paper, and delivers a short oral presentation on his/her selected topic to peers and faculty. In the second year, each student identifies a specific project, defines his/her role in that project, establishes methods and a timeline for project completion, and prepares and presents a scientific poster. In the third and fourth years, students focus on capstone project implementation and evaluation, culminating in oral presentations summarizing their work. In their final presentations, students identify the global health problem addressed; describe the methods, results, and conclusions of the completed projects; and discuss the implications of their projects on the health of underserved communities and on their future practice as global physicians. Graduating students also submit a self-reflection paper upon capstone completion. This paper encourages students to reflect on their accomplishments, articulate the challenges and successes of their projects, and internalize their experiences to translate knowledge acquired to their personal and professional growth.

Global Health Capstone Process Map

It is critical to note that the capstone is only one component of the GMED program. In addition to the regular medical school curriculum, the GMED program includes didactic instruction, colloquia, and skills-building workshops described elsewhere [ 24 ]. GMED programming also includes exposure to supplementary content (e.g. cultural competency, economic perspectives of global aid, ethics of volunteerism) as well as alternative interactive learning formats including film reviews, book club discussions, and simulation-based cases.

Adapt and revise capstone requirements

Based on student feedback and faculty observation, several modifications were made to the original capstone design. We revised and more precisely defined the focus for global health capstone projects; this adaptation was made in response to project proposals that did not clearly have transnational health relevance. We adapted the capstone objectives to include updated global health competencies. The original GMED curriculum addressed global health competencies identified in 2010 by the Global Health Education Consortium. An expanded and updated list of competencies was identified by CUGH in 2018, and we revised our capstone objectives and guidelines to reflect this change [ 4 , 10 ]. A written scholarly paper was added as a requirement for 2019 graduates. Submitting an abstract to a non-UICOM conference was added as a third year requirement that will take effect starting in 2020. Ongoing capstone adaptations based on the findings of this review include instituting a new mentorship program (see Discussion).

We performed a retrospective review of graduating medical student capstone projects from the first three GMED cohorts (2016–2018) to determine the nature and range of projects completed. We were specifically interested in: [ 1 ] the types of projects completed [ 2 ]; whether the students identified a project faculty mentor [ 3 ]; whether the student travelled internationally as part of the project [ 4 ]; whether the project was related to the student’s chosen residency specialty; and [ 5 ] whether the project led to formal scholarship including an abstract/poster presentation or publication. To make these determinations, two authors (S.C., V.D., M.E., or J.L.) completed an independent document review of the capstone PowerPoint presentations of the first 35 graduating students. The authors then met, and any areas of disagreement were discussed until consensus was reached.

The criteria for each of the interest areas above are described here. For “types of projects completed,” we used the broad categories of clinical research, education, quality improvement, and service similar to other analyses [ 26 ]. We further characterized non-interventional clinical research capstones as systematic reviews versus original research. For original research projects, we determined whether projects used quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods. This information was gathered as part of our iterative process for the global health capstone design to help inform our team of potential areas of curricular enhancement. For example, if many students were completing qualitative analyses, we could consider adding additional qualitative assessment instruction as part of the formal GMED curriculum.

As noted previously, all students were assigned a faculty advisor who provided guidance throughout the capstone process. However, these advisors were not necessarily project mentors who possessed content expertise in the capstone area of focus, or may not have directly worked with the students on specific projects. Students who had capstone project-specific mentors explicitly mentioned in their presentations were considered to have had “project faculty mentors.”

It was determined that the student travelled internationally based on the final presentation. Similarly, the extent to which the project was related to residency specialty was determined by the judgment of the faculty reviewers, who decided if there was an evident relationship between the subject matter of the capstone project and the known scope of practice and subject matter relevance to a medical specialty. For example, a project on post-partum hemorrhage for a student who matched into orthopedic surgery was determined to be “unrelated,” but a project looking at point-of-care ultrasound use in emergency departments for a student who matched into emergency medicine was determined to be “related.”

A project led to a scholarly abstract/poster presentation and/or publication if students identified this in their presentations or if a PubMed search done at the time of our study revealed it. Publications of capstone work that occurred after students graduated, identified by the PubMed search, were included in this report.

Finally, one author (N.G.) identified capstone projects that illustrated aspects of the CUGH competencies based on student final presentations (Table 1 ).

The capstone is designed to enhance students’ scholarly skills and knowledge. As noted, students were given some flexibility as to the capstone structure and format. Of the initial 35 program graduates, 32 (91%) completed capstones involving non-interventional clinical research. Of those, five were systematic reviews, and one was a case series. Twenty-six capstones were categorized as original research. Of those, ten (39%) used mixed methods, ten (39%) used quantitative methods, and six (23%) used qualitative methods. Of the capstones that were not clinical research, two were education-focused and involved curriculum development, and one was a quality improvement project.

While all students had faculty advisors, 21 capstones (60%) involved projects where students had additional dedicated faculty mentorship, meaning they worked with a faculty member who possessed subject matter expertise and guided their capstone development and implementation. The remaining 14 projects (40%) were implemented in a more independent manner.

Capstones included projects in 14 different countries; eight additional projects had a transnational global health focus, and four projects focused on domestic and/or refugee populations in the U.S. (Table  2 ). Twenty-five capstones (71%) involved an international field experience.

Multiple medical specialty areas were identified, with the largest percentage of projects focused on emergency medicine (29%), obstetrics/gynecology (17%), and primary care (14%). Other projects focused on internal medicine (9%), psychiatry (6%), neurology (3%), ophthalmology (3%), and pediatrics (3%). In addition, six projects (17%) did not clearly align with a medical specialty area and instead focused on topics including environmental health, medical ethics, health systems, medical education, and mobile health (mHealth) smartphone applications. Eighteen students (51%) completed capstones related to their chosen medical residency specialty. Twenty-six percent of students presented capstone-related abstracts or presentations at conferences, and five (14%) authored peer-reviewed publications related to their capstones.

A longitudinal global health capstone is feasible for medical students

Overall, we found that a four-year longitudinal capstone is feasible. Skill development, knowledge acquisition, and mentorship were among the most important outcomes of the capstone process, and those outcomes were not dependent on students completing a single long-term project. Although many students had more than one specific project during their capstone, all students went through the same four-year longitudinal process with defined deliverables during each year of medical school. We found the focus on process important to provide a continuum of mentorship and opportunity to build cross-disciplinary skills, while allowing the students flexibility to change their specific final project focus and adapt to barriers they encountered in project implementation.

Giving students the flexibility to change their final project focus over time enables students to pursue meaningful scholarship related to their future specialties as their career interests evolve. In addition, it allows some students to participate in different aspects of serial short-term projects. One of the greatest challenges for students we noted was in identifying projects; this may be mitigated by directing students to focus on building translatable skills rather than focusing on specific geographic project locations, patient populations, or narrow topical areas.

We observed personal and professional growth of students as they faced challenges in project planning and implementation. The obstacles confronted by our students reflect real world challenges of global health work and provided student learning opportunities. A longitudinal 4-year capstone with defined progressive requirements exposes students to the challenges of global health work including mentor identification, ethical review of human subjects research, data collection delays, and lack of student availability at times due to competing priorities of exams and clerkships.

Capstones create an opportunity for dedicated mentorship

Rather than assigning project mentors, students are encouraged to pursue global health capstone projects with mentors they align with. Although every student is assigned an advisor to provide support for program completion, these advisors are not necessarily content experts in the student’s research area of interest. Sixty percent of GMED graduates ultimately completed a capstone project where they received dedicated topic-specific faculty mentorship. Completion of quality global health capstones could be enhanced with strategic efforts to create more structured mentorship and recruit more global health faculty.

The mentorship process for successful capstone development and completion can be improved by making sure that every student identifies a research mentor. We anticipate that dedicated mentors can improve the quality of the capstone experience and help the students create a stronger final scholarly product. We found that 26% of students presented capstone-related abstracts at conferences, and 14% were able to publish work related to their capstones. With dedicated project mentorship for every student, we aim to increase the number of students producing quality global health scholarship. For 2020, we added a requirement that students must submit a global health abstract to an external conference in the third year, and in 2019 we added the requirement that students submit a final written scholarly paper in addition to the oral presentations that were part of the original capstone requirements.

An additional aim of expanding our pool of capstone mentors is to increase multidisciplinary mentorship and collaboration among more varied medical specialty areas. When the program was founded, emergency medicine had strong representation among GMED program faculty, which may explain why almost a third of student capstones were in that specialty area. We have implemented a new structured mentorship program that provides wider faculty representation to ensure that students are provided necessary support and guidance regardless of the students’ chosen area of interest.

The capstone is synergistic with other modalities for teaching CUGH competencies

The global health capstone addresses, in part, each competency domain identified by CUGH, but the global health capstone is part of a larger curriculum that employs multiple educational modalities. Some CUGH competencies may be better achieved through these alternate methods, such as lectures, group discussion, and simulation-based exercises. We have also added additional didactic content to support student capstone success and competency attainment including skills-based workshops that focus on community engagement, global health research and scholarship, as well as global health policy and advocacy.

Many students were able to complete global health capstones that did not require international travel. Considering personal and financial restrictions that may affect students’ ability to travel, the global health capstone reinforces the view that global health can focus on transnational health issues addressing health equity, and one need not always travel to participate in effective global health work.

Limitations

This paper aimed to provide a description of the global health capstone including types of projects completed; however, it did not identify clear metrics for capstone success or evaluate student capstone projects. It identified how capstones may be used to teach global health competency domains but did not determine the effectiveness of this approach nor if there are particular domains that are better addressed by this educational tool. Finally, numerous challenges in the assessment of global health competencies have been identified [ 27 , 28 ]. Attempts have been made to develop measures such as surveys, structured instruments, and self-assessments in order to objectively assess global health competencies, but more research is needed in this area, including developing validated measures to assess global health capstones [ 12 , 29 , 30 ].

As the bar is raised on global health education beyond just international electives, students need integrated and formalized programming that enables them to develop skills and the ability to apply concepts in impactful global health endeavors. A structured global health capstone is one method for teaching global health competencies and preparing students for careers as global health practitioners and leaders. The implementation of a global health capstone in medical school is feasible and shows promise as an educational tool that may help teach essential global health core competencies as part of a broader curriculum. Well-defined criteria and expectations for global health capstones may improve scholarly quality and productivity, and strong mentorship is essential for successful capstone and program completion. Further refinement of the global health capstone may allow educators to help students build scholarly skills and target additional competency domains.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Global Medicine Program

University of Illinois College of Medicine

Consortium of Universities for Global Health

Low- and Middle-Income Country

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

mobile health

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the GMED students who have enthusiastically participated in the program, including completing the global health capstone projects reviewed in this article.

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Stacey Chamberlain, Nicole Gonzalez, Marcia Edison, Janet Lin & Stevan Weine

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SC contributed to the study design, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. NG contributed to the study design, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. VD contributed to the study design, data analysis, and editing/revision of the manuscript. ME contributed to the study design, data analysis, and editing/revision of the manuscript. JL contributed to the study design, data analysis, and editing/revision of the manuscript. SW contributed to the study design and editing/revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Stacey Chamberlain is Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Director of Academic Programs, University of Illinois Chicago Center for Global Health, Chicago, IL.

Nicole Gonzalez is Research Specialist, University of Illinois Chicago Center for Global Health, Chicago, IL.

Valerie Dobiesz is Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Director of Internal Programs STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Faculty Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Marcia Edison is Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Education, and Director of Research and Evaluation, University of Illinois Chicago Center for Global Health, Chicago, IL.

Janet Lin is Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Director of Health Systems Development, University of Illinois Chicago Center for Global Health, Chicago, IL.

Stevan Weine is Professor, Department of Psychiatry, and Director of Global Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago Center for Global Health, Chicago, IL.

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Chamberlain, S., Gonzalez, N., Dobiesz, V. et al. A global health capstone: an innovative educational approach in a competency-based curriculum for medical students. BMC Med Educ 20 , 159 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02070-z

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MPH Capstone experiences: promising practices and lessons learned

Associated data.

The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/restrictions: The data were collected for internal program evaluation. We did not request permission at the time of data collection to disseminate these raw data. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to ude.cnu@deirfdnal .

To ensure workforce readiness, graduate-level public health training programs must prepare students to collaborate with communities on improving public health practice and tools. The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) at the end of their program of study that yields a high-quality written product demonstrating synthesis of competencies. CEPH suggests written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations.” However, there are limited examples of the ILE pedagogies and practices most likely to yield mutual benefit for students and community partners. To address this gap, we describe a community-led, year-long, group-based ILE for MPH students, called Capstone. This service-learning course aims to (1) increase capacity of students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that promote health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships. Since 2009, 127 Capstone teams affiliated with the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have worked with seventy-nine partner organizations to provide over 103,000 h of in-kind service and produce 635 unique products or “deliverables.” This paper describes key promising practices of Capstone, specifically its staffing model; approach to project recruitment, selection, and matching; course format; and assignments. Using course evaluation data, we summarize student and community partner outcomes. Next, we share lessons learned from 13 years of program implementation and future directions for continuing to maximize student and community partner benefits. Finally, we provide recommendations for other programs interested in replicating the Capstone model.

Introduction

Responding to public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic requires a public health workforce skilled in community partnership ( 1 , 2 ). Schools and programs of public health are thus charged with designing community-engaged learning experiences while also satisfying accreditation criteria ( 3 ). The accrediting body for schools and programs of public health, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), requires Master of Public Health (MPH) students to complete an Integrative Learning Experience (ILE), which represents a culminating experience near the end of their program of study. The ILE must yield a high-quality written product (e.g., “program evaluation report, training manual, policy statement, take-home comprehensive essay exam, legislative testimony with accompanying supporting research, etc.”) that demonstrates synthesis of a set of competencies ( 2 ). Such products may be generated from practice-based projects, essay-based comprehensive exams, capstone programs, or integrative seminars ( 2 ). CEPH guidelines suggest ILE written products ideally be “developed and delivered in a manner that is useful to external stakeholders, such as non-profit or governmental organizations” ( 2 ).

Within this paper, we describe promising practices employed within a community-led, group-based, year-long, critical service-learning course, called Capstone, for MPH students within the Department of Health Behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health (Gillings) at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) ( 4 ). We explain the specifics of Capstone's staffing model; project recruitment, selection, and matching processes; course format; and assignments, all of which are designed to promote mutual benefit for students and community partners. Using internal and school-level course evaluations, we present findings on student and community partner outcomes. Next, we reflect on lessons learned from 13 years of implementation experience and suggest future directions for Capstone programming. Finally, we share recommendations for other programs interested in replicating Capstone. We hope the information presented in this paper will benefit other programs interested in ILEs that have mutual benefit for students and community partners.

Pedagogical framework

By design, Capstone is a critical service-learning course. Service-learning pedagogies and practices vary widely. Essential elements of service-learning include community-engaged activities tied to learning goals and ongoing reflection ( 5 – 7 ). The literature documents wide-ranging benefits students gain from service-learning programs such as improved critical thinking skills as well as stronger leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills ( 5 , 8 ). Participation in service-learning courses promotes program satisfaction ( 9 ), academic achievement ( 5 , 8 – 10 ), and job marketability ( 9 , 11 ) among students. Finally, service-learning experiences enhance students' civic engagement ( 2 , 4 , 7 ), cultural awareness, and practice of cultural humility ( 8 , 12 ).

Despite these benefits, service-learning implementation challenges are well documented. Service-learning courses require significant resources to cover program expenses and staffing dedicated to developing and maintaining community partner relationships ( 7 , 12 – 15 ). In addition, the academic calendar may not align with community partners' timelines ( 5 , 14 , 16 ). Students and community partners have additional responsibilities and competing priorities outside coursework, thus creating variable levels of engagement across program participants ( 13 – 15 , 17 , 18 ). In cases where students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 9 , 10 , 13 ), it can be difficult to achieve mutual benefits among students and community partners.

A prominent debate within the field is the degree to which service-learning projects perpetuate the status quo or facilitate social change. Specifically, researchers question which elements of service-learning best create the conditions for student learning and positive community transformation ( 5 , 19 – 21 ). To provide a framework for this debate, Mitchell ( 5 ) differentiates between “traditional service-learning” and “critical service-learning.” Traditional service-learning is often critiqued for prioritizing student learning needs over benefits to the community ( 5 , 21 ). In contrast, critical service-learning is explicitly committed to social justice ( 5 ). Key elements of a critical service-learning approach include: (1) redistributing power among members of the partnership; (2) building authentic relationships (i.e., those characterized by connection, mutual benefits, prolonged engagement, trust, and solidarity); and (3) working from a social change perspective ( 5 ).

Most service-learning program descriptions within public health training do not reference either a traditional or critical service-learning framework ( 8 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 22 , 23 ). Several published programs align with a traditional service-learning model, due to the exclusive focus on student benefits and the absence of an explicit commitment to power sharing, authentic partnerships, or social change. For example, Schober et al. ( 24 ) underscore service-learning as an effective means to train a younger workforce to address complex public health issues. Gupta et al. ( 8 ) describe the importance of self-reflection activities for personal growth and skill development, structured within a service-learning program for undergraduate students enrolled in a community nutrition course. While these courses contain many of the best practices in service-learning, including reflection, they discuss student outcomes without promoting or evaluating social change ( 6 ).

The literature also cites programs and courses that include elements of critical service-learning but do not use critical service-learning terminology. For example, a service-learning program at the University of Connecticut outlines how students contribute to structural changes and social progress through policy development and implementation as part of their applied practice experience, which culminates with a presentation to the state legislature ( 23 ). Additionally, Sabo et al. ( 12 ) describe a service-learning course at the University of Arizona oriented toward social justice, as the course is “modeled on the reduction of health disparities through exploration, reflection, and action on the social determinants of health” through strong community-academic partnerships across urban, rural, and indigenous settings. These examples highlight commitment to social progress, community impact, and equitable collaboration without overtly applying the language of critical service-learning.

A small number of service-learning practitioners define their programs explicitly as critical-service learning. Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) document the benefits of a critical service-learning experience for undergraduate public health students, endorsing it as a “feasible, sustainable” high-impact practice. In their model, students partner with community organizations to address social determinants of health; analyze and challenge power dynamics and systems of oppression; and gain skills. As evidence of power sharing and social change, the authors document that communities have continued their partnerships with the university due to the expansive reach and impact of their collaborations. Authentic relationships were also developed as students gained a stronger sense of commitment to communities. Derreth and Wear ( 25 ) describe the transition to an online critical service-learning course as universities grappled with changing instructional formats with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this course, public health students collaborated with Baltimore residents to create evaluation tools while participating in reflective activities. As evidence of critical service-learning, they documented students' changed perspectives, ongoing commitment to collaborate with residents after the course, and development of strong connections with faculty. These courses show the possibilities of critical service-learning ILEs. Detailed descriptions of program structures are needed for interested faculty to replicate best practices. To assist others with adopting or adapting elements of critical service-learning ILEs, this paper provides specifics about Capstone programming.

Learning environment

Program overview.

Community-Led Capstone Project: Part I and II (Capstone) is a graduate-level course situated within UNC-CH's Gillings' Department of Health Behavior (Department). The Department developed Capstone in response to faculty concerns about the variable investment in and quality of master's papers ( 26 ), coupled with a desire to design a practice-based culminating experience driven by community partners' needs, interests, and concerns. Capstone satisfies CEPH ILE requirements and serves as the substitute for UNC-CH's master's thesis requirement for students in the Health Behavior (HB) and Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights (EQUITY) MPH concentrations. The overwhelming majority of students in these two concentrations are full-time residential students pursuing an MPH within a two-year time frame, though there are a few students who are enrolled in a dual degree program to earn their MPH alongside a Master of Social Work (MSW) or Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) within 3 years.

During this year-long course, which occurs during the second year of the MPH program, students synthesize and apply their MPH training to community-designed public health projects. Supplementary material A , B include a list of HB and EQUITY required courses and their sequencing. The specific competencies applied and assessed during Capstone are listed in Supplementary material C . Each team of four to five Capstone students works with a partner organization and its constituents to produce a set of four to six deliverables (i.e., tangible products). Deliverables are based on the partner organization's self-identified needs. This community-led approach prioritizes partners' interests and gives students an opportunity to do applied public health work on a range of topics with a variety of organization types. Figure 1 details the tasks and timelines entailed in this programming. Table 1 presents information from selected projects that showcase the range of partner organizations, activities, and deliverables present in Capstone. Capstone's specific objectives are to (1) increase capacity among students and partner organizations to address public health issues and promote health equity; (2) create new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that advance health equity; (3) enhance student preparedness and marketability for public health careers; and (4) strengthen campus-community partnerships.

Gantt chart illustrating major Capstone activities and timeline.

Sample projects.

Personnel and resources

Capstone involves numerous constituents and requires dedicated resources. Each partner organization is represented by one or two preceptors (i.e., main points of contact from the partner organization) who provide a vision for, direct, and supervise the project work. Preceptors spend 2–4 h per week meeting with students, providing guidance on the work, and reviewing deliverables. Student teams are responsible for managing Capstone relationships, processes, and tasks and producing deliverables that enhance their skillsets while meeting their partner organization's needs. They are expected to spend 6–9 h per week, outside of class time, on Capstone. One faculty adviser per project provides technical expertise and ensures that each team's project deliverables meet UNC-CH's master's thesis substitute and CEPH ILE requirements. Faculty advisers spend 30 min to an hour a week providing feedback and guidance on the project work. Advising a Capstone team every other year is a service expectation for Department faculty. The teaching team, which is comprised of course instructor(s) and teaching assistants (TAs), recruits the partner organizations and oversees and supports the Capstone experience. Each instructor manages ten to eleven teams (typically between forty and fifty students) and receives coverage equal to twenty percent full-time equivalent per semester. TAs, who are HB or EQUITY MPH alumni and/or HB doctoral students, each work with five to six teams and are expected to work 18 h a week on Capstone. TAs provide feedback on draft deliverables, direct students to resources, and help problem solve. Departmental administrative staff provide additional support to coordinate expenses associated with the program such as project-related travel, equipment, services (e.g., transcription, interpretation, translation), books, software, incentives, postage, and other costs. Capstone students pay a one-time $600 field fee to cover a portion of the expenses associated with Capstone. This fee was approved by the University and is paid when a student enrolls in the first semester of the course.

Project recruitment, selection, and matching

Recruitment.

The process of setting up Capstone projects takes 9 months of advance planning (see Figure 1 ). The Capstone teaching team solicits project proposals in December for the upcoming academic year. They send email solicitations with Capstone overview information ( Supplementary material D ) and the project proposal form ( Supplementary material E ) to current and former Capstone partner organizations, hosts of other experiential education experiences, and department listservs. The Capstone teaching team encourages recipients to share the solicitation information with their networks. Prospective partners' first step is to have an informational interview with a Capstone instructor to discuss their project ideas and to receive coaching on elements of successful proposals. These interviews are also an opportunity for the teaching team to assess an organization's capacity to support a student team and gain insights on the prospective preceptors' communication, work, and leadership styles. The teaching team invites prospective partners to submit draft proposals for their review prior to the proposal deadline. Prospective partners submit their finalized project proposals and a letter of support from their leadership to the teaching team by email in early February.

The teaching team typically receives twenty project proposals. To determine which projects will be presented to incoming Capstone students, a committee consisting of the teaching team and student representatives from the current Capstone class reviews and scores proposals based on the criteria listed in Table 2 . Reviewers score each criterion on a scale of one through five with one being the lowest score and five being the highest score. The fifteen community partners with the highest scoring proposals are invited to share their ideas with students via a recorded seven-minute project overview presentation.

Project selection criteria.

Incoming Capstone students have 1 week in March to review the proposal materials and rank their top five project preferences. Based on student rankings, the teaching team assembles project teams using the following guiding principles: (1) give as many students as possible their top-ranked project; (2) promote diversity of concentrations and experience levels within student teams; and (3) ensure the number of students per team is appropriate for the proposed scope of work. Once the student teams are assembled, the teaching team matches faculty advisers to projects based on faculty's interests and expertise. The teaching team announces final team composition in early April. The course instructor(s) facilitates an initial meeting with each student team, their preceptor(s), and their faculty adviser in May to build community, clarify expectations, and orient the student team to their project work and partner organization. Project work formally begins in August of the following academic year.

Course format

Capstone spans the fall and spring semesters (fifteen weeks per term) and is three credits per term. To help students, preceptors, and faculty advisers become familiar with expectations for Capstone, the teaching team reserves the first 4 weeks of the fall semester for onboarding. As part of the onboarding process, each team cocreates a team charter ( Supplementary material F ) to promote authentic relationships between students and their community partners and to clarify expectations for working together. They also produce a workplan ( Supplementary material G ), which elaborates on the partner's project proposal, to outline the team's scope of work. After the onboarding weeks, the teaching team meets with each student team during class three times per semester to receive project updates and provide support. The teaching team facilitates two whole-class reflection sessions per semester to help students make meaning of their experiences. All other Capstone class sessions are protected time for student teams to meet and work on their projects.

Course assignments

Capstone assignments are designed to ensure a mutually beneficial experience for students and community partners. They are also intended to facilitate critical reflection, yield high-quality written products, assess synthesis of selected competencies, and evaluate how students steward the relationships, processes, and tasks associated with their projects. To share power and collect their unique perspectives, preceptors and faculty advisers participate in the grading process. Tables 3 , ​ ,4 4 summarize course assignments, their descriptions, whether they are completed and assessed at the individual or group level, and the party responsible for assessing the assignment.

Capstone assignments for the fall semester.

TT, Teaching Team; P, Preceptor; FA, Faculty Adviser.

Capstone assignments for the spring semester.

Program evaluation

This study was exempted by UNC Chapel Hill's Institutional Review Board (IRB 21-0510) as it fell under the exemption category of “educational setting,” which includes research on instructional approaches and their effectiveness. To abstract and analyze data on the number of students who have completed Capstone, hours they dedicated to Capstone activities, and deliverables they produced, two authors referenced course records starting in 2009. The teaching team collects students' and preceptors' perspectives on Capstone through mid- and end-of-semester evaluations using Qualtrics. Gillings administers end-of-semester course evaluations that provide additional insights into student outcomes.

Core aspects of Capstone (e.g., program aims and our staffing model) have remained constant over the past 13 years. However, a variety of lessons learned and external conditions have led to program changes. Use of class time and project recruitment, selection, and matching processes have evolved to further promote health equity and maximize mutual student and community partner benefit. The EQUITY concentration joined Capstone in 2020, which led to changes in team composition. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a transition from in-person to a remote course format in academic years 2020 and 2021, introducing the opportunity to work with organizations across the nation.

To present qualitative findings that reflect our most current programming, two authors analyzed data from academic years 2020 and 2021. Ninety-eight students and twenty-two preceptors participated in Capstone during that time. The teaching team received a 100 percent response rate to their mid and end-of semester evaluations completed by students and preceptors and a seventy-two percent response rate to the Gillings-administered student course evaluations during academic years 2020 and 2021.

To identify key outcomes for students and preceptors, two authors completed a thematic analysis of evaluation responses ( 27 , 28 ). For students, they analyzed eighty-eight qualitative responses to the Gillings' course evaluation question, “What will you take away from this course?” Next, the two authors familiarized themselves with the data and inductively created a thematic codebook. To ensure consistent code use, they simultaneously coded approximately twenty-five percent of transcripts, coded remaining transcripts separately, and flagged any transcripts that required further review. To identify key preceptor outcomes, the two authors analyzed the twenty-two responses to the spring end-of-semester evaluation question, “Please describe how, if at all, your organization benefited from hosting a Capstone team.” They reviewed the responses to inductively create a codebook and then worked together to apply codes to all quotations to identify thematic groups.

Student outcomes

Since its inception in 2009, 574 students across 127 teams have completed the Capstone program, provided over 103,000 h of in-kind service, and produced more than 635 deliverables with our partner organizations. Between 2020–2022, ninety-eight students completed the current version of Capstone, provided 35,280 h of in-kind service, and produced eighty deliverables. Through our thematic analysis of course evaluation data, we identified two overarching themes for student outcomes: skill development and satisfaction.

Skill development, students' greatest takeaway from Capstone, was reflected in fifty-three percent ( n = 47) of students' qualitative evaluation responses. Students directly named interpersonal skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, collaboration, conflict management, facilitation, community engagement, coalition building) the most. They also commented on acquisition of technical skills (e.g., project management; content development; and data collection, analysis, and reporting). In most cases, students named a mix of skills in their responses. For example, one student said they will take away:

Skills developed on the project, including survey design and implementation as well as strategies for engaging with community advisory board authentically and successfully. Shared skills among team will stick with me as well – project management, inter–team communication, strategies for setting clear expectations and holding each other accountable.

Skill development helps achieve Capstone's course aims of increasing students' capacity to address public health issues and promote health equity while enhancing their preparedness and marketability for public health careers.

Twenty-four students commented on their satisfaction with the experience when sharing key takeaways. Seven students expressed dissatisfaction, primarily with course assignments, while seventeen others remarked on their satisfaction with the experience, particularly the applied format of the course. For example, one student shared,

This Capstone project really was special. Having a community partner that demonstrated how helpful these projects would be and work with us to shape the deliverables was such a unique process. I wish we had more community–focused classes like this one.

In alignment with Capstone's objective of strengthened campus-community partnerships and CEPH ILE goals, these Capstone partnerships afford students the opportunity to see the impacts of their learning and create meaningful work that benefits external constituents.

Community partner outcomes

Over the past 13 years, we have partnered with seventy-nine organizations representing a variety of sectors including healthcare, social services, education, and government. Twenty-five (31.6%) of our partner organizations have hosted multiple Capstone teams. Based on the twenty-two preceptor responses analyzed for this paper, two authors identified four major themes within community partner benefits: deliverable utility, enhanced capacity, broad impacts, and more inclusive processes. Sixteen (72.7%) preceptors said that they benefited from the deliverables (e.g., toolkit, communication tool, datasets, evaluation plan, report, oral history products, protocols, presentation, report, curriculum, manuscript, engagement plan) produced by their team. These findings reflect Capstone's course aim of creating new or improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies.

Fifty-seven percent ( n = 12) of preceptors noted that project outcomes would not have been possible without the support of a Capstone team. The resources teams developed increased partner organizations' capacity to further their work. For example, a preceptor shared:

The Capstone team provided us with SO many hours of highly skilled person power that we would not otherwise have had. We now have a draft of a thorough and high quality [toolkit], which I don't think could have been created without their labor, given the resource constraints of [our organization]. This toolkit will serve as a tool to start conversations with many […] stakeholders in the future. I think it will also serve as a model for other states.

Not only can students' in-kind service and the work they produce help increase the capacity of our partner organizations, but also the Capstone project work can have long-term and far-reaching impacts for public health practice at large. Indeed, preceptors ( n = 8) reported impacts that extend beyond the partner organization. For example, another preceptor noted,

[Our organization] will use the presentation and report that the Capstone team produced for the next decade. Not only will [our organization] benefit from advancing our strategic priorities and deepening our partnerships, but we believe this report will be used by other agencies across the county to advance behavioral health priorities in need of support.

This is an example of how Capstone can yield new and improved public health resources, programs, services, and policies that have lasting impacts beyond those directly benefiting our partner organizations.

A final theme that emerged was organizations' increased ability to implement more inclusive processes. Four preceptors commented on expanded commitment to equity initiatives as illustrated by the following quote:

The work the team did for [our organization] is work that we've talked about doing for several years - but we never had the time. The protocols are important for injured children, so we're grateful for the team's work. We also have never addressed social equity as a group. Working with this team has prompted us to take a look at our practices. The evaluation plan the students developed will provide a mechanism for us to assess and trend our implementation of the protocols and our efforts to reduce inequities in trauma care.

This example demonstrates how Capstone's commitment to working from a social change orientation can impact our partner organizations' cultures. Overall, these findings illustrate the myriad community partner benefits present within Capstone.

These results show that Capstone mutually benefits community partners and students. Overall, students gained skills in collaborating with communities and contributed to collective capacity to improve public health practice and tools for promoting health equity. Our finding that skill development was a key student outcome aligns with Mackenzie et al.'s ( 13 ) and Gupta et al.'s ( 8 ) evaluations of similar service-learning courses. Among skills developed, both studies cited teamwork and professional development skills as key components ( 8 , 13 ). Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ), Derreth and Wear ( 25 ), and Sabo et al. ( 12 ) also report additional student outcomes that were not explicitly measured in our evaluation, including a deeper commitment to work with local communities, a deeper commitment to engaged scholarship, and stronger relationships with faculty.

In our evaluation, community partners benefitted through useful deliverables, enhanced capacity to do more public health work, impacts beyond the scope of the project, and more inclusive and equitable processes. Like our study, Gregorio et al. ( 23 ) found that their students' work products were very useful. Moreover, the Mackenzie et al. ( 13 ) study cited that students were able to offer additional capacity to organizations by “extending the[ir] reach,” which reinforced our main findings of enhanced capacity and impacts beyond the scope of the project. While not all service-learning course evaluation studies included data from community partners, our results aligned with those that did.

Lessons learned

After 13 years, we have identified several lessons learned about implementing a critical service-learning ILE. First, despite proactive planning efforts, the teaching team has learned to expect challenges related to project scope and relationships. The solicitation and refinement of projects and partnerships starts 9 months before the beginning of Capstone. Through extended individualized support and engagement, the teaching team hopes to build trust with community partners and collaborate in shaping and strengthening their project proposals. While there are benefits of this level of engagement, no amount of planning completely insulates projects from the unforeseen challenges of community-engaged work. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how Capstone could engage with community partners, their priorities, and their staffing. In particular, preceptor turnover creates numerous challenges for team morale and project ownership, satisfaction, and impact.

Second, Capstone course assignments are designed to maximize positive experiences for students and community partners and to uphold the principles of critical service-learning, but students are often frustrated with them. The teaching team refers to the workplan and team charter as the “guardrails” of the Capstone. They exist to clarify expectations, promote power sharing and authentic relationships, and reinforce Capstone's commitment to social change. The teaching team has observed that teams who invest deeply in these documents are the least likely to encounter significant interpersonal and logistical setbacks during the experience. Despite the teaching team's messaging about the importance of these structures for mutually beneficial experiences, students routinely assert that the start of Capstone contains too much “administrative” work. While the teaching team continues to respect and incorporate students' critical feedback, they have learned to expect a certain amount of student dissatisfaction at the start of the experience.

Third, the Department has learned that having the appropriate amount of staffing and material resources to support projects is essential to ensuring positive impacts. Limiting partners to only those with material resources is one way that funding models both within public health and the non-profit sector often exclude organizations with more explicit social change agendas. Therefore, to maximize student learning and community partner benefit while minimizing community partner burden, Capstone has a high university-staff-to-project ratio and covers project expenses. To fund Capstone, the Department uses a combination of state resources and field fees. There is an enduring tension, especially because resources are scarce, to scale back spending on courses like Capstone. For experiences like these to sustain and grow, additional resources, not fewer, are needed.

Finally, programs like Capstone must adapt to shifting social, political, economic, and educational landscapes to ensure sustained positive impacts. For example, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching team limited the eligible pool of Capstone community partners to those within a forty-mile radius of UNC-CH. The pandemic resulted in the teaching team broadening community partner eligibility criteria and now Capstone works with community partners across the nation. Capstone's expanded reach is aligned with the new vision for Public Health 3.0 where public health professionals are expected to “engage multiple sectors and community partners to generate collective impact” while improving social determinants of health ( 29 ).

Future directions for Capstone

Public Health 3.0 ( 29 ) looks to promote health, equity, and resilience. With more community partners working on projects that explicitly tackle upstream factors like education, housing, and poverty in addition to health, Gillings will need to update its MPH training program to ensure that students enter their ILEs with the skills needed to meet these challenges. Below we describe ongoing quality improvement efforts internal to the Capstone program to strengthen outcomes for students and partner organizations.

The teaching team hopes to continue to enhance student preparedness and marketability for careers in public health. Much like other experiential learning models that report benefits to career readiness, professional leadership, and confidence ( 15 , 18 ), students report a host of positive outcomes from their Capstone experience that imply preparedness and marketability. Students note the breadth and depth of technical and interpersonal skills gained, as has been reported elsewhere ( 13 , 30 ). These reports of enhanced preparedness align well with findings that among undergraduate seniors seeking employment immediately after graduation, students whose course history included service-learning and capstone courses experienced greater odds of starting a new job compared with those who did not engage those high-impact practices ( 31 ). In recent years, the teaching team has offered skill-building workshops, as replicated in other programs ( 3 ), to coach students on how to present their Capstone work on résumés and how to talk about their projects during interviews using sample scripts. To simulate job applications and increase engagement with partner organizations, the teaching team will consider inviting preceptors to review and provide feedback on students' résumés and project description scripts.

The teaching team also aims to further strengthen community partnerships. One way to maximize Capstone's benefit for community partners is to adapt recruitment strategies so that the teaching team reaches more organizations for whom the Capstone experience would be most impactful. This may mean further refining the application process to lessen the time burden on potential partners and disseminating the call for Capstone projects through different channels. To enhance the experience of selected community partners, the teaching team plans to implement more preceptor-specific programming such as check-in meetings and skill-building workshops to build community and encourage collaboration among community partners.

Finally, there is a clear need for a comprehensive Capstone evaluation. The teaching team has yet to administer surveys, interviews, or focus groups that explicitly evaluate course aims and the elements of critical service learning. Furthermore, our understanding of the long-term impacts of Capstone is currently limited to anecdotal information from exchanges with former students and preceptors. By conducting a strategic evaluation, including modifications to existing course feedback opportunities and an additional alumni survey moving forward, we can better assess how Capstone is achieving course aims, operationalizing the elements of critical-service learning, and having long-term impacts.

Recommendations for program replication

Capstone's model can be adopted or adapted by individual faculty or by schools of public health. We welcome faculty members or program and school leaders to contact us to further discuss what this might look like. In general, though, we recommend that the following core components remain consistent:

• Program staff invest effort to ensure community partners understand the overarching goals of the experience, general timelines, logistics, and roles and responsibilities of all involved parties prior to submitting a project proposal.
• Community partners are selected using clearly defined criteria, including equity.
• Community partners lead the development of, and direct, students' scope of work and have flexibility in determining deliverables.
• The experience spans two semesters (vs. something shorter like one semester or a summer).
• Students have ample time during their assigned class time to make progress on their projects.
• Course assignments (e.g., workplan, team charter, weekly updates) provide “guardrails” for the project experience to help ensure mutual benefit.
• There are robust staffing supports in place to recruit and maintain community partnerships, minimize community partners' burdens, and maximize student learning. Such supports are especially important when students have nascent project management skills and limited professional experience ( 10 , 13 ).

As shown in Figure 1 , program staff work on Capstone activities year-round and recruit new community partners while managing a current cohort of preceptors. Clear job descriptions with timelines will be helpful in negotiations and will assist with sustainability as different faculty and staff cycle through leading this kind of experience.

Our description and analyses have many strengths. First, the detailed and transparent information contained in this paper will allow interested faculty to replicate and benefit from best practices found in Capstone. We openly share our course materials in the Supplementary material section and invite others to adopt or adapt these resources for their own use. Second, our results illustrate the benefits of Capstone and highlight mechanisms for ILEs to be transformative for students and community partners alike. Lastly, all authors on this paper have been members of the Capstone teaching team, students enrolled in the course, or both. This uniquely qualifies us to write this paper and share lessons learned with others in the field to advance public health training and practice.

Limitations

As noted above, our evaluation of Capstone has some limitations. First, we designed our evaluation and analyzed data retrospectively. Therefore, evaluation tools were not explicitly aligned to our four program objectives or the elements of critical service-learning. Second, we narrowed in on qualitative data from the past 2 years instead of the past 13 years because of changes implemented in 2020. To present reflections and feedback on the current version of Capstone, we had limited data to analyze.

By applying elements of critical service-learning to an ILE, Capstone is uniquely positioned to contribute to the development of public health leaders and positive community change. Community partners' project visions undergird the project selection and the course structure, which emphasizes authentic relationships, mutually beneficial processes, and practical synthesis of applied public health competencies. Through 13 years of experience, we have developed an ILE that is nimble enough to benefit community partners and rigorous enough to satisfy accreditation requirements. Capstone is a promising culminating experience practice for training skilled, collaborative public health practitioners and effecting community-driven public health change.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

ML developed the course and its content along with peer colleagues, wrote the abstract along with the learning environment, program evaluation, and results sections. ML and LS conducted the thematic data analysis. MC and LS completed a literature review, drafted the introduction and pedagogical framework section, and provided continual editing. EC wrote the discussion section and provided overall guidance for manuscript preparation. DE provided guidance, structural editing, and formatting. BP provided line edits. All authors contributed to the conception of the paper, manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the 579 students and seventy-nine community partners we have learned from and with over the past 13 years. Many thanks to the editors and reviewers of this article for their comprehensive and helpful feedback including Laura Linnan, Beth Moracco, Kelsey Accordino, and Naya Villarreal. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Jo Anne Earp.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1129330/full#supplementary-material

Home > Public Health > IPH_CAPSTONE

Public Health Capstone Projects

Capstone projects from 2024 2024.

PrEP Inequities Among Black and Latino MSM in the United States: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities Using a Social Ecological Model (SEM) Framework , Ryan Fisher

The Association between Oral Contraceptives and Cardiovascular Disease: A Biomarker Analysis using Total Cholesterol, Low-Density Lipoprotein, and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein , Maryam Z. Kenning

The Relationship between Mental and Environmental Health in Urban Salvador Brazil: Development of a Research Protocol , Rashad Parmer

Analyzing the Associations between Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Childhood ADHD Prevalence, Demographics and Environmental Factors in the United States , Reisha Rhodenbaugh

The Most Diverse Square Mile in America: Sociodemographic, Health Profiles, and Access to Healthcare among the Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant Population in Clarkston, Georgia , Win Min Thein

Capstone Projects from 2023 2023

Positive Behavior Support Parent Academy Curriculum - An Additional Approach , Lupe Arteaga

Association between Socio economic Factors and Contraceptive Use among Married Women in Guinea and Mali: An Examination of the Demographic and Health Survey Data 2018 , Mamadou Abdoulaye R Diallo

Fall Risk Assessment of Elderly Community-Dwelling Individuals , Jha'Meisheia Griffin

Reducing Health Disparities for U.S. Hispanics by Increasing the Cultural Literacy of Nutrition Professionals , Norma Esther Guardado López

The Associations between Selected Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Health Factors for Depression in Elderly Americans , Pema Lhewa

Epigenetic Changes and Health Disparities: An Evaluation Plan for Mamatoto Village Programming , Diamond T. Robinson

Adapting the International Protocol for Sexual Violence within the Department of Defense: Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office , Tehnyat Sohail

Stigma, Social Norms, and Culture as Mediators of HIV and AIDS Incidence in South Africa , Skyeisha Swain

Capstone Projects from 2022 2022

Survival of Anthrax Patients with Fluid Collections by Treatment Status , Sophie Binney

A Review of Economic Policies to Reduce and Prevent Child Maltreatment and Other Adverse Childhood Experiences , Kaila Farmer

Behavioral and Epidemiological factors behind Vaccine Hesitancy in The United States , Maggie Hanusek

The Evaluation Plan for the LGBTQ+ Runaway & Homelessness Youth (LRHY) Outreach Program , Jade Matthews

Analysis of the Association between Physical and Mental Health in Adults: Understanding the Literature and Developing a Plan for Future Research , Max Moskowitz

Health Insurance Status and Severe Maternal Morbidity Outcomes in the United States - A Policy Review , Adejumobi Otekunrin

The Associations Between Overweight/Obesity Among Children and Select Social and Economic Predictors , Lauren A. Powell

“We Really are Seeing Racism in the Hospitals”: Racism and Doula Care , Ayeesha Sayyad

Concepts for Antiracist Policy Formulation , Sophia Steinberg

“a Doula Is Not a Visitor...a Birth Doula Is an Essential Part of the Birth Team”: Interprofessional Dynamics among Doulas, Doctors, and Nurses , Kaniya Williamson

Capstone Projects from 2021 2021

Challenges and Prospects of Implementing Mobile Health in Angola: Lessons Learned from Kenya and Denmark. , Maria da Graca Ambrosio

Evaluating Funding Structures of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Metropolitan Atlanta: A Basis for Public Policy , Mamta Sanam Chaudhary

Levels of Engagement in a Comprehensive Parenting Intervention to Reduce Child Neglect Among Mothers without a High School Diploma: A Profile Examination , De Gao

The Need for Speed: Broadband Access as a Social Determinant of Health , Mwoddah Habib

An Evaluation Plan for Georgia's Injury Prevention Program , Joy Ngene

Examining United States Drug Policy from 2010-2021: A Qualitative Summation Using PEST Framework Model , Izadora A. Nunes

U.S. Rural Healthcare Shortage: A Review of Strategies in the U.S., Canada, and Colombia. , Carlos Perez

Comparing Water Quality Data of Atlanta's Sewage Overflows and Spills , Bonnie M. Pirlot

Policy Recommendations to Address Disproportionate Health Outcomes Caused by Healthy Food Access in Relation to Housing Districts Segregated by Class and Race , Roselyn Quarcoo

Characterization of Hand Hygiene Techniques Among Intensive Care Nurses: A Descriptive Study , Ashley L. Reyes

Analysis of Loss of Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States , Mira Shah

Research Proposal: COVID-19 Pandemic and Birth Experiences: Describing the Relationship Between Policies and the Birth Experiences of Georgia Mothers , Katherine Thornburgh

Georgia Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Resource and Protocol Guide , Sanon Williams

Developing and Disseminating the Children’s Environmental Health Index with Web GIS , Allegra Yeley

Branched Chain Amino Acids and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Literature Review , Alina Yemelyanov

Capstone Projects from 2020 2020

The Role of Policy in Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Childhood Trauma in Georgia , Hallie Andrews

StayNeighbor: Community Platform for Essential Supplies and Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Samuel Archbold

Strategies in Maintaining Financial Sustainability of National Health Insurance Under A Single-payer System in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Canada: A Comparative Study , Arif Budiman

Aligning the Georgia Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Plan with Governor Kemp's Priorities and Initiatives , Taylor Jennings

Healthcare for All: Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the Strengthening of Health Systems , Diene Kaba

Youth Vaping: An Analysis of an Epidemic , Tina Kilpatrick

Georgia’s Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Technical Assistance Resource Guide (TARG) Evaluation Report , Maureen Oginga

U.S. Opioid Epidemic: Challenges and Opportunities for Evidence-based Policies , Imoh S. Okon

The Association between Mental Illness and Incarceration Among the African American/Black Population in the United States , Brittany Oladipupo

Capstone Projects from 2019 2019

A Cross-Sectional Study to Identify Factors Associated with Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Among Foreign-Born In DeKalb County Georgia During 2008-2018 , Chinedu F. Egbuonu

WHO Drinking Water Guidelines , Aja Jagne

Evaluating Strategies for Community-sourced Photography for Mapping Alcohol Adverts in the Urban Slums in Kampala, Uganda , Joseph Madden

Community Organizing as a Vehicle to Promote Public Health in Clarkston, GA: A Literature Review & Case Study of Georgia Refugee Health and Mental Health , Maylott Mulugeta

The Use of Art to Increase Awareness about Mental Well-being and Promotion of Mental Health among the African American Community , Andromada Murden

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Opt-out Testing in a Southern Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) , Leah Pinholster

A Resource Guide on the Epidemiology, Prevention, and Treatment of Opioid and Other Substance Use. , Anthony F. Rotoloni

Promoting an Urban Utopia: The Role of Community Gardens on Community Vitality , Kayla Danielle Staley

Augmenting Coastal Georgia’s Fresh-Water Supply while Reducing Local Salt-Water Intrusion into Groundwater Reservoirs , Forrest A. Strickland

Capstone Projects from 2018 2018

A Resource Guide To Empower Older Adults to Make Informed Health Decisions About Prescription Opioids And The Potential For Misuse , Kandia S. Al-Haddad

Program Evaluation Aspects of Atlanta Streets Alive , Rebecca A. Ament

A Systematic Analysis of Hepatitis C Virus Screening Trends and Linkage to Care Program in the United States , Ijeoma Azih

Understanding Educational Vulnerability in the Context of Disasters Using Visualizations , Cherish Caldwell

Tobacco-free Campus Post-implementation Program , Ashley Campbell

Examining the Relationship between Drought and Mental Health Outcomes of Depression and Anxiety in the U.S. , Robyn J. Cathey

Urban Water Planning in Lagos, Nigeria: An Analysis of Current Infrastructure Developments and Future Water Management Solutions , Adaure Chiori

A Review of Childhood Obesity Prevention Efforts among Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs , Olga Costa

Prevention Messages to Reduce the Risk of Shigellosis among Men who have Sex with Men , Steve Evener

A Baseline Comparison of PATSCH and Parent as Teachers , Irasema Garcia-Rosales

A Mobile Initiative for Waste Disposal in Bringing Awareness to the Damage Littering Behavior Has on Storm Drains , Kimberly Hung

Examining the Community Outreach Efforts of Local African American Religious Organizations in Relation to Drug Use and HIV Transmission , Alyshia Jackson

A Qualitative Analysis of the Environmental and Personal Factors which Influence the Help-Seeking Behaviors of Men who have Sex with Men in Light of the Emerging Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance to Shigella Bacteria , Kathleen Jacobson

Alcohol Use among Orphans in Sub-saharan Africa: a Literature Review , Megan M. Mallett

Community- Based Walking Programs to Reduce Chronic Illness Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Limited Resource Neighborhoods: A Literature Review and Program Materials for Walk the Line , Alanti McGill

Consolidating Resources for the Aged-Out Human Trafficking Population Using a Mobile Application , Soumya Nalli

Mobile Application for Survivors of Domestic Violence , Varsha Neelam

A Historical Review of the Influenza Outbreaks Within Military Settings and Understanding the Viral Spread of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic , Naomi Ngadiman

How Social and Lifestyle Factors of African American Women Influence Behavior and Prevalence of Obesity: Literature Review , Briana E. Oliver

The Epidemiology of Wasting in Nigeria , Oluwatoyin Victoria Omotosho

Understanding Open Access Data Using Visualizations in R , Hazel Shah

An Evaluation of A National Sexual Violence Prevention Program: The Rape Prevention and Education Program , Arielle Shiver

Protecting College Students with Good Samaritan Policies: A Call to Action! , Nia Sutton

Assessment of Policies and Programs That Apply Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study Research , Rohjan Tajik

Capstone Projects from 2017 2017

Policy Recommendations for Addressing Health Insurance Network Adequacy and Provider Network Standards in the Georgia Insurance Market , Oluwatoyin Adedapo-Jimoh

A Grant Proposal to Evaluate the Effect Antibiotic TB Treatment has on the Gut Microbiota and on Metabolic Functions of Pediatric TB Patients in Dekalb County , Oluwatobiloba Adeola Akingbade

An Evaluation of a School-based Behavioral Health Initiative in Three Rural Counties , Bianca Anderson

Relationships Between Physical Activity and Neighborhood Walking Characteristics: Analysis of the 2015 National Health Interview Survey , Colby Brown

Epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes in populations of African Descent , Kenyatta Bruce

Physical Injury as a Result of Intimate Partner Violence: An Individual, County, and State Level Analysis , Sharon Caslin

Factors That Contribute to The Disproportionate Rates of HIV among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Systematic Review , Santanna S. Comer

Exploring Mental Health Services for Women Post Incarceration , Jalisa Cruver

An Examination of Metabolic Syndrome in Asthmatic Subjects: A Study Using the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , Jasmine N. Cunningham

Health Interventions to Promote the Polio Vaccine within the Global Polio Eradication Initiative: A Systematic Review From 2000-2014. , Aime Serge Dali

Evidence of Injury Following Sexual Assault: A Research Proposal , Brea Echard

Street Medicine: A Program Evaluation , Ariel L. Edwards

Exploring Strategies to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Students in a School Cafeteria , Abigail Furtner

Branched Chain Amino Acids: Causal or Predictive of Type 2 Diabetes , Jency George

A Systematic Review on the Association Between Hormonal Contraception and Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-Positive Women , Evan Graham

Incorporating Health Activities into the Friends of the Park Agenda: A Health Program Plan Framework , Hayley Hamilton

Analysis of the Quality, Integration, and Cost-effectiveness of Primary Care, Electronic Health Records, and End of Life Care: Lessons from the American Healthcare System to Inform National Health Insurance in the Bahamas , Brittney Jones

Geographic Information Systems Analysis of Walkability Data for the Atlanta Beltline Communities , Michale Kanchik

The Legacy for Children™ Program-- A Capstone on Fidelity Monitoring and Certification , Camille Kramer

Effectiveness of Pharmacist Delivered Medication Reconciliation Interventions on Hospital Readmission Rates: A Literature Review , Charles S. Lee

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100+ msn capstone project ideas and topics to write about, bob cardens.

• September 2, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas

Are you looking for interesting MSN capstone project ideas? You’ve come to the right place! In this article, we’ll share 100 ideas that you can write about for your capstone project. Whether you’re interested in exploring new nursing roles, improving patient outcomes, or investigating the latest technology trends, there’s sure to be a topic here that piques your interest.

Read more on:

• Patient Falls Nursing Capstone Project Ideas & Topics With Prompts
• Capstone Project Ideas For Nursing Leadership [50 Topics]
• 200+ Best And Creative Nursing Capstone Project Ideas
• Capstone Project Topic Selection And Approval
• Capella University Comprehensive Care Coordination Plan Capstone

What You'll Learn

MSN Nursing project ideas (interesting MSN capstone project ideas)

1. Develop a program to help new nurses transition into their first job 2. Create a nurse-led support group for patients with chronic illnesses 3. Develop a protocol for managing pain in postoperative patients 4. Implement a falls prevention program in a long-term care facility 5. Conduct a study on the impact of stress on nurses’ job satisfaction 6. Create a database of evidence-based practice guidelines for nurses 7. Implement an infection control program in a hospital unit 8. Evaluate the effectiveness of a new nursing intervention 9. Develop a discharge planning program for patients with chronic diseases 10. Conduct a study on the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among nurses11. Implement a nurse-led wellness program in a community setting 12. Develop a program to improve communication between nurses and patients 13. Conduct a study on the impact of nurse-patient ratios on patient outcomes 14. Implement a program to reduce medication errors in a hospital setting 15. Evaluate the effectiveness of a new nursing education program 16. Develop a program to improve hand hygiene compliance among nurses 17. Implement a program to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in a long-term care facility 18. Conduct a study on the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among newly licensed nurses 19. Implement a mentoring program for new nurses 20. Evaluate the effectiveness of a nurse-led weight loss intervention 21. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of diabetes 22. Implement a falls prevention program in an acute care setting 23. Conduct a study on the impact of work hours on nurses’ job satisfaction 24. Create a database of evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of chronic diseases 25. Implement an infection control program in an outpatient setting 26. Evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on nurses’ knowledge of infection control practices 27. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of hypertension 28. Implement a program to improve communication between nurses and patients with dementia 29. Conduct a study on the impact of nurse-patient ratios on patient safety 30. Implement a program to reduce medication errors in an outpatient setting 31. Evaluate the effectiveness of a new nursing intervention on patient outcomes 32. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of pain 33. Implement a falls prevention program in a home care setting 34. Conduct a study on the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among nurses working in long-term care facilities 35. Implement a mentoring program for nurses transitioning to a new job 36. Evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on newly licensed nurses’ knowledge of infection control practices 37. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the prevention of pressure ulcers 38. Implement a program to improve hand hygiene compliance among health care workers 39. Conduct a study on the impact of work hours on health care workers’ job satisfaction 40. Create a database of evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of infectious diseases 41. Implement an infection control program in a long-term care facility 42. Evaluate the effectiveness of a new vaccination program 43. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of diabetes in pregnancy 44. Implement a program to reduce the incidence of falls in pregnant women 45. Conduct a study on the impact of nurse-patient ratios on maternal and child health outcomes 46. Implement a program to reduce medication errors in a pediatric setting 47. Evaluate the effectiveness of a new nursing intervention on child health outcomes 48. Develop and implement an evidence-based practice guideline for the management of pain in children 49. Implement a program to improve communication between nurses and parents of hospitalized children 50. Conduct a study on the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among nurses working in pediatric settings

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Twenty DNP Capstone project ideas

1. Developing a community health program to reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors 2. Implementing a nurse-led intervention to improve care for patients with chronic conditions 3. Creating a program to increase HPV vaccination rates among adolescents 4. Evaluating the effectiveness of a nurse-led diabetes education program 5. Investigating the impact of music therapy on pain management in hospitalized patients 6. Studying the relationship between nursing staff well-being and patient outcomes 7. assessing the feasibility of implementing an evidence-based falls prevention program in long-term care settings 8. Investigating the effect of group medical visits on chronic disease self-management 9. Examining the impact of bedside Shift Reports on nurses’ job satisfaction and patient safety 10. Implementing a barcode medication administration system in a hospital setting

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Twenty Mental Health capstone project ideas

1. Developing a program to help veterans with PTSD 2. Creating a support group for people with anxiety disorders 3. Developing a program to help people with depression 4. Creating a program to help people with eating disorders 5. Developing a program to help people with addiction 6. Creating a program to help people with OCD 7. Developing a program to help people with bipolar disorder 8. Creating a program to help people with Borderline Personality Disorder 9. Developing a program to help victims of domestic violence 10. Creating a support group for people who have been sexually assaulted 11. Developing a program to help people with postpartum depression 12. Creating a support group for parents of children with mental illness 13. Developing a program to help young adults transition into adulthood 14. Creating a support group for caregivers of elderly relatives with dementia 15. Developing a program to help families communicate about mental health issues 16. Creating a support group for siblings of people with mental illness 17. Developing a program to help students cope with stress and anxiety 18. Creating a support group for adults who grew up in foster care 19. Developing a program to help people with hoarding disorder 20. Creating a support group for people who have lost a loved one to suicide

Twenty Nursing Leadership capstone project ideas

1. Developing a leadership development program for new nursing leaders . 2. Investigating the impact of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and patient outcomes. 3. Examining the role of emotional intelligence in effective nursing leadership . 4. Investigating ways to improve team communication and collaboration in the nursing workplace. 5. exploring the impact of mentorship on the professional development of new nurses. 6. investigating the effect of different leadership styles on staff morale in the nursing workplace. 7. exploring ways to reduce nurse turnover through improved leadership and management practices. 8. examining the effect of changes in healthcare policy on nursing leadership and management practices. 9. investigating ways to improve patient safety through effective nursing leadership and management practices. 10. developing a plan for implementing evidence-based practice in the nursing workplace.

Twenty Creative nursing projects ideas

1. Develop a program to increase patient satisfaction in your facility 2. Create a new orientation program for new staff members 3. Develop a plan to improve communication between departments in your facility 4. Implement a fall prevention program in your facility 5. Create a plan to reduce the number of medication errors in your facility 6. Implement a wound care protocol in your facility 7. Develop a program to improve the quality of care for patients with chronic diseases 8. Implement a program to reduce the length of stay for patients in your facility 9. Implement a discharge planning protocol in your facility 10. Develop a plan to improve hand hygiene compliance in your facility (interesting MSN capstone project ideas)

• Working on your Abstract, here are  DNP Capstone project Abstract Examples [Outline & How-to]
• Read more on  Patient Falls Nursing Capstone Project Ideas & Topics with Prompts
• Find out more  Capstone Project Ideas for Nursing Leadership [50 Topics]
• check out  130+ Good nursing capstone project ideas to Write About )
• The literature review is one of the most challenging parts of your DNP capstone, here’s  How to write a DNP Capstone Project Literature Review
• The guidelines include  How to write DNP capstone project Methodology Chapter

Twenty Critical care nursing capstone project ideas

• 1. Developing a protocol for the early identification of sepsis in the ICU 2. Implementing a quality improvement project to reduce Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs) 3. Investigating the causes of ventilator-associated pneumonia and developing strategies to prevent it 4. Studying the effects of sleep deprivation on ICU nurses and developing interventions to mitigate its effects 5. Assessing the needs of families of critically ill patients and developing support services to meet those needs 6. Implementing a discharge planning program to improve transitions of care for critically ill patients 7. Developing a handoff protocol for ICU nurses to ensure safe and effective transfer of patient care 8. Investigating the factors that contribute to medication errors in the ICU and developing strategies to reduce them 9. Conducting a study on the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder in ICU nurses and developing interventions to address it (interesting MSN capstone project ideas) 10. Studying the effects of noise pollution on ICU patients and staff and developing strategies to reduce its impact
• 11. investigating the effect of nurse burnout on job satisfaction and patient outcomes. 12. examining the role of nursing leadership in promoting professional development and career advancement for nurses. 13. developing a plan for improving patient satisfaction through effective nursing leadership and management practices. 14. investigating the impact of information technology on nursing leadership and management practices. 15. developing a plan for implementing a new nursing informatics system in the workplace.
• 16. studying the effect of nurse staffing levels on patient outcomes and developing recommendations for improving staffing ratios. 17. investigating the impact of nurse turnover on patient care quality and developing strategies for reducing nurse turnover rates. 18. studying the effect of nursing workload on job satisfaction and patient outcomes and developing recommendations for reducing workloads. 19. investigating the impact of shift work on nurses’ health and well-being and developing strategies for mitigating its effects. 20. examining the role of nursing in promoting healthy lifestyles for patients and families.

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Critical Challenge Project

• Master's in Healthcare Leadership

Take the Next Step

Address real-time challenges with applied learning that draws upon your interests and experience..

The Critical Challenge Project (CCP) is central to the learning experience and will become the focus of an independent study. You will identify a challenge related to your field and interests, drawing from your own experience and vision for the future. Each student works collaboratively with their peers, professional colleagues, course faculty, and advisors, integrating various perspectives across healthcare sectors into the project.

The CCP allows you to address problems in real-time and apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout the program, with emphasis on integrating healthcare, business and policy factors, and collaborating across healthcare sectors. Projects should consider ethical implications and have practical applicability to the field of healthcare — taking into account multiple stakeholders and cross-sector perspectives as you develop innovative and viable solutions.

Key principles students use to define their CCPs include:

• Relevant:  Meaningful to the student in terms of background, interests, current job, future aspirations, and/or organization
• Consequential:  Project is broad enough scope to have an impact on stakeholders across the healthcare industry, including patients, providers, and payers
• Realistic:  Feasible and viable set of steps and expectations within the 12-month program (the overarching challenge does not need to be resolved within the program, but measurable progress toward the defined CCP must be reasonable and appropriate)
• Measurable:  Contains measurable outcomes of success

Soof Solutions Inc: Giving a Voice to the Speechless

Through the Critical Challenge Project, Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson turned her medical technology idea into a healthcare company devoted to providing a happier life to older adults, like her father, by giving them a voice.

Recent Capstone Projects

Sample Project Titles

• The Use of Telemedicine to Increase Access to Healthcare for the Residents of the Bahamas Out-Islands
• Utilizing Critical Access Hospital Infrastructure to Provide Opioid Use Disorder Services to Rural Communities
• A Proposed Alternative Care Model to Reduce Unnecessary Emergency Department Utilization in an Elderly Medicare Advantage Population
• Homelessness and Stabilization Unit Stays: Analyzing Current Discharge Planning Processes

View Critical Challenge Project Examples    Download More Information

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Student ingenuity abuzz on Design and Innovation Day 2024

April 19, 2024

From addressing environmental challenges to enhancing human well-being, the 240 capstone projects on display at last Thursday's 2024 Design and Innovation Day showcase were a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of UBC’s aspiring engineers. The diverse array of projects represented the culmination of months of dedicated effort and creative problem-solving by teams of final-year engineering students, who tackled real-world problems proposed by community partners.

One project that had attendees buzzing was centred on an Internet of Things (IoT) solution for beekeeping. Recognizing the critical decline in bee populations and its implications for agriculture, this team of electrical and computer engineering students partnered with the Foundation of the Energy Collective to devise an innovative solution for urban beekeeping. Their modular beehive design allows individuals to host beehives in their backyards or on rooftops. Equipped with a sensor board, the hive monitors vital parameters such as temperature, humidity and weight, ensuring optimal conditions for bee health and productivity, and fostering sustainable beekeeping practices in urban environments.

Another capstone team from the School of Biomedical Engineering developed a robust electromyography (EMG) control scheme for amputees. With the goal of enhancing the quality of life for upper arm amputees, they set out to bridge the gap between human intention and prosthetic function. Existing research showed promise in interpreting nerve signals to facilitate intuitive hand gestures and movements in a lab environment, but these students are incorporating machine learning to gather data and replicate the same success in the real world. Through meticulous data collection and methodological refinement, they are laying the groundwork for a more robust and reliable prosthetic arm technology.

As students presented their projects to curious attendees, it was evident that they had not only acquired technical skills, but also learned the values of interdisciplinary collaboration, perseverance and innovation — qualities that are integral to success in engineering.

In response to the increasing threat of wildfires to residential communities, a team of engineering and business students from the New Venture Design (NVD) course — a collaboration between UBC Faculty of Applied Science and Sauder School of Business — developed an innovative wildfire defence system. Their modular automated prototype provides two-fold protection for homes against ember attacks, which account for a significant portion of wildfire-related loss of homes. By lining the roof with Class A fire retardant foam and creating a humidity bubble around the roof using mist, this three-week self-sustaining system is designed to prevent embers from igniting flammable materials, thereby safeguarding homes during wildfire events. With its scalable design and robust functionality, the system offers a practical and reliable solution for mitigating the impact of wildfires on vulnerable communities.

“Design and Innovation Day embodies the UBC Engineering spirit of exploration, collaboration and relentless pursuit of knowledge,” said James Olson, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science. “At this event, we witnessed the convergence of creativity and skill, yielding solutions with the potential to reshape industries and improve lives. As educators and mentors, it is our privilege to nurture and guide these innovations towards real-world impact.” 

Design and Innovation Day is an annual event that showcases the best of what UBC engineering students have to offer to community partners. UBC engineering students bring a spirit of creativity, curiosity and continuous learning to problem solving and addressing the complex challenges of our time.  

UBC Okanagan School of Engineering also held their showcase on April 12. Fourth-year engineering students displayed 48 year-end projects based on the categories of advanced manufacturing, biocompatible systems, complex systems, infrastructure and sustainability.

Learn more about capstone projects . 

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Health Care Project of Simplilearn

HarrshaVardhan/Data_Science_Capstone

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DESCRIPTION

Problem Statement NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) research creates knowledge about and treatments for the most chronic, costly, and consequential diseases. The dataset used in this project is originally from NIDDK. The objective is to predict whether or not a patient has diabetes, based on certain diagnostic measurements included in the dataset. Build a model to accurately predict whether the patients in the dataset have diabetes or not. Dataset Description The datasets consists of several medical predictor variables and one target variable (Outcome). Predictor variables includes the number of pregnancies the patient has had, their BMI, insulin level, age, and more.

Variables Description Pregnancies Number of times pregnant Glucose Plasma glucose concentration in an oral glucose tolerance test BloodPressure Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) SkinThickness Triceps skinfold thickness (mm) Insulin Two hour serum insulin BMI Body Mass Index DiabetesPedigreeFunction Diabetes pedigree function Age Age in years Outcome Class variable (either 0 or 1). 268 of 768 values are 1, and the others are 0 Project Task: Week 1 Data Exploration:

• Perform descriptive analysis. Understand the variables and their corresponding values. On the columns below, a value of zero does not make sense and thus indicates missing value:

• BloodPressure

• SkinThickness

Visually explore these variables using histograms. Treat the missing values accordingly.

There are integer and float data type variables in this dataset. Create a count (frequency) plot describing the data types and the count of variables.

Project Task: Week 2 Data Exploration:

Check the balance of the data by plotting the count of outcomes by their value. Describe your findings and plan future course of action.

Create scatter charts between the pair of variables to understand the relationships. Describe your findings.

Perform correlation analysis. Visually explore it using a heat map.

Project Task: Week 3 Data Modeling:

Devise strategies for model building. It is important to decide the right validation framework. Express your thought process.

Apply an appropriate classification algorithm to build a model. Compare various models with the results from KNN algorithm.

Project Task: Week 4

Data Modeling:

• Create a classification report by analyzing sensitivity, specificity, AUC (ROC curve), etc. Please be descriptive to explain what values of these parameter you have used.

Data Reporting:

• Create a dashboard in tableau by choosing appropriate chart types and metrics useful for the business. The dashboard must entail the following:

a. Pie chart to describe the diabetic or non-diabetic population

b. Scatter charts between relevant variables to analyze the relationships

c. Histogram or frequency charts to analyze the distribution of the data

d. Heatmap of correlation analysis among the relevant variables

e. Create bins of these age values: 20-25, 25-30, 30-35, etc. Analyze different variables for these age brackets using a bubble chart.

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