Developing APE Objectives

Objectives aim to shape and encourage the professional development of the student and provide an opportunity for applied practice in the particular area of public health.

To get an APE approved, students and their Field Supervisors should meet to discuss a potential project and review the APE requirement. The student and Field Supervisor will need to identify three to five SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) objectives that can be accomplished in the timeframe for completion of the project.

Examples of Objectives from Past APE Projects

Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AOMACHP)

Objective 1: Summarize research to contribute to grant writing for the Supporting Maternal Health Innovation Program.

Strategy 1: Conduct research, using scientific literature, on assigned topics and summarize findings/research for review and inclusion in grant proposals.

Objective 2: Summarize MCH related briefings and hearings attended on the Hill bi-weekly to distribute to the policy team.

Strategy 1: Review senate and house committee websites to stay informed of upcoming hearings or briefings related to MCH populations weekly. Notes and main points from the briefings will be developed into topics for monthly policy webinars to show potential impact on MCH populations.

Objective 3: Develop content for PowerPoint slides used for monthly national policy webinars.

Strategy 1: Conduct background research on assigned topics and develop PowerPoint slide(s) to submit for supervisor approval. Prepare talking points to discuss the PowerPoint slides on the monthly call.

Zambia Emory HIV Research Project (ZEHRP)

Objective 1: Using the information gathered from structured observations and changes in WASH knowledge, revise methods and approaches used to deliver the WASH intervention.

Strategy 1: Shadow ZEHRP staff to gain an understanding of current clinic practices and become familiar with clinic flow.

Strategy 2: Work closely with ZEHRP staff to identify places where the checklist and pooling strategy can be integrated with existing clinic processes to optimize clinic flow.

Strategy 3: Work with reception staff to coordinate the creation of queries and reports in Microsoft Access to best fit their needs and streamline checklist completion.

Objective 2: Validate the use of the diagnostic screening checklist for GeneXpert specimen pooling.

Strategy 1: Use the checklist to determine composite risk scores for HRW at enrollment and record CT/NG test results.

Strategy 2: Calculate the prevalence of CT/NG for each risk category and compare the results to those obtained from the retrospective IVP data.

Strategy 3: Perform comparison analyses using statistical software.

Objective 3: Determine the long-term application and feasibility of the diagnostic screening checklist.

Strategy 1: Apply the checklist at follow-up visits to determine if individual risk scores at enrollment and follow-up significantly differ.

Strategy 2: Use results to assess how often the checklist should be applied, which women to retest, and how previous CT/NG results should influence the decision to re-test.

Strategy 3: Work with the medical staff to create a set of guidelines and recommendations for future checklist application.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCFDC)

Objective 1: Improve epidemiological response to outbreaks in the region in collaboration with a research team through fieldwork and data collection.

Strategy 1: Attend team meetings and discussions to become more familiar with how NCDC handles day-to-day operations.

Strategy 2: Collaborate with members of team to develop strategies for successful completion of study procedures.

Strategy 3: Participate in fieldwork and data collection and contribute to work in the laboratory setting.

Objective 2: Assist in the design and implementation phase of current studies and interventions.

Strategy 1: Conduct background research on relevant topics.

Strategy 2: Design survey instrument to be used for field based data collection.

Strategy 3: Receive training for field based data collection and visit study houses with enumeration team.

Objective 3: Help assess the efficacy of ongoing programs and produce subsequent briefs, infographics and reports.

Strategy 1: Produce reports on the current state of disease surveillance and response capacity.

Strategy 2: Assist with data analysis using statistical software.

FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (FHBOI)

Objective 1: Perform a literature review to identify previous research on the evaluation of the association between chemical exposures and health outcomes of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, as well as, statistical methods available for multi-pollutant mixture modeling.

Strategy 1: Search previous papers related to cetacean health to identify previous statistical methods applied to human health that can be adapted to this study.

Objective 2: Implement appropriate statistical methodology to investigate the relationship between multi-pollutant environmental exposures and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

Strategy 1: Use the results of the literature review to determine appropriate methods for the study

Strategy 2: Develop a mathematical background and computational skills related to statistical methods selected.

Strategy 3: Analyze data using statistical software.

Objective 3: Evaluate, compare, and interpret results of the data analysis investigating the relationship between multi-pollutant environmental exposures and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

Strategy 1: Compare output of different methods used.

Strategy 2: Compare results to single-pollutant models and previous research.

Strategy 3: Interpret and present findings.