Public Health Jobs & Internships

The Durham County Department of Public Health welcomes undergraduate and graduate students for placements throughout the year.  The following areas routinely accept students:

• Health Education
• Medical Services
• Nutrition
• Population Health

Read below to learn more about available opportunities, timelines and the process for being considered to complete your internship at the Durham County Department of Public Health.

In order to complete an internship with us, your school must have an established learning agreement with the Durham County Department of Public Health.  We currently have memorandums of agreement with the following schools:

• North Carolina Central University
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Nursing, and Adams School of Dentistry
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• University of North Carolina – Wilmington
• East Carolina University
• Meredith College
• Watts College of Nursing
• Southern New Hampshire University
• University of New England

If your school is not on this list, you will need to work with administrative staff at your school to facilitate a schoolwide agreement in addition to your individual learning contract.  You should allow two to three months to establish an agreement with a new school. 

The Health Education Division can host undergraduate and graduate student internships in the fall, spring and summer. Internships are available in several different program areas:

• Health Promotion & Wellness: covers chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, injury prevention, tobacco cessation, worksite wellness, and associated risk factors
• Communicable Diseases: includes sexual health, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS testing and prevention,
• Maternal & Child Health: covers breastfeeding and childbirth education
• Bull City Strong: community-based partnership to improve health literacy, particularly among Black, Hispanic, and other historically marginalized populations in Durham County
• ACEs & Resilience: focused on adverse childhood experiences, individual and community resilience, positive childhood experiences, and trauma-informed care

Interested students should contact Colin Moore, Health Education Administrative Assistant, at colinmoore@dconc.gov to receive a Health Education Division Internship Interest Form.  Communication about available opportunities proceeds from there.

The Health Education Division is currently only accepting applicants for June 2025 and later. 

Medical students and nursing students routinely complete placements at the Durham County Department of Public Health through rotations determined by neighboring schools, including Duke University, North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Watts School of Nursing.  These placements are arranged directly through partnering schools. 

Students interested in extended rotations in a particular clinic at the Durham County Department of Public Health can contact nursingintern@dconc.gov to share information about program requirements so that we can determine the feasibility of the desired learning experience. 

The Nutrition Division hosts student interns throughout the year from accredited dietetics education programs who are on a path to become registered dietitians. Due to the high demand, the division cannot accept interns who are obtaining other degrees or are not in an accredited program working towards their RD license.

For information, students should contact Kelly Warnock, Nutrition Program Manager, at kwarnock@dconc.gov.

The Population Health Division can host undergraduate and graduate student internships in the fall, spring and summer. Internships are available for several different topic areas:

• Community engagement/Coalitions: Working with the Partnership for a Healthy Durham coalition to advance Community Health Improvement Plans; supporting Partnership activities
• Data: Areas include health issue data analysis, Community Health Assessment, listening sessions, surveys, GIS mapping and data visualization
• Accreditation: Supporting local North Carolina Local Health Department (NCLHDA) and national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) accreditation activities
• Policy: Durham County Department of Public Health strategic plan, Durham County Department of Public Health policy review, Quality Improvement (QI) projects, policy briefs

Students should contact Marissa Mortiboy, Population Health Division Director, at mmortiboy@dconc.gov for information about available internships.

Other Divisions of the Durham County Department of Public Health, including Environmental Health, Pharmacy and Dental, do not regularly provide internships.  Their learning experiences are all arranged directly with affiliated training programs.