High school public health internship and research fellowship
This high school public health internship lets students in Grades 9 to 12 study how waste, water and air pollution affect health near home, with a mentor who guides the method. You map risks such as standing water, run a short survey with family and neighbours and compare your results with public health data.
For school students who take IB Biology, ESS or Sports, Exercise and Health Science, or CBSE Biology, and who are thinking about medicine or public health. Online, with field work near home and a parent or guardian present at every self-guided activity. The fellowship is paid because every student receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why public health matters for sustainability
Where people live shapes how healthy they are. Water left standing in old tyres, pots or blocked drains lets mosquitoes breed, and some of these mosquitoes spread dengue. Smoke and dust from roads and building sites harm the lungs. Public health workers find out who is at risk and where, so a city knows where to act first.
Earth5R works in 150+ Indian cities, where its teams run door-to-door household surveys and waste audits. The Earth5R app records this work as photographed, geo-tagged data. One flagship research project, by a New York University researcher, looks at data centres, water shortages in Maharashtra and the burden this places on women. As a fellow you ask health questions of field data like this, close to your own home.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 3, Good health and well-being and Goal 6, Clean water and sanitation.
Available projects in this high school public health internship
Each project fits around school work and takes place near home. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Mosquito breeding spots near home
Walk your building compound and nearby lanes with a parent, photograph standing water in pots, tyres or drains on the Earth5R app, and map which spots return after rain.
Drinking water at home
Survey families in your building about where their drinking water comes from, how they store it and whether they boil or filter it, with consent from each household.
Air quality and the school run
Track your city’s public air quality readings for a month, survey classmates on how they travel to school, and suggest ways to cut their exposure on bad-air days.
Hygiene audit at school
With staff permission, check toilets, drinking water points and bins across your school, record what you find, and present a short report with low-cost fixes.
What you do in the field
- Learn how public health workers spot risks in a community
- Record risks as geo-tagged photos on the Earth5R app
- Write a short survey and ask each household for consent
- Keep every household’s identity private
- Compare your data with public health and air quality data
- Write a short report and present it in a research conversation
Skills you build
On a high school public health internship, you collect your own data near home with a parent or guardian, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How a high school public health internship fits your school programme
For IB, IGCSE, CBSE and ICSE students. Your school decides what counts towards its own requirements.
IB CAS
A school hygiene audit or a mosquito awareness drive in your building can form a CAS project with a service element. Your CAS coordinator decides whether it fits.
Extended Essay and IA
A Biology or ESS Extended Essay or IA needs a focused question and your own data. A local water or air study can provide both, if your supervisor approves.
MYP, IGCSE and CBSE projects
A community health survey fits the MYP Personal Project, IGCSE Global Perspectives and project work in CBSE or ICSE biology.
University applications
A community study with your own data gives you a specific example to discuss in a medicine or public health personal statement or interview.
How the high school public health internship works
Every student moves through four phases. Your mentor checks each phase before you move on, and sessions pause during board exams.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near home, with a parent or guardian, and collect primary data for your project in Public Health and Medicine.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
University courses this leads to
- BSc in Public Health or Global Health
- Medicine (MBBS or MBChB)
- BSc in Health Sciences
- BSc in Biomedical Sciences
- BSc in Nursing
Careers in this field
- Public health researcher
- Epidemiologist
- Doctor
- Environmental health officer
- Health policy analyst
Universities to aim for in Public Health and Medicine
Medicine and public health admissions tutors look for students who understand that health depends on how and where people live. A high school public health internship with FIELDWORK gives you a community study with your own data, a report your mentor reviewed and a verified record on earth5r.org. Students use a high school public health internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
USA · UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH)
UNC Gillings offers a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with majors in biostatistics, community and global public health, environmental health sciences, health policy and management, and nutrition. Environmental health students can pick biology courses suited to interests such as climate change.
USA · School of Global Public Health (GPH), undergraduate co-majors
NYU’s School of Global Public Health offers undergraduate public health co-majors, taken alongside a bachelor’s degree in fields such as nursing, sociology or nutrition and dietetics. Students learn epidemiology and biostatistics and study how interactions between humans and the environment shape the health of communities.
USA · Global and Public Health Sciences (GPHS) major, College of Human Ecology
Cornell’s Global and Public Health Sciences major combines the life and physical sciences with epidemiology and biostatistics. Every student takes at least one advanced course in environmental health and completes an experiential component in a research or community setting.
Netherlands · European Public Health (bachelor’s programme)
Maastricht’s three-year European Public Health bachelor is taught in English and looks at how the EU shapes health policy on issues such as ageing populations and cross-border epidemics. Students learn through problem-based learning, and the programme suits those interested in sustainable public health in Europe.
Canada · School of the Environment, Environment & Health programmes
Toronto’s Environment & Health Specialist, run by the School of the Environment with Human Biology, teaches core biological sciences alongside the environmental determinants of health. The school also offers an Environment & Health Major that can be combined with a major such as environmental science.
Canada · Faculty of Health, Bachelor of Public Health (BPH)
Waterloo’s Faculty of Health teaches a Bachelor of Public Health on the social, biological and geographic forces behind community and population health. Upper-year courses span global and community health and health policy, and students can choose a co-op version with paid work terms.
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Singapore · Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Second Major in Public Health
NUS undergraduates can add a Second Major in Public Health from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health to their main degree. It covers the social, behavioural, biological and environmental factors that shape health, along with health systems, and includes internship attachments.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Hong Kong · School of Public Health
HKU’s School of Public Health teaches the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Global Health and Development for undergraduates. Its academic divisions include Behavioural Sciences, Community Medicine and Public Health Practice, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
This list is for guidance. These universities offer undergraduate study in Public Health and Medicine. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Students get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The Multi-Year Fellowship can run from Grade 9 to Grade 12, with more scope each year.
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
High school public health internship: common questions
Is this high school public health internship useful if I want to study medicine?
It can help. A study of water, waste or air near home shows that you understand how living conditions affect health. It gives you a specific example for your personal statement and interviews, alongside your science subjects.
Will my child visit clinics, hospitals or people who are ill?
No. Students study health risks by observing their own building and street, running short surveys with families who agree to take part and reading public data. No medical records are used, and reports show patterns, never single households.
Do I need to be good at statistics?
No. You start with counts, percentages and simple charts in a spreadsheet. Your mentor shows you how to compare groups and read public health data, and students who take IB Mathematics can go further.
Is the high school public health internship paid?
Yes. FIELDWORK is a paid, mentored programme. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can my child do this high school public health internship online?
Yes. Mentoring sessions run online, and field work takes place near where you live.
Is a parent or guardian present during field work?
Yes. A parent or guardian is present at every self-guided field activity. Online sessions are for students.
Does FIELDWORK pause during board exams?
Yes. Sessions pause during board exams, so the fellowship fits around school work.
What do students get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities can check the work.
Related subjects for school students
Already at university? See the Public Health internship fellowship for university students.
Apply for a FIELDWORK fellowship in Public Health and Medicine
This high school public health internship is for students in Grades 9 to 12. Work on a live Earth5R project with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
