Join us in building a new countywide database of school health contacts for Maricopa County. You’ll help gather, verify, and organize information while gaining hands-on experience in public health, communication, and data management. Your work will support real outreach and emergency communication efforts and make a lasting impact.
This internship offers an exciting opportunity for a student to contribute to a meaningful public health project with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. As the department sunsets a long-standing program that regularly connected us with school health personnel, we are creating a new, sustainable system to keep school health contact information organized and up to date. This resource will support routine communication with schools and help the County Health Department reach key partners quickly during public health events or emergencies.
The intern will work closely with program staff to gather school health contact information from a variety of sources, including internal lists, district directories, partner spreadsheets, and publicly available websites. Once collected, the intern will help organize, clean, and combine these records into a single, easy-to-maintain contact list or information tool. This provides hands-on experience with data organization, tracking methods, and practical systems that support real public health work.
A major part of the project involves ensuring accuracy. The intern will help verify contact details by checking websites, cross-referencing department records, and reaching out to schools or districts when appropriate. The intern will learn how to identify outdated or missing details, resolve inconsistencies, and document gaps that may need follow-up. These tasks build skills in communication, problem solving, and careful attention to detail.
In addition to building the contact system, the intern may help develop simple tools and resources that support long-term maintenance. This may include creating templates for future outreach, outlining steps for updating contact information, or suggesting improvements that make the system easier for staff to use over time. The goal is to build something that is accurate today and sustainable in the future.
This internship is designed to be collaborative and flexible. Because the project is new for the County Health Department, there is room for the intern to bring ideas, explore different approaches, and help shape how the system ultimately functions. Program staff will offer guidance and support, while also giving the intern the opportunity to work independently and take ownership of their portion of the project.
This role is ideal for students interested in public health, education, communication, data organization, informatics, public administration, or related fields. By the end of the internship, the student will gain transferable skills in data cleaning, verification, system development, and professional communication. Most importantly, the intern’s work will make a real and lasting impact by strengthening the County Health Department’s ability to stay connected with schools and support community needs.
