Your Guide to Remote and Virtual Public Health Internships

Most remote public health internships don’t involve commuting or office cubicles. Instead, students log in from home or wherever they have a stable internet connection. You’ll also see different labels floating around: remote, virtual, and online. Some programs use these terms interchangeably, while others make clear distinctions. Usually, “remote” just means you’re not working on-site. “Virtual” often suggests a more structured schedule with live sessions. “Online” could mean anything from weekly check-ins to entirely self-paced work. The terms don’t follow strict rules, and they rarely tell the full story, so it’s the description, not the label, that matters.

Some organizations also offer hybrid internship opportunities, and this mixed format is gaining popularity in many environments, including government-run health departments. For example, the California Department of Public Health now advertises “remote, hybrid, and on-site internships,” with paid positions that combine virtual and in-person work².

Across the board, interns in these roles may assist with:

Whether you’re a current student or a recent graduate, you’ll likely use the same tools employed by professionals across the field: spreadsheets to clean data, Google Docs to co-write reports, and Slack threads to check in with supervisors. Zoom handles the meetings, and platforms like Trello or Notion keep projects moving forward. The remote format simply shifts the foundational public health skill set to a virtual environment.

Remote internships make public health work more accessible. You don’t have to move or commute. You work from where you already are, with fewer logistical and financial barriers, which can be the difference between applying and missing out entirely.

One public health internship program described in JMIR Public Health Surveillance replaced a 480-hour in-person public health internship with a virtual model. Students joined weekly online sessions with faculty, completed independent assignments tied to community data, and received ongoing feedback. The results matched those of previous years for learning outcomes, with students noting strong support and meaningful work despite never having stepped into a shared space³.

Virtual formats also change how students approach their work. Without a fixed schedule or physical office, interns learn to plan ahead and stay on task. They also practice asking for directions when things are unclear, since most communication occurs online. These habits prove especially useful later, particularly in jobs where public health professionals work remotely.

Interns also pick up technical tools simply by doing the work. Cloud folders, video meetings, checklists, and shared notes—all become part of the routine. By the end of the public health internship, most students are comfortable using platforms that many public health jobs rely on daily.

What remote internships in public health offer, more than anything, is access to meaningful work without the usual barriers. This access can take many forms.

Remote internships in public health can take a bit of digging to find. But once you know which websites to check and how to fine-tune your search, it gets a lot easier to find a role that fits, even if you’re hundreds of miles from the office.

Note: The World Health Organization (WHO) also offers an internship program for future leaders in public health; however, all positions are full-time.

Paid remote internships are usually tied to state programs. Maryland’s Department of Health lets students work remotely over the summer, with no need to commute or relocate. Undergrads are paid $17 an hour, grad students get $20, and the setup is flexible¹⁵. Washington State Department of Health offers something similar. Their internships run about ten weeks and pay around $20 an hour for students based anywhere in the state¹⁶.

That said, most remote internships, especially at non-profits or academic institutions, are unpaid. Some offer course credit and a few provide a small stipend, but it’s not guaranteed. If the listing says “funding available,” that often means you’ll need to apply separately for support. Some schools offer summer stipends for public health internships, but you have to ask early. There are also grant-funded fellowships, like the CDC John R. Lewis Undergraduate Public Health Scholars program (formerly known as CUPS), but most of those are still in-person¹⁷.

If the internship is unpaid, it should say so. If it’s for credit, that should be clear too. But if there’s no mention of money at all, you can safely assume there isn’t any, and check with your school about other ways to fund your time.

Working from home sounds relaxing, until the deadlines pile up and no one’s around to nudge you. Remote internships can be great, but they ask a lot from you. You’ll need to keep your own schedule, speak up when something’s unclear, and stay connected even when you’re working solo.

Most of the “talking” happens in writing. Emails, Slack, and quick notes that need to land right the first time. Zoom calls come up, too—some live, some recorded. You don’t have to be a natural on camera, but being able to explain your point clearly does help.

You’re not expected to be a public health pro, but as a graduate student, the basics should already feel familiar. Interns often work with datasets like BRFSS or NHANES, and that data lives and breathes in spreadsheets. If you know your way around Excel or Google Sheets, you’re ahead. If not, the CDC has put out a free YouTube series specifically designed for this kind of work: the CDC Excel Tool for Qualitative Analysis Tutorial¹⁸.

The rest is about staying organized when no one’s watching. You’ll likely bounce between emails, shared folders, trackers, and maybe a calendar or two. Meetings will split your day, so block out time to actually get things done.

And then there’s the one skill that matters more than the rest: Initiative. If something’s unclear, ask. If you’re stuck, say so. Keep notes. Follow through. People notice when you take ownership without being asked, and that sticks with them, wherever you’re working from.

You don’t have to be in grad school to land a remote internship, but the roles are different. Undergraduate work usually doesn’t require much background. They’ll have you help with outreach, maybe pull together a few resources, and write some draft questions. It’s entry-level work, which makes sense at that point in your career.

Grad students get pulled into more substantive work. If you’re in an MPH program or a similar graduate degree program, you might end up reviewing journal articles, cleaning data, or adding a few paragraphs to a policy draft. Some internships, such as Lasa Health, mention software like R, Stata, or SAS. If you’ve used any qualitative tools, even better¹⁹.

Previous experience matters. Health outreach, an introductory epidemiology course, or similar opportunities can open doors to more options. Some undergraduates in accelerated programs start their MPH coursework early, so internships may already be part of their plan. However, these internships aren’t always remote—you’ll need to verify that.

There’s no one setup. Some interns write, some gather data, and some sit in on meetings and take notes until they’re ready to do more.

You might help run a communication campaign, drafting a newsletter or sketching out social posts for a health equity project. Or you might help clean up survey data and summarize what the numbers show. Some interns help write literature reviews, while others do research for a policy memo they’ll never sign, but still help shape alongside professionals.

You’ll probably have one weekly team check-in. The rest of the work is asynchronous: Slack messages, shared folders, the occasional Trello board. Zoom is the go-to for meetings. Feedback is usually provided by email or within the document itself. Some supervisors check in a lot, while others trust you to move forward unless they hear otherwise.

You may be tempted to think that internships are useful just to fill up a resume. The truth is, they also make things easier later when looking for a full-time public health job. Until you reach that step, most grad school applications ask about experience, and the undergrad internship will carry weight.

You can talk about the tools you used, the data you helped clean, and the writing you did that actually got published as part of your internship experience. You’ll have examples, and that’s more useful than buzzwords. The fact that the internship was remote does not exclude building strong references. If you consistently meet deadlines and ask smart questions, people notice, even from a distance. Some supervisors will even connect you with other professionals in the field or pass your name along when they hear about a job opening up.

You don’t have to be in an office to network. Stay in touch with teammates. Ask for feedback. Connect on LinkedIn. One email intro can lead to another, and a short-term internship can be the first step toward something longer, because people remember good interns, and those interns get better chances later on.