JOUR 795 Advanced Doctoral Practicum is the capstone applied experience required for completion of the PhD in Health and Science Communication at the University of Neada, Reno. It is taken after students have completed their formal coursework and represents the culmination of doctoral training — the moment when scholarly knowledge and disciplinary expertise are translated into real-world professional impact. In this course, doctoral students are embedded in an approved practicum site — a newsroom, public health agency, science institution, environmental organization, government body, healthcare system, or comparable organization — where they function not as interns or observers, but as advanced communication experts. Each student identifies a substantive communication challenge or strategic project within the host organization and applies the full range of knowledge, theory, and skills acquired through doctoral study to help the organization address it. The course is structured around professional practice, independent judgment, and scholarly integration. Students must complete a minimum of 150 hours at their practicum site over the course of the semester. In addition to embedded site work, students participate in four mandatory seminar meetings — a kickoff orientation, two midterm progress reviews, and a final presentation —, meet with the faculty supervisor one-on-one once every two weeks, and submit a product for their practicum site and a formal final report documenting their work, findings, and reflections. This is a course of high professional trust and independence. Students are expected to manage their time responsibly, maintain open communication with both their faculty supervisor and their practicum site preceptor, and conduct themselves as emerging scholars and professionals throughout.