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- Jan 10, 2012
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I hadnt known about the release of the qualitative APPIC data at http://www.appic.org/Match/MatchStatistics/CommentsaboutImbalance.aspx (posted by futureapppsy2). Reading the comments made me furious.
I think a great many students are suffering in silence, believing in the need for change to the system in the direction of better controlling numbers of applicants but feeling like they dont have much influence over policy.
So, its time for that to change. Graduate students represent a third of all APA members (http://www.apa.org/apags/about/index.aspx). This is one of the largest constituents of APA. But, individual students rarely act to leverage this membership power. This is unfortunate, because there are a lot of things students can do.
And here they are. First, we have to recognize that theres a lot of misinformation and myths about what can be done about the imbalance that need to be dispelled. Linking accreditation and match rates is not violation of antirust laws (Stedman et al., 2009; two authors on this paper are actual lawyers and not just psycholoigsts talking about law). This is a misperception based on early proposals that were clearly violation of antitrust law (e.g., saying programs can only take 10 students a year). Match rates are a legitimate marker of program performance/outcomes for students and it is perfectly reasonable to link match rates and accreditation; anyone who says different is not informed about the legal issues surrounding this.
You can become move involved in APAGS. APAGS is our representation to APA. Its made up of students. Most positions are elected, and people running for the position post their positions on issues online (and often do things like create a facebook campaign page). So, look at the applicants. See what their positions are. Ask them about their opinions on the imbalance through their facebook campaign pages. Vote for people who are going to make sure the internship crisis is a predominant topic in everything APAGS does. Run for APAGS positions yourself. Email APAGS governance members.
Talk to your APAGS campus rep. You should have one. Their job is to report to the Advocacy Coordinating Team of APAGS. Let them know that you want the internship imbalance clearly addressed by APAGS. If you dont have a campus rep, become one.
Let APA know what you think about the imbalance. Multiple aspects of APA are involved in the imbalance. Id suggest you look at the list of Councils of Chairs of Training Councils, who represent the interests of training councils (e.g., clinical psychology programs, counseling psych programs, professional schools, school psych). The list of members is here http://psychtrainingcouncils.org/members.html. Find who represents you and let them know that the imbalance is a serious problem that needs to be addressed immediately, and APA needs to make decisive actions and generate solutions.
The Board of Educational Affairs is another major player. http://www.apa.org/ed/governance/bea/index.aspx. Let them know what you think about the imbalance. Attend seminars and talks by the members, at APA and elsewhere, and encourage discussions about the internship crisis.
Go to the APA convention. Attend sessions about the internship and the imbalance and ask hard questions of members of APA governance. No one likes to ask these questions, but these difficult dialogues need to happen. Make governance know that this is a problem and were not going to let it continue to get worse.
Start discussions on professional listserves. Ask others what they think about the imbalance. Encourage difficult dialogues. Encourage divisions to weigh in about the imbalance. Become a student rep for divisions.
Students are the ones who suffer in this problem. Many others care, but their real investment is limited. Were the ones who have risk and potential loss. Were the ones who should be acting to make sure concrete actions to resolve the imbalance are taken. Posting on a message board is good for catharsis, but we all know that catharsis is a poor substitute for behavioral activation. ☺
Oh, and join my facebook group ☺ http://www.facebook.com/groups/223654767715768/
References
Stedman, J. M., Schoenfeld, L. S., Carroll, K., Allen, T. F. A. Jr. (2009). The internship supplydemand crisis: Time for a solution is now. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 3(3), 135-139. doi: 10.1037/a0016048
I think a great many students are suffering in silence, believing in the need for change to the system in the direction of better controlling numbers of applicants but feeling like they dont have much influence over policy.
So, its time for that to change. Graduate students represent a third of all APA members (http://www.apa.org/apags/about/index.aspx). This is one of the largest constituents of APA. But, individual students rarely act to leverage this membership power. This is unfortunate, because there are a lot of things students can do.
And here they are. First, we have to recognize that theres a lot of misinformation and myths about what can be done about the imbalance that need to be dispelled. Linking accreditation and match rates is not violation of antirust laws (Stedman et al., 2009; two authors on this paper are actual lawyers and not just psycholoigsts talking about law). This is a misperception based on early proposals that were clearly violation of antitrust law (e.g., saying programs can only take 10 students a year). Match rates are a legitimate marker of program performance/outcomes for students and it is perfectly reasonable to link match rates and accreditation; anyone who says different is not informed about the legal issues surrounding this.
You can become move involved in APAGS. APAGS is our representation to APA. Its made up of students. Most positions are elected, and people running for the position post their positions on issues online (and often do things like create a facebook campaign page). So, look at the applicants. See what their positions are. Ask them about their opinions on the imbalance through their facebook campaign pages. Vote for people who are going to make sure the internship crisis is a predominant topic in everything APAGS does. Run for APAGS positions yourself. Email APAGS governance members.
Talk to your APAGS campus rep. You should have one. Their job is to report to the Advocacy Coordinating Team of APAGS. Let them know that you want the internship imbalance clearly addressed by APAGS. If you dont have a campus rep, become one.
Let APA know what you think about the imbalance. Multiple aspects of APA are involved in the imbalance. Id suggest you look at the list of Councils of Chairs of Training Councils, who represent the interests of training councils (e.g., clinical psychology programs, counseling psych programs, professional schools, school psych). The list of members is here http://psychtrainingcouncils.org/members.html. Find who represents you and let them know that the imbalance is a serious problem that needs to be addressed immediately, and APA needs to make decisive actions and generate solutions.
The Board of Educational Affairs is another major player. http://www.apa.org/ed/governance/bea/index.aspx. Let them know what you think about the imbalance. Attend seminars and talks by the members, at APA and elsewhere, and encourage discussions about the internship crisis.
Go to the APA convention. Attend sessions about the internship and the imbalance and ask hard questions of members of APA governance. No one likes to ask these questions, but these difficult dialogues need to happen. Make governance know that this is a problem and were not going to let it continue to get worse.
Start discussions on professional listserves. Ask others what they think about the imbalance. Encourage difficult dialogues. Encourage divisions to weigh in about the imbalance. Become a student rep for divisions.
Students are the ones who suffer in this problem. Many others care, but their real investment is limited. Were the ones who have risk and potential loss. Were the ones who should be acting to make sure concrete actions to resolve the imbalance are taken. Posting on a message board is good for catharsis, but we all know that catharsis is a poor substitute for behavioral activation. ☺
Oh, and join my facebook group ☺ http://www.facebook.com/groups/223654767715768/
References
Stedman, J. M., Schoenfeld, L. S., Carroll, K., Allen, T. F. A. Jr. (2009). The internship supplydemand crisis: Time for a solution is now. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 3(3), 135-139. doi: 10.1037/a0016048