class on supervising students

SDN Members don't see this ad. (About Ads)

Hello,
I have a few questions. I am currently a third year clinicalpsychology student. My school added a supervision class as a requirement forall incoming students. It is not required for me since I started the programthree years ago, but the DCT is encouraging everyone to take the class. Theclass is going to cover how to supervise students in clinical practice and willinclude hands-on training of assisting with supervision for first year clinicalstudents. I think this sounds like a good opportunity and the class wassuggested to my school by APA. However, I have an outside assistantship fornext year and thus will not receive a tuition waiver. I will receive a stipendin the amount of 15000, so paying for the class out of pocket would take awayfrom that. The class will also start this summer and I was planning on goinghome to be with my partner (we are in a long distance relationship) andvolunteer with a clinical psychologist to get clinical hours (which I need forinternship). So, what my questions are is 1. Do you think it will hurt mychances of getting an internship if I do not have the supervision class? 2.Would it be worth not getting clinical hours over the summer or spending timewith my partner to take the class? 3. It is worth paying for the class out ofpocket (which would be a few thousand dollars)?

Originally Posted by purple1125

Hello,
I have a few questions. I am currently a third year clinicalpsychology student. My school added a supervision class as a requirement forall incoming students. It is not required for me since I started the programthree years ago, but the DCT is encouraging everyone to take the class. Theclass is going to cover how to supervise students in clinical practice and willinclude hands-on training of assisting with supervision for first year clinicalstudents. I think this sounds like a good opportunity and the class wassuggested to my school by APA. However, I have an outside assistantship fornext year and thus will not receive a tuition waiver. I will receive a stipendin the amount of 15000, so paying for the class out of pocket would take awayfrom that. The class will also start this summer and I was planning on goinghome to be with my partner (we are in a long distance relationship) andvolunteer with a clinical psychologist to get clinical hours (which I need forinternship). So, what my questions are is 1. Do you think it will hurt mychances of getting an internship if I do not have the supervision class? 2.Would it be worth not getting clinical hours over the summer or spending timewith my partner to take the class? 3. It is worth paying for the class out ofpocket (which would be a few thousand dollars)?

in my opinion, no.

Originally Posted by erg923

in my opinion, no.

Agreed. It sounds like a useful class, but I think getting more direct clinical hours is more helpful at this point for you. And, as someone in a long distance relationship, too, you have do prioritize it every once in a while .

I could be wrong (so anyone feel free to jump in), but my impression in my go-round with internship interviews is that you aren't expected to have a lot of supervision training. I didn't have a class in the area, and I don't recall being asked much about the area. It came up a lot more on my post-doc interviews, honestly. Also, when we were deciding who to offer interview to (at my internship), supervision experience was not a big part of our decision making-- a bonus, yes, but it wasn't really expected.

Useful, but I don't know that any class would be "that" worth it. No one gets an internship/post-doc/job because of the classes they've taken.

Just to be a different perspective on this, you might want to consider if you aspire to be a supervisor as a career goal.

I do, and so I took a clinical supervision class. And I loved it. I hadn't thought about what a different skill set it can be to supervise well and encourage the growth of a supervisee in a way that's very different from working with clients.

That being said, I highly doubt that not having it would hurt your internship application at all, and if you don't aspire to supervise, it may have little to no profit for you. It may also be worth considering how much you've already accumulated in clinical hours, as you may not profit much from the amount you'd lose by participating in the class. Might be worth thinking about what will diversify your experiences on your transcript and CV for internship apps.

Is there any way you can audit the class (to reduce or eliminate cost, while still being able to put exposure to the content on your CV, and with no assignments it may detract less from the other things you care about doing- like time with your partner)??

Originally Posted by purple1125

...and volunteer with a clinical psychologist to get clinical hours (which I need for internship).

You will want to check with your DCT about what hours can count towards internship. From my understanding only program-sanctioned hours can count towards internship hours.

Can you talk a little more about what settings you hope to work in long-term or even apply for internship? I think this sort of specific class would be more relevant for University Counseling Center Internships than hospitals/VAs for example. Just one thought.

I would overall say no, it won't matter much then. Your focus this summer if you are applying this fall for internship should be on updating your CV, working on your essays, and beginning to work on the APPI (hours, etc). And spending time with your significant other.

Our program does something similar. We have a hands-on clinical supervision course in which we are responsible for "mock" supervision of one of the first year students in the program. Upon completion of the course, we are eligible to supervise students in the university clinic in later semesters. If this is something of potential interest to you (and that your program may be considering), then you may wish to reconsider. If not, then no big deal and nothing major lost.