I attend an APA accredited program, and I am in the process of interviewing for an internship in order to finish my PsyD.
After going through all of my interviews for internship, I find that my top pick is a non-APA accredited internship site. This site offers the most assessment of any site I have interviewed at (significantly more in fact), as well as therapy and group work. The population of the clients is ideal, and the potential supervisors which I met with were very compatible with me.
I have multiple specific questions regarding the disadvantages of attending a non-APA accredited internship. I have looked at the FAQs on the APPIC website and know that FAQ 17 addresses non-APA accredited internships. I realize some states will not allow me to be licensed and that I will not be able to work at a VA. I have also heard I may have issues obtaining jobs at hospitals and research universities.
However, I am still left with questions regarding the difficulty of truly obtaining a job in psychology after attending an APA-accredited school and a non-APA accredited internship. FYI - I am interested in obtaining a position in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia.
I am especially interested in advice from people who attended a non-accredited internship site and can share what struggles they did or did not encounter in their professional career.
So,
After going through all of my interviews for internship, I find that my top pick is a non-APA accredited internship site. This site offers the most assessment of any site I have interviewed at (significantly more in fact), as well as therapy and group work. The population of the clients is ideal, and the potential supervisors which I met with were very compatible with me.
I have multiple specific questions regarding the disadvantages of attending a non-APA accredited internship. I have looked at the FAQs on the APPIC website and know that FAQ 17 addresses non-APA accredited internships. I realize some states will not allow me to be licensed and that I will not be able to work at a VA. I have also heard I may have issues obtaining jobs at hospitals and research universities.
However, I am still left with questions regarding the difficulty of truly obtaining a job in psychology after attending an APA-accredited school and a non-APA accredited internship. FYI - I am interested in obtaining a position in Ohio, Pennsylvania, or West Virginia.
I am especially interested in advice from people who attended a non-accredited internship site and can share what struggles they did or did not encounter in their professional career.
So,
- What real life struggles have people encountered when trying to find a post-doc and/or job after attending a non-APA accredited internship?
- What types of facilities or jobs are requiring APA accredited internship sites (Hospitals, Government Clinics, etc.)?
- Out of 100 random jobs for licensed psychologists, about how many would you expect to exclude those having a non-APA accredited internship?
- Do you know of psychologists experiencing problems finding jobs because solely they did not have an APA accredited internship?
- Does the accreditation status of the internship actually have little to no bearing on obtaining a psychologist position?