PhD/PsyD Info Clinical Psych Applicants Need to Know

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DrClinPsyAdvice

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Hi all,

The world of health service psychology (i.e., clinical, counseling, school) is changing. Recently, APA adopted a policy advocating that only students with accredited doctoral program training and accredited internship training will be eligible for a license to practice. Several states have already adopted this rule and more are on the way.

Moreover, in a few years, only students from accredited doctoral programs will even be allowed to enter the APPIC match system to get an internship.

So, you want to get trained only from ACCREDITED doctoral programs.

But when picking an accredited doctoral program, note that some programs have a pretty lousy track record in getting their students matched at accredited internship sites. Check this out: http://mitch.web.unc.edu/files/2013/10/MatchRates.pdf. You will see that the average rate of matching in an accredited internship for most PsyD programs is way lower than for most Ph.D. programs. Imagine paying all of that money and then not being able to get licensed!

This is a big change in the field and people need to be very careful!

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Any more info on the policy to potentially require an accredited internship, such as the timeline or likelihood of that actually becoming a requirement? I can't imagine the Argosy's and other big financial backers of the APA would be much in support of that, given their accredited internship match rates.
 
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When you say accredited internship, you're referring to APA, not something like CAPIC, right?
 
ANOTHER TIP: Somewhere along the way, applicants must be getting advice to contact possible professors they want to work with simply to get their name on their email screen. Often the emails say things like "I read your website and I see you are taking students and I plan to apply and I just wanted to get in touch."

This advice is INCORRECT!!!

Do NOT contact a professor just to say hi or to ask a question that is easily answered on their website.
Also, do NOT contact a professor with a question that would require a very lengthy response (e.g., can you tell me about where you see your research program heading in the next 5 years).

Professors would LOVE to talk to you, but are inundated with emails each Fall and simply do not have time to respond to all of these. Moreover, briefly seeing an applicant's name in their email inbox offers no advantage when that applicant's application is read many months later.

Of course it is fine to write with a genuine, brief question, but it is perfectly fine to simply apply without any prior email contact.

Just FYI....
 
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APA is the only accrediting body in psych internships. APPIC and CAPIC are just member organizations. The change refer to APA-accred programs, yes.
Thanks!! Not something I'm worrying about for several years, but I'd like to stay educated and be ahead of the game.
 
Does anybody know of any states that have adopted the APA internship as a requirement yet? The states that I have been licensed in already had language to the effect of either an APA-accredited internship or evidence of equivalent training. I am not sure how that process would look for individuals since my internship was APA so I didn't have to worry about it.
 
A fiend of mine in Indiana said she has been having to jump through all kinds of hoops due to have just an APPIC internship. She is now 2 years post internship and still not licensed. Indiana does not have a post-doc hours requirment.
 
CA was looking at requiring APA in 2017 but I'm not sure if progress continues in that direction. Given the funding of APA by professional schools and the high number of said schools in CA, it seems counterintuitive to me.

One can always hope :)
 
It's not counter-intuitive if California is hoping to correct the effect of all that nonsense happening within their state. It's certainly not to the state's benefit to be overrun with poor doctoral level providers.
Exactly what the licensing board is designed to do. Protect the public by ensuring proper training and education of psychologists.
 
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It's not counter-intuitive if California is hoping to correct the effect of all that nonsense happening within their state. It's certainly not to the state's benefit to be overrun with poor doctoral level providers.

Agreed. That is my hope.
 
Last I heard, both Florida and Mississippi do not allow you to be licensed if you attended a school that was unaccredited. I do not know about Mississippi, but I know that you can get licensed in Florida if your internship site was APPIC.
 
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