2009-2010 Internship Thread

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^ that's my feeling too. I'd hate to hate my job by the end. I do know I want to be in a general hospital some day and as long as doing my internship in, say, residential substance abuse, doesn't kill my chances of working in a hospital, then I'm ok. Some psychologist friends reminded me: your internship is a training year. What you do then does not necessarily mean it is what you have to do for the rest of your career. Made me feel better
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Anybody submit their ROL already? I still have a few more interviews to go but I thought about logging in to see what it looks like. :)
 
I haven't even made my spreadsheet yet! I've been meaning to....though I have 2 more sites and this is my first full day in FL in forever.

Anyone headed to Brooklyn on Wednesday? Or Alabama on Friday?
 
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Therapist4Chnge said:
I haven't even made my spreadsheet yet! I've been meaning to....though I have 2 more sites and this is my first full day in FL in forever.

Anyone headed to Brooklyn on Wednesday? Or Alabama on Friday?
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Have fun in Brooklyn. I was there a couple of weeks ago. Great view of the Verrazano Bridge! I think two people from my program will also be there this Wednesday. If you want any info before the interview, feel free to PM me.:)
 
I was wondering if anyone knows whether there is an APA guidline for the maximum number of weekly work hours that sites can request from interns.
 
psychmama said:
Have fun in Brooklyn. I was there a couple of weeks ago. Great view of the Verrazano Bridge! I think two people from my program will also be there this Wednesday. If you want any info before the interview, feel free to PM me.:)
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Thanks!

While it is a bit cold....otherwise it is great to be back in NYC. EARLY morning tomorrow, as it'll take me a bit to get down to Brooklyn.

I hope everyone is doing well on their internship interviews.
 
Anyone else not get any responses back from thank-you emails? I'm surprised that there is no acknowledgment, but maybe this is the way it's done at some sites. I think I just really want a bit of a clue as to how I did in the interview or their level of interest. I can't imagine my general impression of my own performance is reliable!
 
PredocFornow said:
Anyone else not get any responses back from thank-you emails? I'm surprised that there is no acknowledgment, but maybe this is the way it's done at some sites. I think I just really want a bit of a clue as to how I did in the interview or their level of interest. I can't imagine my general impression of my own performance is reliable!
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I have received e-mails back, but I have been reading too much into them (I try not to). For example, most of the responses have been rather general and just sort of wishing me luck. I don't know what I was expecting, some grand proclamation of how much they loved me!? In any case, I do understand how you feel though, but as T4C mentioned, it's not a big deal.
 
I want to add that a number of my sites don't respond to thank you's. Some even go so far as to tell you not to send the thank you's at all. The practice of sending/replyng to thank you emails seems to vary from site to site -- some see it as inappropriate. In my experience, it also varies geographically. It seems less common to do thank you's at the NYC sites.

I definitely wouldn't read too much into this aspect of the process. Good luck to you!:luck:
 
NONE of mine responded!
 
Thanks for the replies. Like all of you, I will be quite relieved to be done with this process and crossing my fingers that this will be the last time I have to do this!
 
Well, my interviews are all done now. I had my last one yesterday, and it was by far my favorite. Now for a month of waiting and hoping...
 
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just had a phone interview, which is "phase 1", on their APPIC form they say a "phase 2" in person is required, but she never mentioned it during our phone interview. I thought it went really well, but now I'm not sure. Maybe they'll email me about the in-person? They don't have much time left though....

I met a girl from Nova SE on my interview trail and she told me bad things about this site, but my initial impression has been good.....so I'm not sure!
 
Eruca - must feel really good to be done. I am waiting for the day. My last interview is next Friday and I also have one tomorrow, and Tuesday of next week.
 
orthogonal said:
Eruca - must feel really good to be done. I am waiting for the day. My last interview is next Friday and I also have one tomorrow, and Tuesday of next week.
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It feels good, but a little bizarre. Now it really is out of my control! Only a day in and I'm beginning to feel the pressure of 'the wait'. Hopefully I can keep it in the background and move on with the rest of my life for a little while :)

Much luck to you in your final interviews!
 
My last interview is Feb. 2!

Match day: Feb 20. We find out where we are going Feb. 23
 
BellaPsyD said:
just had a phone interview, which is "phase 1", on their APPIC form they say a "phase 2" in person is required, but she never mentioned it during our phone interview. I thought it went really well, but now I'm not sure. Maybe they'll email me about the in-person? They don't have much time left though....

I met a girl from Nova SE on my interview trail and she told me bad things about this site, but my initial impression has been good.....so I'm not sure!
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PM me if you want another opinion....as I know most of the training sites in S. FL.
 
Congrats to those who are done, and continued fortitude to those (like me) who have more to go...

I've been wondering whether or not internship interview travel expenses would be tax-deductible. I saw that someone raised that question last year as well, but there didn't seem to be a definitive response on the forum. Does anyone know for sure whether or not they're deductible?
 
psy86 said:
Congrats to those who are done, and continued fortitude to those (like me) who have more to go...

I've been wondering whether or not internship interview travel expenses would be tax-deductible. I saw that someone raised that question last year as well, but there didn't seem to be a definitive response on the forum. Does anyone know for sure whether or not they're deductible?
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I'm married and so typically itemize for deductions.. I'm rather confident that these expenses are 'business travel' (since they are not for pleasure). hah Anyhow, I was planning on including them, like I do conference travel. But my tax guy will probably know best.
 
Eruca said:
I'm married and so typically itemize for deductions.. I'm rather confident that these expenses are 'business travel' (since they are not for pleasure). hah Anyhow, I was planning on including them, like I do conference travel. But my tax guy will probably know best.
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Thanks for this! Yeah, I typically itemize as well, although I've always done my taxes myself so I don't really have anyone to ask. The main issue seems to be that you can only deduct expenses if you are looking for a new job in your present line of work, and not if it's a first job or a change in occupations. I'm not really sure that grad school counts as a "job" or that internship counts as a "job" either... gah. If I can't convince myself one way or the other through research I'll probably end up just skipping the deduction, but that kind of sucks.
 
^ Hmm. Interesting points. I think it works.. at most the internships you are considered staff & include benefits, vacation pay, etc. So that would seem easily accepted as a job, and certainly a new one. And this is definitely a new job in our present line of work (I get paid hourly for a couple clinical externships) or whatever your stipend comes from. Soooo.. that's my story and I'm stickin' to it ;)

Having a tax dude definitely helps.
 
Eruca said:
^ Hmm. Interesting points. I think it works.. at most the internships you are considered staff & include benefits, vacation pay, etc. So that would seem easily accepted as a job, and certainly a new one. And this is definitely a new job in our present line of work (I get paid hourly for a couple clinical externships) or whatever your stipend comes from. Soooo.. that's my story and I'm stickin' to it ;)

Having a tax dude definitely helps.
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Hah, yeah, that would definitely help!

In case others are wondering, I found the following thread about medical residencies somewhat helpful: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=242767

However, I also wonder whether the fact that I have been paid in my current position (for RA/ TA/ clinical work) makes my situation different from that of a medical student. Hmph.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I was talking with someone today, and she was quite certain it was deductible. I'm going to ask a buddy of mine who is an accountant.
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Hmm... the internship is a requirement for the doctoral degree, so it would make sense to deduct it as a school-related expense. Maybe the tax laws have changed since I've been a student, but there were several school-related expenses that I deducted back in the day.

Also, if you consider internship a job (vs. an academic training year), you won't be able to claim your lifetime learning credit. Personally, I would claim student status for as long as I could...

(but I'm no accountant, just the offspring of one!)
 
Hey. Congrats t4c and others finished/finishing the interviews!

Is anyone else conflicted about how to rank sites? I have a clear top 3-4 choices, but can't figure out exactly how to preference them. . Adding to this is that most of my family and friends do not understand the process. They think I'm crazy to be even considering commuting several hours roundtrip each day in order to do internship. I've tried explaining that there are only so many accredited programs, and they know I cannot relocate. :( I really don't have much choice, but I still feel guilty sometimes -- that I'm neglecting my kids and husband. At least internship is only one year. :rolleyes:

For those thinking about ranking, how are you weighing your options? Do you think it's most important to consider your top sites, as most applicants tend to match to one of their top 2-3 choices? Even if most match to their top-ranked programs, I'm nervous about the exceptions to this rule. While interviewing, I talked to a seemingly well-qualified applicant who had 9 interviews last year and ended up not matching!:eek: Have others heard similar stories? If you rank 10 places, is there much chance you'll end up matched to #10 (or not at all).
 
psychmama said:
For those thinking about ranking, how are you weighing your options? Do you think it's most important to consider your top sites, as most applicants tend to match to one of their top 2-3 choices? Even if most match to their top-ranked programs, I'm nervous about the exceptions to this rule. While interviewing, I talked to a seemingly well-qualified applicant who had 9 interviews last year and ended up not matching!:eek: Have others heard similar stories? If you rank 10 places, is there much chance you'll end up matched to #10 (or not at all).
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In my opinion, there's always the exception to the rule. However, I was talking to one of my professors last year about an article in the APAGS magazine, where an individual stated he was very qualified, had 8 interviews, and still didn't match. My professor said the first thing that comes to his mind when hearing this scenario was that the applicant had poor interpersonal skills that came out through his interviews. I'm certainly not saying this is always the case, but it makes sense to me that a lot of exceptions to the rule are a reflection of the applicant, not the system.

I'm also wondering about the stats that 80% of individuals match to their top 3. I would be ecstatic if I matched anywhere in my top 6; however, I'm nervous that the stats don't apply to me because half the sites/tracks I'm ranking only have 1 slot. The others have anywhere from 2 - 6. Does anyone know if this is a typical pattern? I'm thinking the that stats on the % of individuals who match to their top N number of sites would be dependent on slot numbers....
 
I guess I won't truly feel confident about the Match system until (hopefully) I match. Luckily, I think I could make any of the sites I'm ranking work for me. I just hope I don't get the one that works interns feverishly AND has a horrible commute. One or the other is okay, but together, that would be a killer.:eek:

I also had the thought that the person with so many interviews who does not match may have problems interpersonally. I do think, however, that every year there are a few unexplainable "flukes". Still, I'm trying to be positive that the odds are in our favor.

Please let this process just be over soon!:rolleyes:
 
Just submitted my rankings.. have to say, that felt bizarre. Here we go!
 
Eruca, are you all done or do you think you'll go back in and change anything before the deadline? Was it hard doing the ranking?
 
psychmama said:
Eruca, are you all done or do you think you'll go back in and change anything before the deadline? Was it hard doing the ranking?
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I think that's it for me, barring some totally unexpected reconsideration. But my top choice was really a no-brainer (I loved it) and the rest sort of fell into place. It was actually pretty easy to do. You can list & certify your ranking and still go back before the deadline to change it if you want. NMS does suggest doing your ranking well before the deadline so you don't run across any possible system clogging...
 
Sounds good. I have not gone on the NMS website yet. I appreciate the tip about not waiting until the last minute. Good luck. I hope you get your first choice!:)
 
Hey Eruca,
Congrats on being done! I have one short phone interview this week and then I'm finished. I wish my rankings were as clear as yours are. I am totally torn about how to rank my top 3. Good luck with the rest of the process!

Eruca said:
I think that's it for me, barring some totally unexpected reconsideration. But my top choice was really a no-brainer (I loved it) and the rest sort of fell into place. It was actually pretty easy to do. You can list & certify your ranking and still go back before the deadline to change it if you want. NMS does suggest doing your ranking well before the deadline so you don't run across any possible system clogging...
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We have our last group of applicants coming in today. I can say that in witnessing the other side of this process, it seems like the sites have as difficult of a time figuring out how to rank us as we do them. I think everyone involved is looking forward to match day :)
 
Ok, I submitted my rankings!! I can't believe there is nothing left for me to do but wait. I have a counter on my planner counting down the days.

We have a meeting with our DOT on Friday, to talk about ranking. I'm kind of afraid that it's going to make me change them again....
 
I met with one of my mentor's on Monday and talked about ranking.....and my rationale was pretty close to his feedback, so that made me feel pretty good. I was going to make a pt ranking system (1-10 in each category, weight them, etc)....but my "gut" ranking seems pretty sound. I'm going to submit my ranking this afternoon....and hopefully that will be that.
 
This is probably a dumb question, but where do we get our PIN number for the match? I checked my email from NMS when I registered for the match -- I only see the Applicant Code #.

Am I missing something very obvious?:confused:
 
You should have gotten a letter from the National Match Services in the past month or so. The PIN is in that letter, along with instruction on how to submit your rankings.
 
Thanks Psychanon. Have been hunting for the letter. i think it must have gotten bypassed during the holiday influx! :oops:
 
I just did my rank order list. :rolleyes: It feels good to have that decision made, although waiting now will be hard.

After internal debate, I decided to rank based on a combo of quality of life issues, my interest in the program, and length of commute. A couple of places that I liked were a 2-hr commute each way. In the end, my top place is not perfect, but the best combination of factors. All of the others have strengths and weaknesses too, but in a less optimal blend.:laugh:
 
psychmama said:
I just did my rank order list. :rolleyes: It feels good to have that decision made, although waiting now will be hard.
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Congrats psychmama! No doubt about the waiting.. I'd love to be able to say I'm not counting the days, but that'd be a big fat lie!
 
This may be a random question, but do any of you know how the VAs handle health insurance for psychology interns? I know we're eligible, but that's all I know.
 
psychmama said:
This may be a random question, but do any of you know how the VAs handle health insurance for psychology interns? I know we're eligible, but that's all I know.
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At the VA I'm at we get full health benefits since we're full time employees. You sign up just like any other new employee. You pay a monthly premium, though I'm not sure how much is taken out of your check. I think it's pretty reasonable (I didn't take the insurance since I already have some).
 
I finally submitted my rank order list. Thankfully many of sites had several codes to rank so I am content with the number of places I have to rank. I have gone in a couple times to change things around and am still not convinced this is my final entry into the system.

What is the lowest program number that you know a person has matched to? I heard that most match to one of their top 3 sites but I am not convinced as I do know people who have gone lower?

Please share your stories so I can have an idea of what to expect!
 
I'm wondering about this too. While most people I've heard about matched to #1 or #2, I know several who got their 4th or 5th choice. I also know someone who got 9 interviews and didn't match!:eek:

How about others? Anybody hear of someone ranking like 10 places and ending up with #9 or 10?:confused:
 
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