2014-2015 APPIC (internship) application thread

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aly cat said:
Where did you see this? From the applicant portal essay section: "Every application submitted through the AAPI Online service must include an essay responses to four specific questions." Traditionally, goodness of fit is addressed in your cover letter as you stated..
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I saw that in the APAGS Workbook, apparently it does not apply any longer. Thanks!!
 
mindfulnessiszen said:
Something that helped me was looking at places I thought I might potentially be interested in. While this was forever changing (for me anyway), I knew places I could be a good fit and places I couldn't. For example, I do not come from a neuropsych heavy program so applying to that track for internship would have probably been a waste of time. However, I had some experience working with prolonged exposure, so I looked for programs with that training and other treatments that were similar. Thus, I ended up applying to several AMCs and VAs.

So once I narrowed down my choices I looked at the number of assessment hours on APPIC and type of assessments that were administered at that site (usually you can find this on their website or internship materials) and focused on getting those experiences. Hope that helps
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That does help a lot! Thank you for your seasoned advice and tips. They will be super helpful when I consider placement!
 
A couple of my sites request assessment reports, and I'm having some difficulty deciding which report to include. Does anyone have guidance on this? I have a range of neuropsychological assessment reports from inpatient and outpatient evaluations. Do I submit the case that included 2 very long testing sessions and yielded a rare diagnosis? The case that has a complicated personality and neuropsych profile? A straight-forward case with a clear AD diagnosis? A case in which there is a primary mood component? A case of suspected malingering? A capacity assessment? I know that it's probably best to think about the site to which I am applying, but even that doesn't make this decision much clearer.
 
sardonic said:
A couple of my sites request assessment reports, and I'm having some difficulty deciding which report to include. Does anyone have guidance on this? I have a range of neuropsychological assessment reports from inpatient and outpatient evaluations. Do I submit the case that included 2 very long testing sessions and yielded a rare diagnosis? The case that has a complicated personality and neuropsych profile? A straight-forward case with a clear AD diagnosis? A case in which there is a primary mood component? A case of suspected malingering? A capacity assessment? I know that it's probably best to think about the site to which I am applying, but even that doesn't make this decision much clearer.
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Honestly, assuming it's well-written, I'd probably go with the straight-foward/clear case. You'll have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge if something rare pops up while on internship. In the mean time, you want them to know that you can handle the types of things that you're typically going to see, and that you can handle them well. And regardless of the ultimate diagnoses, the process by which you arrived at them should be similar (and clear), so reviewers should still be able to tell that you know how to think your way through a case at a level appropriate with your training.
 
sardonic said:
Do I submit the case that included 2 very long testing sessions and yielded a rare diagnosis? The case that has a complicated personality and neuropsych profile? A straight-forward case with a clear AD diagnosis?
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When I was applying I heard from multiple people to NOT do complex cases for reports or presentations. Super complex cases don't represent how you'd handle 90% of the cases that are not strange, and having complex cases allows more opportunity for selection committee members to think you did something wrong/interpreted badly, etc.
 
Thank you. Both your responses are super helpful. I'll keep it simple!
 
So, it looks like APPIC wants us to cut and paste all four essays to one document before uploading it? Am I understanding this correctly?
 
psychrat said:
So, it looks like APPIC wants us to cut and paste all four essays to one document before uploading it? Am I understanding this correctly?
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That's my understanding! I'll include abbreviated essay prompts and will include a header with my name and page number.
 
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Question about references - my mentor is also my program's DCT. He tells me that he plans to put his letter of reference for me *within* the DCT's verification of readiness section of the application (i.e., rather than just ticking the required box saying I am eligible [which is my understanding of what this section usually consists of?], he will include a full-blown multi-paragraph letter in that space). This (he says) will then allow me to include three *additional* letters of reference from practicum supervisors (since his letter will not technically be taking up one of these spots). He seems pretty sure that this is the way to do it, but it sounds really strange to me that I would get a "free" letter of reference just because my mentor happens to be DCT. Moreover, it seems to me that this might annoy the many sites that have a 3-letter limit, since this seems to be a loopholey way of slipping in 4 letters. Or on the other hand, perhaps sites will miss my mentor's letter entirely, since the DCT verification is more often just boilerplate "yes this student is ready for internship," and perhaps reviewers don't typically look at that section.

Assuming my description of the issue is even coherent - any thoughts?
 
NC Department of Corrections just advertised Two openings for 14/15 if anyone is trying to start this year. Sounds like a new site.
 
PhDToBe said:
What do you mean by page number?
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There are 4 essays so roughly 4 pages. I'll include the literal number of the page in the header, in case someone has my packet of essays and they get out of order.
 
rainedallnight said:
Question about references - my mentor is also my program's DCT. He tells me that he plans to put his letter of reference for me *within* the DCT's verification of readiness section of the application (i.e., rather than just ticking the required box saying I am eligible [which is my understanding of what this section usually consists of?], he will include a full-blown multi-paragraph letter in that space). This (he says) will then allow me to include three *additional* letters of reference from practicum supervisors (since his letter will not technically be taking up one of these spots). He seems pretty sure that this is the way to do it, but it sounds really strange to me that I would get a "free" letter of reference just because my mentor happens to be DCT. Moreover, it seems to me that this might annoy the many sites that have a 3-letter limit, since this seems to be a loopholey way of slipping in 4 letters. Or on the other hand, perhaps sites will miss my mentor's letter entirely, since the DCT verification is more often just boilerplate "yes this student is ready for internship," and perhaps reviewers don't typically look at that section.

Assuming my description of the issue is even coherent - any thoughts?
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Completely coherent and my DCT did the same. Our students generally do great with interviews so I wouldn't worry about it irritating sites - if they do I think most would realize its on the DCT and not you. I think the only risk is someone glancing at your application thinking you don't have a letter from your mentor (as you noted).

If students from your lab have generally done well with interviews and this was done for them too, I'd probably just follow the established path.
 
sardonic said:
There are 4 essays so roughly 4 pages. I'll include the literal number of the page in the header, in case someone has my packet of essays and they get out of order.
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Ah, ok!
 
Ollie123 said:
Completely coherent and my DCT did the same. Our students generally do great with interviews so I wouldn't worry about it irritating sites - if they do I think most would realize its on the DCT and not you. I think the only risk is someone glancing at your application thinking you don't have a letter from your mentor (as you noted).

If students from your lab have generally done well with interviews and this was done for them too, I'd probably just follow the established path.
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I am the first to apply from our lab since he became DCT, so unfortunately there aren't any test cases before me... but it's good to hear that your DCT has done the same, apparently without causing anyone to not match / have to leave grad school forever / go to prison.
 
A nitpicky question: "V.A." or "VA"?

Technically the periods are correct, right? But I see so many people write it the other way, even in the VA system. Thoughts on which way to go on my applications? I don't want to get dinged for leaving them out, but don't want to seem like I'm missing a cultural shortcut either.

I'm taking it as a good sign that I'm far enough along in my applications to be at this level of concern...
 
Is anyone using two supervisors to write one "joint" letter of recommendation? I worked at a site with two direct supervisors and they have agreed to write a letter together. Any tips or suggestions for facilitating this?
 
psychgal80 said:
Is anyone using two supervisors to write one "joint" letter of recommendation? I worked at a site with two direct supervisors and they have agreed to write a letter together. Any tips or suggestions for facilitating this?
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I'm doing this. They've agreed to do and so I'm letting them figure out the details on their end. I just asked which of them I should put into the APPIC system since you can only put one person in to receive the link for each letter.
 
sardonic said:
A nitpicky question: "V.A." or "VA"?

Technically the periods are correct, right? But I see so many people write it the other way, even in the VA system. Thoughts on which way to go on my applications? I don't want to get dinged for leaving them out, but don't want to seem like I'm missing a cultural shortcut either.

I'm taking it as a good sign that I'm far enough along in my applications to be at this level of concern...
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I would not use periods. VA.gov does not even use them.
 
sardonic said:
A nitpicky question: "V.A." or "VA"?

Technically the periods are correct, right? But I see so many people write it the other way, even in the VA system. Thoughts on which way to go on my applications? I don't want to get dinged for leaving them out, but don't want to seem like I'm missing a cultural shortcut either.

I'm taking it as a good sign that I'm far enough along in my applications to be at this level of concern...
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I've actually never seen it written out as "V.A.;" I'd stick with VA. Sort of like WAIS, WMS, etc.
 
I think this is too silly a question to email an internship director about, but can anyone tell me whether a site that requires applicants to have "1000 applied clinical hours" is looking for 1000 face-to-face hours? I have somewhere between 600 and 700 face-to-face client hours (assessment plus intervention), but if "applied" also includes supervision and/or support activities, then I have a lot more. Any thoughts?
 
buzzworm said:
I think this is too silly a question to email an internship director about, but can anyone tell me whether a site that requires applicants to have "1000 applied clinical hours" is looking for 1000 face-to-face hours? I have somewhere between 600 and 700 face-to-face client hours (assessment plus intervention), but if "applied" also includes supervision and/or support activities, then I have a lot more. Any thoughts?
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Seems like face-to-face to me, but I could be wrong. I have e-mailed training directors for clarification for "silly" things, including hour requirements, and have been met with very generous and helpful responses.
 
Anyone have thoughts on how Masters level licensure is often seen by prospective sites? I ask because I am a LPC (received a few years ago) in the state I received my MA in and the same in the state I am getting my PsyD.
 
Pretty much all applicants wore suits. Even at the interview/open house I attended that specifically said business casual, a few people were wearing suits.
 
Cara is right, almost everyone wore a suit. I wore a grey Ann Taylor Loft dress with a black blazer to some of my interviews, because I'm a rebel. It turned out just fine for me.
 
I should be able to find this somewhere but I can't.

If a site is looking for a minimum of, for example, 100 assessment hours, do those hours include research assessments? For my dissertation I have gained a lot of hours just giving people questionnaires to fill out.
 
Anais-In said:
I should be able to find this somewhere but I can't.

If a site is looking for a minimum of, for example, 100 assessment hours, do those hours include research assessments? For my dissertation I have gained a lot of hours just giving people questionnaires to fill out.
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I believe it's specifically stated that research hours don't count as face-to-face clinical hours. I explicitly remember not being able to count numerous hours spent administering various clinically-oriented measures as a part of my thesis, for example.
 
Then why is there a place in time2track to code intervention/assessment hours as research? My program allows us to count them as long as they are supervised.
 
AcronymAllergy said:
I believe it's specifically stated that research hours don't count as face-to-face clinical hours. I explicitly remember not being able to count numerous hours spent administering various clinically-oriented measures as a part of my thesis, for example.
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I think what is specifically stated is that hours accrued while employed don't count. The application instructions state, "testing experience accrued while employed should not be included in this section and may instead be listed on a curriculum vita."

So this seems to mean that if you did testing for a paid RA, even if it was supervised by a licensed psychologist, it doesn't count. But if you did the exact same testing for a research project without pay, it does count. Likewise for testing done for a paid neuropsych tech position vs. an unpaid practicum. I have to say this doesn't make any sense to me, since the training value of the experience is identical whether it's paid or not. I have heard from a few students who had paid testing gigs (supervised by a board-certified neuropsychologist) that they counted those hours anyway, and did not get any questions about this on interviews.

All that said, I'd be hesitant to count handing out questionnaires as assessment hours. Leaving aside the question of whether this technically counts, this sets you up for an awkward moment when an interviewer sees 110 assessment hours on your app and asks you about your assessment experience.
 
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I think the "employed" language is in reference to work that is not completed through the university. So you could be accruing hours through a paid practicum. A side job outside the scope of your program (no credits required or did not require approval from your advisor/training coordinator) would probably not count towards your hours.
 
rainedallnight said:
I think what is specifically stated is that hours accrued while employed don't count. The application instructions state, "testing experience accrued while employed should not be included in this section and may instead be listed on a curriculum vita."

So this seems to mean that if you did testing for a paid RA, even if it was supervised by a licensed psychologist, it doesn't count. But if you did the exact same testing for a research project without pay, it does count. Likewise for testing done for a paid neuropsych tech position vs. an unpaid practicum. I have to say this doesn't make any sense to me, since the training value of the experience is identical whether it's paid or not. I have heard from a few students who had paid testing gigs (supervised by a board-certified neuropsychologist) that they counted those hours anyway, and did not get any questions about this on interviews.

All that said, I'd be hesitant to count handing out questionnaires as assessment hours. Leaving aside the question of whether this technically counts, this sets you up for an awkward moment when an interviewer sees 110 assessment hours on your app and asks you about your assessment experience.
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Sadly, that's not true Both interventions and assessments administered as part of research (even unpaid) don't count. We had a situation where our DCT actually called APPIC and asked, and they wouldn't count the hours that students spent administering an intervention as part of a research project.
 
G Costanza said:
I think the "employed" language is in reference to work that is not completed through the university. So you could be accruing hours through a paid practicum. A side job outside the scope of your program (no credits required or did not require approval from your advisor/training coordinator) would probably not count towards your hours.
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Yep, I'm fairly certain this is what APPIC means by the term "employed." That is, work that occurs outside your grad program (e.g., working as a psychometrist in a private practice); not training you complete that's sanctioned by your program and for which you might get paid (e.g., paid externships), as this probably represents the majority of training placements for psych students.
 
I was curious if anyone has any advice on the type of reports state hospitals may be interested in. I have a few malingering (ILK, TOMM, SIRS) and personality reports (MMPI, MCMI, PAI) from state hospitals, but they don't integrate multiple types of assessments in one report (like malingering and personality together), and they are fairly brief (2-3 pages). I also have adhd and learning disability reports that are extensive, but seem inappropriate. I still have time to do more, so any suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
 
PhDToBe said:
Then why is there a place in time2track to code intervention/assessment hours as research? My program allows us to count them as long as they are supervised.
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This is my question as well. I have been logging my dissertation data collection as "research" hours, and it is a considerable amount of hours. Does anyone have a link to a definitive answer to this question? Thanks.
 
So here are two snippets I found on APPIC's website (https://portal.appicas.org/appicasHelpPages/index.html):

You should only record hours for which you received formal academic training and credit or which were sanctioned by your graduate program as relevant training or work experiences (e.g., VA summer traineeship, clinical research positions, time spent in the same practicum setting after the official practicum has ended). Practicum hours must be supervised. Please consult with your academic training director to determine whether experiences are considered program sanctioned or not. The academic training director must be aware of and approve of the clinical activity. Academic credit is not a requirement in all cases. Other sections of this application will allow you an opportunity to summarize your supervision experiences, anticipated practicum experiences and support activities. Other relevant experience that does not fit into the above definition can be described on your Curriculum Vitae.
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And

The experiences that you are summarizing in this section are professional activities that you have provided in the presence of a client. Telehealth, for the purposes of the AAPI, focuses on two-way, interactive videoconferencing as the modality by which telehealth services are provided. In order to count the hours delivered using this technology the focus of the clinical application should include diagnostic and therapeutic services. Clinical applications of telehealth encompass diagnostic, therapeutic, and forensic modalities across the lifespan. Common applications include pre-hospitalization assessment and post-hospital follow-up care, scheduled and urgent outpatient visits, psychotherapy and consultation. This does not include phone sessions or clinical supervision. All services must be appropriately supervised by a licensed clinician. Please note that not all states count these types of hours toward licensure and you should carefully review particular state regulations as needed.
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The second section obviously is speaking specifically about Telehealth, but personally, I would apply the spirit of that message (which I bolded) to pretty much all practicum hours.

Thus, as I bolded in the first section, if the research hours are conducted as part of a clinically-oriented project (e.g., if your dissertation involves delivering an intervention or assessing folks to be referred for treatment), then it seems like it'd be ok to count those hours. However, if (as was the case for me), the research assessment protocols are strictly conducted in an experimental sense, and there's no clinical utilization (regardless of what the instruments administered actually are), then they don't count as assessment/intervention face-to-face hours.

Although you could always email the listserve and ask them as well.
 
Thus, as I bolded in the first section, if the research hours are conducted as part of a clinically-oriented project (e.g., if your dissertation involves delivering an intervention or assessing folks to be referred for treatment), then it seems like it'd be ok to count those hours.
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That would make a lot of sense, but it's not consistent with what our DCT found out from APPIC. These were hours spent giving an intervention as part of a clinically-oriented research project, and APPIC told our DCT that they didn't count.
 
cara susanna said:
That would make a lot of sense, but it's not consistent with what our DCT found out from APPIC. These were hours spent giving an intervention as part of a clinically-oriented research project, and APPIC told our DCT that they didn't count.
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I thought I'd remembered pretty much all research hours being a no-go as well, but I couldn't find anything specific on the website in my admittedly-cursory search. Maybe I'd seen it mentioned on the listserve.
 
So my husband asked me an interesting question today, and I thought I'd pose it to the group. I am applying to a site, that has multiple tracks, and I am planning on applying to two since they both would be great internship opportunities that fit my clinical interests. However, my husband said I should just pick the one I like best because choosing two makes me look like I am not enthusiastic enough about either one. I explained to him that it is common for people to apply for one or more tracks at a site, but now I'm wondering if he has a point. What does everyone else think? Anyone had multiple interviews at the same site for different tracks have any advice?
 
As long as it fits, picking two tracks is fine, people do it all the time. Just make sure your CV and LOI make the story clear. For example, someone applying to a neuro track with little to no clinical or research experience in neuro looks weird. It just looks like that person is applying to tracks just to increase their chances, which may backfire there.
 
The last time I posted around here was during graduate school applications.....
 
ChiPhD99 said:
So my husband asked me an interesting question today, and I thought I'd pose it to the group. I am applying to a site, that has multiple tracks, and I am planning on applying to two since they both would be great internship opportunities that fit my clinical interests. However, my husband said I should just pick the one I like best because choosing two makes me look like I am not enthusiastic enough about either one. I explained to him that it is common for people to apply for one or more tracks at a site, but now I'm wondering if he has a point. What does everyone else think? Anyone had multiple interviews at the same site for different tracks have any advice?
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It's pretty common to apply to multiple tracks if they're all a good fit and the program has no problem with it. In fact, I applied to several programs that asked you to rank order any tracks of interest, which implies you can apply to more than one. 🙂 I was interviewed for both tracks at one place I applied.
 
Not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere but what do others feel about making essay 1 clinically related and more professionally written than creatively written. I'm a neuropsych applicant and it just doesn't feel natural making the whole essay about me, but rather my work ethic and how I achieved this work ethic.

Thanks
 
_neurogal_ said:
Not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere but what do others feel about making essay 1 clinically related and more professionally written than creatively written. I'm a neuropsych applicant and it just doesn't feel natural making the whole essay about me, but rather my work ethic and how I achieved this work ethic.

Thanks
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Essay 1 should certainly contain some personal information, but I've seen it successfully handled both ways in terms of having a more personal or professional focus overall. The main piece of advice I'd have is that if you do go the professionally-oriented route, don't just end up re-stating your CV in essay form. The first essay typically gets substantially more attention from application reviewers than the others, so you want it to be appropriately memorable.
 
So, this is a different question and really pressing for me right now!! I have asked potential LOR writers some time back and filled out the APPIC LOR section that sends letter writers a note...-I have only received one LOR so far and was wondering when/if at all you guys think I can politely remind them some time soon?? Or is that a no no? Until when shall I wait before I resend. I don't intend to for faculty but out site supervisors that I don't see any longer. Thanks all and g'luck with the process!
 
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