A Series of Questions About Doctoral Internships

[DazedAndConfuse]

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Hey all. Just joined the site and am SO excited that this forum exists! 👍 There's some information I have been looking for and am having trouble finding someone to answer all my questions, so I figured I would post and see what happens.

I'm a Psy.D. student starting to look into pre-doctoral internships. Just thinking about the process is making me so stressed!! My school requires APPIC accreditation and I plan on only considering sites with APA accreditation.

1. Are all APA accredited sites also APPIC accredited? I'm having some trouble finding a list of APPIC accredited sites, but I have the APA list.

2. I know some sites only want Psy.D. and some only want Ph.D. candidates - how do I find out which are which? Do I just have to call all of the sites and find out?

3. I know some sites require certain practicum experience, like college counseling centers want college counseling experience. Is this the same for other kinds of sites?

4. I downloaded the list of APA-accredited sites and have narrowed it down based on sites that don't interest me, and I have 62 pages remaining. I'm not picky on location - I'm unmarried, no kids, willing, able, and expecting to relocate - so I'm not sure how else to narrow the search??

5. How does the Internship site I end up at affect where I can eventually get jobs??

If anybody has any insight into any/all of these questions it would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

 

[futurepsydoc]

Go to the APPIC website and look at the internship directory. You can search for sites based on a number of factors, including APA accreditation. When you look at the information about a given site, it will lists data about applicants. It includes the number of PsyD vs PhD students accepted by year, as well as the type of training program (i.e., clinical, counseling, etc.).

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Hi there.

"1. Are all APA accredited sites also APPIC accredited? I'm having some trouble finding a list of APPIC accredited sites, but I have the APA list."

I believe so.

"2. I know some sites only want Psy.D. and some only want Ph.D. candidates - how do I find out which are which? Do I just have to call all of the sites and find out?"

Go to APPIC.org Search for the programs you are interested in. That information is usually presented there.


"3. I know some sites require certain practicum experience, like college counseling centers want college counseling experience. Is this the same for other kinds of sites"

The process is somewhat mercurial. A diversity of experience can't hurt. Think of this like a salesman. How do you sell yourself to the site?

"4. I downloaded the list of APA-accredited sites and have narrowed it down based on sites that don't interest me, and I have 62 pages remaining. I'm not picky on location - I'm unmarried, no kids, willing, able, and expecting to relocate - so I'm not sure how else to narrow the search??"

Rotations of interest, location, previous history of students from your program, former student from your progam on the faculty for the site, etc. . .

"5. How does the Internship site I end up at affect where I can eventually get jobs??
"

APA approval is often preferred by many advertising jobs. It is required by the VA, military, and department of corrections. Where you do your internship and who you work with may lead to different/better/worse postdoc and job opportunities. For example, someone might pick an internship because it is in a big city and maybe they think there are more local postdoc opportunities, and therefore better networking opportunities.

JS did a great job of answering your questions; all I can really add is a measure of certainty to his response for #1: APPIC does in fact mention on their site that all APA-accredited internships are de facto APPIC-accredited.

Also, for #2, if the information isn't listed in the summary in APPIC's database, it will be listed on the individual site's website somewhere. Duke comes to mind as a program that explicitly states in the description of its program on its website that it only takes certain types of applicants (in this case, Ph.D. students).

 

[erg923]

Addressing question number 2: Also take a look at the acceptance table for Ph.D. vs Psy.D. acceptances (on the APPIC website). If a program has only taken 1 Psy.Ds in the past 3 years, then its a safe bet that if you are a Psy.D. and want to apply there, you better have some significant research output to show for yourself. And of course, as AA mentioned, there are a few programs that will not consider psy.ds applicants at all. However, I will say I have never heard of the reverse of this though. In other words, I have never heard of a site with an active bias against a Ph.D applicants...so long as they have the appropriate amount of clinical experience that they are looking for.

Addressing question number 3: Yes, CCs often wants to see CC experience, this is true. That attitude does not seem to be nearly as widespread amongst other settings however. I will say that having VA experience can sometimes help for VAs though (certainly wont hurt), and substance abuse work is highly valued in correctional settings such as BOP sites.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Addressing question number 2: Also take a look at the acceptance table for Ph.D. vs Psy.D. acceptances (on the APPIC website). If a program has only taken 1 Psy.Ds in the past 3 years, then its a safe bet that if you are a Psy.D. and want to apply there, you better have some significant research output to show for yourself. And of course, as AA mentioned, there are a few programs that will not consider psy.ds applicants at all. However, I will say I have never heard of the reverse of this though. In other words, I have never heard of a site with an active bias against a Ph.D applicants...so long as they have the appropriate amount of clinical experience that they are looking for.

Addressing question number 3: Yes, CCs often wants to see CC experience, this is true. That attitude does not seem to be nearly as widespread amongst other settings however. I will say that having VA experience can sometimes help for VAs though (certainly wont hurt), and substance abuse work is highly valued in correctional settings such as BOP sites.

I'll definitely agree with your response to question 3--CCs seem to be the one type of site that nearly requires you to have experience in a specific setting (i.e., a CC). However, as you've mentioned, other site types definitely would prefer that you have familiarity with certain treatments or in certain settings/populations. If you don't have these familiarities, the sites then at least want you to know enough to say that this is an area of your training you realize will need shoring up.