APA Accreditation Pending

[PsychBiker]

So I am looking at two Clinical Psychology Psyd programs, both are relatively new. One has applied for APA accreditation in 2007 and the status is still pending on the APA website. Also, if it matters, they have a 90%~ APPIC internship rate. The other is will have their first graduating class in 2011 and their first internships in 2010.

Now, I assume that if the school gets APA accredited before I graduate I would be considered a graduate from a APA appoved school. But, what happens if I graduate from a program that has a "acreditation pending" status and then they get accredited later? I do know how important being APA approved is and I want to be sure about this. Thank you.

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[apumic]

My understanding is that what matters is the status when you graduate, so if you graduate when a program's status is "pending" or "suspended," you've graduated from an unaccredited program. (fyi: the APA accredits programs, not schools; so if a school's PhD in Clinical Psychology is accredited and then they start an add'l PsyD in Counseling, the PsyD in Counseling is NOT accredited until it passes the necessary req'ts)

 

[futureapppsy2]

Just curious: Are these programs Midwestern University in IL and AZ?

 

[socialcog]

I would be more concerned about the accreditation by the time I apply for internship. Being competitive for post-docs aside, I am not sure why it would matter all that much for a PsyD to have graduated from an accredited university.

 

[futureapppsy2]

^
Licensing?

 

[cmuhooligan]

Also, if it matters, they have a 90%~ APPIC internship rate.

Keep in mind that APPIC accredited internships are not the same as APA accredited internships (although an internship site can be accredited by both). I would be more interested in their match rate for the latter.

 

[socialcog]

^
Licensing?

I'm sorry but I don't follow. Are you saying that if you graduate from a non-accredited university then you cannot get licensed?

 

[Ollie123]

My understanding is that if it isn't at least regionally accredited you will have great difficulty getting licensed. If it is regionally accredited, there are still certain states where licensure may be more difficult/impossible, and there might be additional hoops you have to jump through to convince licensing boards.

Even ignoring licensure issues, you are basically ruling yourself out from a fair number of jobs that a PsyD might be interested in, namely the VA system and pretty much any academic medical center. If someone is absolutely positive they want a private practice, a private practice only, and nothing else, then it probably matters less.

The above is based off my limited understanding of the licensure process as someone who has yet to go through it themselves though, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[RileyG]

I'm sorry but I don't follow. Are you saying that if you graduate from a non-accredited university then you cannot get licensed?

depending on the state...yes. you can't even have a private practice (in such states) without a license. There was a thread a while back that talked about this issue, I believe.

 

[futureapppsy2]

My understanding is that if it isn't at least regionally accredited you will have great difficulty getting licensed. If it is regionally accredited, there are still certain states where licensure may be more difficult/impossible, and there might be additional hoops you have to jump through to convince licensing boards.

Even ignoring licensure issues, you are basically ruling yourself out from a fair number of jobs that a PsyD might be interested in, namely the VA system and pretty much any academic medical center. If someone is absolutely positive they want a private practice, a private practice only, and nothing else, then it probably matters less.

This.

Thanks, Ollie!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Even ignoring licensure issues, you are basically ruling yourself out from a fair number of jobs that a PsyD might be interested in, namely the VA system and pretty much any academic medical center. If someone is absolutely positive they want a private practice, a private practice only, and nothing else, then it probably matters less.

I didn't really consider VA placements until recently, but between the set hours, good benefits, and solid training (may vary by site).....they can be a really good place to start your career. Eventually I'd like to step into an academic medical center setting, and I know I'd have ZERO shot if I didn't do APA everything during my training.

 

[JoeyS]

For therapist4change:

I don't necessarily agree with you on the APA accreditation everything for a medical center career, but I would bet it would certainly make your life easier. It's not impossible though.

I am in a great APA accredited program (clinical Ph.D) and am going to a non-accredited site. However, I just learned, that my site applied for accreditation on May 1st, which means I could have a good chance of coming from an accredited program. I have been applying and doing connections already for post-doc and not one has asked me about accreditation. AND, these programs (post-doc) are at ivy league medical centers. I think personal connections, your CV, publications, all play more into this decision than whether you went APA or not....


ALSO, for anyone out there, are there any interns on this board whose internship programs applied for accreditation when they were there? What is this process like? How much hope can I have?

thanks>>