APPIC Interview Invitation Thread (2021)

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Official Site Name: Ohio Psychology Internship
Date Invitation Received: 12/4
Method of Invitation: Personal email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Forensic track
Interview Dates Offered: asked me about several different weeks in January and to send back my general availability
Has anyone heard back from the inpatient track?
 
I received an invite to interview that said they would be sending out a link to schedule a time and if not interest in interviewing to email them back.

I am interested in interviewing and didn’t know if it would be appropriate to email back thanking them for the offer to interview and a quick line about looking forward to it or if I should just wait for the scheduling email?
I think it would be fine either way.
 
Official Site Name: North Florida/Southern Georgia VA
Date Invitation Received: 12/4
Method of Invitation: Mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): General
Interview Dates Offered: 1/5, 1/12, 1/13, 1/19
If & How you're staying sane: I have interviews every day next week, so I will be prepping for those!
 
Official Site Name: North Florida/Southern Georgia VA
Date Invitation Received: 12/4
Method of Invitation: Mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): General
Interview Dates Offered: 1/5, 1/12, 1/13, 1/19
If & How you're staying sane: I have interviews every day next week, so I will be prepping for those!
Congrats! So cool that I watched your post pop up as soon as I submitted mine. Good luck and awesome (although maybe anxiety-provoking) that you have some interviews to prep for 🙂
 
Congrats! So cool that I watched your post pop up as soon as I submitted mine. Good luck and awesome (although maybe anxiety-provoking) that you have some interviews to prep for 🙂
I noticed yours right away too lol! Thank you, and I look forward to possibly virtually bumping into you on an interview day!
 
I noticed yours right away too lol! Thank you, and I look forward to possibly virtually bumping into you on an interview day!
Looking forward to virtually meeting you, too! Also, I lived in Gainesville, Florida for five years so if you aren't from the area and have any questions about it feel free to reach out 🙂
 
I wanted to reply to this and then I will let this thread get back on track 🙂. I was being a bit sarcastic and will not actually tell my students that, but it's also the case that academics are typically pretty driven people and for me, at least, I find myself getting frustrated a lot with student productivity levels. I'm not a senior person so I imagine it depends on your career level/the students you attract, and I do try to be sensitive to the fact that students have a variety of things on their plates and dont work 100% on research (that's what postdocs are for 🙂). Plus now we've got the pandemic on top of everything else. I've tried to follow good people management practices (which you don't learn in grad school...) and I find that this is good for dynamics in the lab and my relationships with trainees, but still doesn't get their productivity to the level I would want.

I appreciate the student perspective and the push back against a hyperintense productivity culture, but I also want to warn future academics that my experience has been that I enjoy mentoring students but that I still feel like I'm doing a lot of the heavy lifting for all of our research productivity and I wish I was seeing more from the students. Perhaps this will improve as I continue to learn how to manage a lab, but those of you who are very ambitious and excited to start your own lab...be aware that there's a lot of frustration because a lot of people can't live up to your standards, at least not for a while.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the clarification and perspective! 🙂 I can imagine how frustrating it would be to not be able to rely on your students like you wish you could. And I definitely value having a high degree of research productivity as well.

I pushed back on your comment because academia has historically relied on using fear (“publish or perish”), shame, guilt, comparison etc. to motivate students to meet demands (as I’m sure you are aware of too!). That may work for some people, but I’m also hoping that we can start to adopt more positive and rewarding ways of motivation that are adaptive and long-lasting (and that would hopefully result in a climate that attracts and sustains a more diverse field of professionals).
 
That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the clarification and perspective! 🙂 I can imagine how frustrating it would be to not be able to rely on your students like you wish you could. And I definitely value having a high degree of research productivity as well.

I pushed back on your comment because academia has historically relied on using fear (“publish or perish”), shame, guilt, comparison etc. to motivate students to meet demands (as I’m sure you are aware of too!). That may work for some people, but I’m also hoping that we can start to adopt more positive and rewarding ways of motivation that are adaptive and long-lasting (and that would hopefully result in a climate that attracts and sustains a more diverse field of professionals).

As far as the "publish or perish" piece goes, it's not necessarily a fear tactic, as it is more of a preparation for the game ahead. Tenure track positions are becoming more scarce, increasing competition, and federal and state funding dollars are getting decreased in certain segments. It's a tough game for many fields.
 
Is anyone applying to the Sacramento VA in light of them just obtaining APA accreditation (that wasn’t planning on previously applying)? Has anyone heard anything about this site in general (good or bad)?

I was thinking about it, but I haven't heard anything about the site
Me too! Thinking about applying, and haven't hear anything about it. If anyone knows anything, please chime in!
 
Hi guys!
Have anyone heard from UWashington school of medicine? Their notification date is today. im assuming a rejection but also havent seen anyone posted invitation/rejection here yet. just wondering... thanks 🙂
 
Hi guys!
Have anyone heard from UWashington school of medicine? Their notification date is today. im assuming a rejection but also havent seen anyone posted invitation/rejection here yet. just wondering... thanks 🙂

I'm waiting on this one too (like anxiously refreshing my email haha). I think they will be notifying of invites & rejections today since I haven't seen anyone on here receive/post anything about them yet! 😬
 
Hi guys!
Have anyone heard from UWashington school of medicine? Their notification date is today. im assuming a rejection but also havent seen anyone posted invitation/rejection here yet. just wondering... thanks 🙂
I was wondering the same thing. Was thinking rejection too and still had a few hopes because I haven’t heard of any interviews. They interview so many folk that i figure someone on here would be on that list.
 
Official Site Name: Central Regional Hospital
Date Invitation Received: 12/4/20
Method of Invitation: (Mass?) E-mail
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): Neuro/Gero
Interview Dates Offered: Jan 11, 14, 19, 22

I was feeling pretty dejected after 7 rejections and 1 waitlist, so this feels huge!! Especially because geography-wise this was one of my top sites!
 
Rejection email from Kaiser Permanente Oakland. Brutally short mass email (not even a Dear Applicant) with typos.

Side note: I know the TDs have a lot to do, but we spend so much time on our applications...it would be nice if they proofread before sending them out.
 
Me too! Thinking about applying, and haven't hear anything about it. If anyone knows anything, please chime in!
I had a long phone call with a friend who interned at the Sacramento VA and she had nothing but positive things to say about the site! Here are some bulletpoints:
  • They were accredited on their first try, which is apparently a big deal
  • Clinicians are younger at this site, but experts in the field
  • They really tailor the internship to what you want-- if you want certain cases or experiences, just speak out!
  • The PTSD team in particular is super strong and the clinicians there are the top experts in the field
  • There is the opportunity to partner with UC Davis psychiatry residents. I can't remember the specifics of this partnership, but she made it sound really cool
  • Apparently, the training director is also awesome and she liked the TD a lot
  • They're trying to get applicants with better experience in neuropsych for those who are interested in this rotation-- hence the neuropsych report requirement this year
Sorry if these are super generic notes. Over all, my friend had a great experience and recommended the site. I'm definitely applying as a result. Hope this helps a bit!
 
Got an email today from a site requesting a tele-meeting with the DCT for 45 minutes in 5 days. No other instructions or congratulations or anything in the email, just asking to schedule a time. Does this sound like an interview invite? What does it mean!??!?! haha
Maybe they want you for their secret service track and need to keep things hush hush. Very need to know basis.
 
I had a long phone call with a friend who interned at the Sacramento VA and she had nothing but positive things to say about the site! Here are some bulletpoints:
  • They were accredited on their first try, which is apparently a big deal
  • Clinicians are younger at this site, but experts in the field
  • They really tailor the internship to what you want-- if you want certain cases or experiences, just speak out!
  • The PTSD team in particular is super strong and the clinicians there are the top experts in the field
  • There is the opportunity to partner with UC Davis psychiatry residents. I can't remember the specifics of this partnership, but she made it sound really cool
  • Apparently, the training director is also awesome and she liked the TD a lot
  • They're trying to get applicants with better experience in neuropsych for those who are interested in this rotation-- hence the neuropsych report requirement this year
Sorry if these are super generic notes. Over all, my friend had a great experience and recommended the site. I'm definitely applying as a result. Hope this helps a bit!
Thank you so much for sharing!
 
I was wondering the same thing. Was thinking rejection too and still had a few hopes because I haven’t heard of any interviews. They interview so many folk that i figure someone on here would be on that list.
Saaaaaame! Was just about to post asking if anyone heard anything. Anticipating they will probably do one mass email for invites, and on for rejections today. Expecting to be in the latter group, but wanting to know soon since their interview/open house date seems so inflexible.
 
Do all sites generally contact applicants by the interview notification date? Quite a few have missed the deadline.
This year is so hectic because of COVID, and I have heard sites are behind for that reason. It's hard for us on this end but I'm trying to be understanding considering everything going on right now...
 
The earlier KKI posts seem to be related to the Behavioral Psychology/ Neuropsychology Program and not the newer, PMHP/Family Traumatic Stress Program. These are separate programs, not tracks.

Edit: PMHP is one of the two tracks within the latter program.

I’m waiting on this one too!! I don’t remember seeing an update, but within AAPI I noticed that they extended the deadline to 11/16. So maybe that’s related? I think 12/15 is the posted notification date.
Thank you for your insight! Fingers crossed for both of us!
 
Me too! Thinking about applying, and haven't hear anything about it. If anyone knows anything, please chime in!
Zero insight on Sacramento but overall, an accredited VA internship is a safe bet because it meets both APA standards as well as the VA's national educational standards for clinical training in psychology.

Where the differences will come into play are the types of training experiences that can be offered and the quality of folks involved in training.

Newer programs or smaller VA facilities may be more limited in offering 'basic' rotation opportunities such as General Mental Health/Mental Health Clinic, PTSD Clinical Team, and SUD, either because the facility itself has either limited clinical resources or staff who can supervise or the TD has yet to be able to arrange for other areas to be available (acute inpatient, blind behab, spinal cord injury, polytrauma, psychosocial recovery/SMI, gero, etc).

I took a brief glance at their handbook and compared to other VAs I'm familiar with, the breadth of their training opportunities is probably on the lower end but that may not matter if these are the exact experiences you want. One last thing to consider, especially for sites with less rotation options, if every intern wanted to do a specific non-required rotation (say PCMHI), would the site be able to accommodate everybody?

Good luck everybody!
 
Just received the official interview offer from a BOP!

Official Site Name: FMC Devens
Date Invitation Received
: 12/4 around 3pm
Method of Invitation: Mass email
Specialty Track or Site (e.g., for consortiums): N/A
Interview Dates Offered: January 12, 15, 19, 22 and open house on 1/26 and 1/29
Congrats! Have you scheduled the Core Values Assessment and all yet? I just received an email about that part but haven't heard about the interview dates for my actual sites yet...
 
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