PhD/PsyD confused about choosing practicum/externship

[VentureIntoNothingness]

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Hi everyone. I am kinda confused in terms of picking practicum and externships... I am interested in research-oriented sites for internship with adult population and possibly health psych. I wonder what kind of practicum/externship experiences would be most relevant. I imagine experiences with adult population in university-affiliated medical centers (UAMC) would be most helpful. But I wonder if you guys have any suggestions on prioritizing 1) adults vs. children/adolescents, 2) UAMC vs. VA vs. private practice, 3) intervention vs. assessment and 1) vs. 2) vs. 3).

Much much much appreciated.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

My quick response: in graduate school, you're going to want to try to get as much of a solid foundation (i.e., breadth) of training as you can. That doesn't mean it can't have direction, but I would say not all of a student's training should focus on their eventual specialized interests.

If you're interested in health psych, just about any type of medical center (AMC or VA or private hospital) with a health psych component should be helpful. And if you want to work with adults, then yes, the majority of your grad school training should be with adults. You're likely going to have a greater amount of intervention than assessment, but I would strongly, strongly encourage you to get a solid foundation in psychological assessment. Once you leave grad school (and even while in grad school for some people), finding psychologists who feel competent to train you in assessment can be remarkably difficult.

 

[WisNeuro]

My quick response: in graduate school, you're going to want to try to get as much of a solid foundation (i.e., breadth) of training as you can. That doesn't mean it can't have direction, but I would say not all of a student's training should focus on their eventual specialized interests.

If you're interested in health psych, just about any type of medical center (AMC or VA or private hospital) with a health psych component should be helpful. And if you want to work with adults, then yes, the majority of your grad school training should be with adults. You're likely going to have a greater amount of intervention than assessment, but I would strongly, strongly encourage you to get a solid foundation in psychological assessment. Once you leave grad school (and even while in grad school for some people), finding psychologists who feel competent to train you in assessment can be remarkably difficult.

Yes please. Even in our general, non-psych rotations, assessment is very important. It seems that every year, the quality of assessment training in internship applicants declines. One way to set yourself up well for most internships is to be well-rounded, with an inclination towards your specialty area if you choose to pursue it. Seeing too many people with extremely narrow prac experiences, which gets your application either flat out rejected, or pushed to the back end of the ranking pool.