Difference between APPIC and APA accredited internships?

[clinpsychgirl]

It's a little soon for me to be worrying about this- but while I have some down time waiting for my grad applications to go through, could somebody tell me the difference between APA and APPIC accredited internships?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LM02]

It's a little soon for me to be worrying about this- but while I have some down time waiting for my grad applications to go through, could somebody tell me the difference between APA and APPIC accredited internships?

Thanks!

APPIC is a an organization that is focused on supporting internship and postdoctoral training. APPIC administers the match process (although an outside company actually runs the match numbers). Programs can join APPIC as members, and have to meet certain criteria to be accepted. APA evaluates the internship programs to determine that they meet standards for training set forth by the powers that be. Basically, APA accreditation is what you should be focusing on - that's what you want for licensure.

Although you can get licensed without an APA accredited internship, the burden of proof falls on you to demonstrate that your training met the state's licensure standards. That's a lot of extra work and a huge headache.

 

[clinpsychgirl]

APPIC is a an organization that is focused on supporting internship and postdoctoral training. APPIC administers the match process (although an outside company actually runs the match numbers). Programs can join APPIC as members, and have to meet certain criteria to be accepted. APA evaluates the internship programs to determine that they meet standards for training set forth by the powers that be. Basically, APA accreditation is what you should be focusing on - that's what you want for licensure.

Although you can get licensed without an APA accredited internship, the burden of proof falls on you to demonstrate that your training met the state's licensure standards. That's a lot of extra work and a huge headache.

Hey,

Thanks very much for clarifying this issue. I noticed a number of schools (even top tier research institutions) will report the graduate students who are matched in an APPIC accredited internship as apposed to students who match to an APA accredited site. Is it appropriate to ask during interviews whether or not these APPIC sites are also APA accredited or is that assumed to be the case?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[LM02]

Hey,

Thanks very much for clarifying this issue. I noticed a number of schools (even top tier research institutions) will report the graduate students who are matched in an APPIC accredited internship as apposed to students who match to an APA accredited site. Is it appropriate to ask during interviews whether or not these APPIC sites are also APA accredited or is that assumed to be the case?

Thanks again for your help.

I think you already have your answer. APA accredited always trumps APPIC, and most APA sites are APPIC members anyway. For example, I went to an APA-accredited internship. That is how I'm counted in my grad program's stats, even though my internship was also an APPIC member. So if a grad program is specifying that some students matched to APA sites, whereas others went to APPIC sites, I think it's relatively safe to assume that the APPIC sites were not APA-accredited. Why else would you make the distinction?

If you want to bring this up in an interview, you could ask something along the lines of, "What percentage of your students match to APA-accredited internships?" Keep it vague and positive. Sometimes people get defensive about these issues.

If you want to play it even safer, I would recommend asking the current grad students (vs. a faculty member) - they will often be more straightforward and honest about these kinds of questions, anyway.

 

[PsyDGrrrl]

APPIC is a an organization that is focused on supporting internship and postdoctoral training. APPIC administers the match process (although an outside company actually runs the match numbers). Programs can join APPIC as members, and have to meet certain criteria to be accepted. APA evaluates the internship programs to determine that they meet standards for training set forth by the powers that be. Basically, APA accreditation is what you should be focusing on - that's what you want for licensure.

Although you can get licensed without an APA accredited internship, the burden of proof falls on you to demonstrate that your training met the state's licensure standards. That's a lot of extra work and a huge headache.

You don't necessarily need to focus on APA accreditation, and in terms of the quality of training you get, the truth is that APA accreditation doesn't really mean much. However, I'm in California so I only know about the licensing requirements here, and I know that my grad program (APA accredited) and my internship (APPIC accredited) were just fine. (I'm not yet applying for licensure, but everyone else in my program did just fine. And California is one of the states with stricter standards.)