externship - internship

[biscuitsbiscuits]

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I was looking through a list of externship sites and I noticed that one of them is actually the same site as an internship I've been sort of excited about. It made me wonder if attending that site for externship would have any negative impact on a future application to the site for internship. Not because of my performance (let's say hypothetically I did well), but because of other potential dynamics I may not be aware of. Maybe they might prefer (or are required to consider) new applicants, or some other such thing? Just wondering if there's any sort of common practice, guideline, general feeling, impressions, etc. surrounding internship applications from previous students.

Thanks!

 

[ClinicalABA]

I was looking through a list of externship sites and I noticed that one of them is actually the same site as an internship I've been sort of excited about. It made me wonder if attending that site for externship would have any negative impact on a future application to the site for internship. Not because of my performance (let's say hypothetically I did well), but because of other potential dynamics I may not be aware of. Maybe they might prefer (or are required to consider) new applicants, or some other such thing? Just wondering if there's any sort of common practice, guideline, general feeling, impressions, etc. surrounding internship applications from previous students.

Thanks!

N of one, but I did my pre-doc APA accredited internship with the same company I did a practica (externship) with.

 

[NeuroWise]

I was looking through a list of externship sites and I noticed that one of them is actually the same site as an internship I've been sort of excited about. It made me wonder if attending that site for externship would have any negative impact on a future application to the site for internship. Not because of my performance (let's say hypothetically I did well), but because of other potential dynamics I may not be aware of. Maybe they might prefer (or are required to consider) new applicants, or some other such thing? Just wondering if there's any sort of common practice, guideline, general feeling, impressions, etc. surrounding internship applications from previous students.

Thanks!

I have first-hand experience with this situation. I did a year-long practicum at a site that had an internship, and then I applied to that internship just a year later. In fact, one of my rec writers was a supervisor from this site, so he essentially wrote a letter to himself. Honestly, I thought it very likely I would match there because the practicum experience went so well. Turns out, I was wrong. I was told later that the application review folks liked me and my application but wondered what else the training site could offer me. I had done two of the three primary (neuro) training experiences that comprise the internship, and they worried I would not get as much out of the internship year as I should given I had already "done" a lot of what they offered. This did not make a ton of sense to me since the practicum was just two days per week and the internship would be full time. Oh well. In the end, the site did offer me an interview and I was ranked but not as highly as I thought I would be.

So I think there are a lot of factors that go into the internship application review process and having done a practicum at the site can hurt your chances apparently. But I can also imagine it being a big help if you crush it and they like you. At least that's what I thought. In retrospect, I wish I would have just straight up asked how my application would be viewed.

 

[futurehopefully]

Have others in your program who completed a practicum at that site also applied there for internship? That may give you some insight about whether previous experience with the site may negatively impact you.

 

[biscuitsbiscuits]

Interesting, conflicting experience. I guess it depends on the site?

This site is newly APA-accredited. I think this will be its second accredited year. I don't think anyone from my program has done an externship there and then applied to their internship program, but I will ask.

I have first-hand experience with this situation. I did a year-long practicum at a site that had an internship, and then I applied to that internship just a year later. In fact, one of my rec writers was a supervisor from this site, so he essentially wrote a letter to himself. Honestly, I thought it very likely I would match there because the practicum experience went so well. Turns out, I was wrong. I was told later that the application review folks liked me and my application but wondered what else the training site could offer me. I had done two of the three primary (neuro) training experiences that comprise the internship, and they worried I would not get as much out of the internship year as I should given I had already "done" a lot of what they offered. This did not make a ton of sense to me since the practicum was just two days per week and the internship would be full time. Oh well. In the end, the site did offer me an interview and I was ranked but not as highly as I thought I would be.

So I think there are a lot of factors that go into the internship application review process and having done a practicum at the site can hurt your chances apparently. But I can also imagine it being a big help if you crush it and they like you. At least that's what I thought. In retrospect, I wish I would have just straight up asked how my application would be viewed.

Ack, just the sort of thing I was worried about! Do you (and others) think it would be appropriate to ask the site directly how they would view this?

All pretty uncertain at this point, but if I had the feeling it would negatively impact an internship application, I wouldn't pursue it as an externship.

 

[Justanothergrad]

A few thoughts:
1. If you're a bad clinician or a pain to supervise, it will always impact your competitiveness at that site in the future
2. Sites will vary on what they want and how they view internship as a process- people view applicants differently.
3. It's commonly valued by training sites to have something to offer interns during that year - that frequently means something new. If they don't offer you something new, are they training you and isn't that what you're there for?
4. I'm not sure what year you are, but I wouldn't focus on finding the right internship until you are applying. Program offerings change, funding changes, You change, etc.
5. Most importantly, if I could get an important training experience earlier in my training rather than waiting til the end, I would do so regardless of if that means I may not be as competitive at one specific site I think I want to go to.

 

[SchoolClinical]

The simple answer is that it depends. I have heard from externship sites that they will not consider someone for internship who has been there already, while other sites maintained that you have a better chance. The fact is that it varies by site, and in my opinion, it is perfectly acceptable to ask them.

 

[PsyDr]

Do some recon, see if you can tell if their present interns came from there. Scour for CVs from their graduates.

The rest depends on you. Are you extremely consistent in getting things done? Even under super high stress months like will occur during internship application season? Or is your performance varied? Do you get sick semi regularly? Rarely sick? Do you make a good first impression and keep it? Does it take a while to warm up to you? Do you make a good first impression and then sort of fade? Are you good at keeping your private stuff private over a period of years? Or do you confide in your coworkers for things like "we might be getting pregnant?" and "I got super drunk on new years." and "I normally love Supervisor X, but they're being a huge jerk".

At some point, the internship committee is free to project extremely positive things on completely unknown applicants. This could be hard to compete against, or it could not.

Asking directly seems extremely risky. Could go extremely well, could go extremely bad. But there is a long history of back door deals in internship.

 

[biscuitsbiscuits]

Good info, thanks all.

The reason I'm thinking about this now is that I'm applying for next year's externship this fall. I'm just thinking ahead to how it might impact internship applications.

After reading these responses, I think it probably makes the most sense to follow @Justanothergrad 's point #5 and pursue the site for externship, get the training (if I end up there), see how it goes, and go from there. It's true that it may not even be an ideal internship site for me in reality. I just didn't want to close any doors by failing to think ahead. I'm not going to ask the site about it directly, but I am going to do the recon suggested by @PSYDR

All good points, thanks again.