The below reply was in response to an APA member saying that professional schools were flooding the intership market and creating the imbalance we see now. This is what another persons stated. I find it interesting that the person who responded was saying that psychologists refuse to accept a "fair wage"
See (and you can forward this to any divisions or friends-I remain an APA member and have expressed these concerns in writing repeatedly), many are mouthing the APA myth (too many Professional School Grads killing job market). In actuality, the only thing that is dieing is private practice and that is dieing for physicians also and has nothing to do with the professional schools but the changing healthcare system.
In reality, I and other employers can't hire enough psychologists so we have to substitute MSWs and LPCs. Actually, they make better workers and accept supervision and structure better and that is becoming apparent in healthcare systems. Still, there are way more jobs out there than doctors of psychology who want to work, are willing to work for a realistic wage (you can only pay what the income stream can support), and who know how to be team and program players and accept supervision well. Most come to healthcare systems poorly trained and must be retrained. Many APA approved programs and internships have very few seasoned clinician supervisors who've worked for years in hospitals and healthcare facilities (and really won't hire these non-research types who won't chase grant funding for the school). Many APA internships are in guidance and counseling centers on campus or facilities with very few patients, no mulitdisciplinary staff, and no real core healthcare programs. APA accreditation has not been flexible and a leader in developing core healthcare placements by accepting and grandparenting JCAHO, CARF, and CMS accredited facilities with senior psychologist staff available (an easy fix and they have to pass more relevant and stringent accreditation visits). APPIC has become controlled by academics and has many of the same problems and senior supervisors avoid them, and they have lost their clinician friendly bent over the years.
There are easy fixes out there: a. grandparent accredited healthcare facilities with senior psychologist staff supervisors for internships and residencies, b. take specialty boards out from under APA Academic Dominated Committee control and give it to practitioners, c. revise APA accreditation standards to make clinical psychology, neuropsychology, health psychology, and medical psychology training programs hire at least 50% of their faculty with at least 5 years full-time health facility practice experience.
I have written about this regularly and in many forums. These solutions are workable, would help psychology and students, and they would go a long way to break down the barriers to making psychology a core primary care discipline! You have to ask yourself what stops such doable solutions: a. APA academics desire to keep control of practice and licensure, b. APA's corporate interests, c. Practitioner's lack of assertiveness and political advocacy for themselves!
Soon, if things don't change, or there are "more of the same" (corporate and academic control) solutions", then I predict their will be movements for the practice community to "establish their own training program accreditation at the doctorate school and internship and residency levels"! The professional schools lost this battle and have been taken over by the academics when they made the mistake of "accepting APA accreditation (meta control)" instead of estabilshing and sticking to their own accrediting body!
Dr. Jerry Morris
See (and you can forward this to any divisions or friends-I remain an APA member and have expressed these concerns in writing repeatedly), many are mouthing the APA myth (too many Professional School Grads killing job market). In actuality, the only thing that is dieing is private practice and that is dieing for physicians also and has nothing to do with the professional schools but the changing healthcare system.
In reality, I and other employers can't hire enough psychologists so we have to substitute MSWs and LPCs. Actually, they make better workers and accept supervision and structure better and that is becoming apparent in healthcare systems. Still, there are way more jobs out there than doctors of psychology who want to work, are willing to work for a realistic wage (you can only pay what the income stream can support), and who know how to be team and program players and accept supervision well. Most come to healthcare systems poorly trained and must be retrained. Many APA approved programs and internships have very few seasoned clinician supervisors who've worked for years in hospitals and healthcare facilities (and really won't hire these non-research types who won't chase grant funding for the school). Many APA internships are in guidance and counseling centers on campus or facilities with very few patients, no mulitdisciplinary staff, and no real core healthcare programs. APA accreditation has not been flexible and a leader in developing core healthcare placements by accepting and grandparenting JCAHO, CARF, and CMS accredited facilities with senior psychologist staff available (an easy fix and they have to pass more relevant and stringent accreditation visits). APPIC has become controlled by academics and has many of the same problems and senior supervisors avoid them, and they have lost their clinician friendly bent over the years.
There are easy fixes out there: a. grandparent accredited healthcare facilities with senior psychologist staff supervisors for internships and residencies, b. take specialty boards out from under APA Academic Dominated Committee control and give it to practitioners, c. revise APA accreditation standards to make clinical psychology, neuropsychology, health psychology, and medical psychology training programs hire at least 50% of their faculty with at least 5 years full-time health facility practice experience.
I have written about this regularly and in many forums. These solutions are workable, would help psychology and students, and they would go a long way to break down the barriers to making psychology a core primary care discipline! You have to ask yourself what stops such doable solutions: a. APA academics desire to keep control of practice and licensure, b. APA's corporate interests, c. Practitioner's lack of assertiveness and political advocacy for themselves!
Soon, if things don't change, or there are "more of the same" (corporate and academic control) solutions", then I predict their will be movements for the practice community to "establish their own training program accreditation at the doctorate school and internship and residency levels"! The professional schools lost this battle and have been taken over by the academics when they made the mistake of "accepting APA accreditation (meta control)" instead of estabilshing and sticking to their own accrediting body!
Dr. Jerry Morris
