Intern in Distress

[LyricAnalysis]

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Hi, All!

I am currently an intern at my top choice site, but it is not all peaches and cream. Without revealing the site, it is a consortium with 3 tracks. My track is typically allocated 2/7 interns each year. This is where the problem lies. After MATCH last year, I received the customary phone call from the consortium TD and a follow-up call from the preceptor for my specific track. Later, he emailed me the name and contact info of the other interns. So I made contact with the other person on my track and we made fast friends. When we got here in the fall, however, there were 2 extra interns, both in our track, for a total of 9. They were unmatched and unsuccessful in securing a spot through clearing house. They are both from a neighboring program that does not have an internship program. Thus, there was an arrangement made between sites to create something for them so they did not have to wait another year. It was strange, but I originally thought it was great. The more the merrier, right? As the year progresses (we are in the middle of the 2nd rotation), I am finding that having double the number of usual interns is really putting a damper on the training. It is like the training opportunities have been cut in half. In fact, there are a couple rotations that I am pretty sure will not be available to me before the end fo the year. It is not uncommon to find one of us taskless at times. I just feel that if I had known these things, I might have ranked differently.

I welcome any feedback on the following issues: is this normal? Was the creation of the 2 additional positions even legit (by APPIC standards)? Should I say something to my home TD? Should I just suck it up?

 

[FuturePhD2]

Hi, All!

I am currently an intern at my top choice site, but it is not all peaches and cream. Without revealing the site, it is a consortium with 3 tracks. My track is typically allocated 2/7 interns each year. This is where the problem lies. After MATCH last year, I received the customary phone call from the consortium TD and a follow-up call from the preceptor for my specific track. Later, he emailed me the name and contact info of the other interns. So I made contact with the other person on my track and we made fast friends. When we got here in the fall, however, there were 2 extra interns, both in our track, for a total of 9. They were unmatched and unsuccessful in securing a spot through clearing house. They are both from a neighboring program that does not have an internship program. Thus, there was an arrangement made between sites to create something for them so they did not have to wait another year. It was strange, but I originally thought it was great. The more the merrier, right? As the year progresses (we are in the middle of the 2nd rotation), I am finding that having double the number of usual interns is really putting a damper on the training. It is like the training opportunities have been cut in half. In fact, there are a couple rotations that I am pretty sure will not be available to me before the end fo the year. It is not uncommon to find one of us taskless at times. I just feel that if I had known these things, I might have ranked differently.

I welcome any feedback on the following issues: is this normal? Was the creation of the 2 additional positions even legit (by APPIC standards)? Should I say something to my home TD? Should I just suck it up?

I've never heard of that happening, and am not clear on what APPIC would say about it. I've heard of site that have extra funding offering extra positions in the match, but not after.

On one hand, it's great if a site has the extra funding to do so, but not at the expense of the training of interns that matched. If it were me, I would definitely talk to the track supervisor and training director. It's one thing to not have all the rotations you may have wanted and still be busy, but it sounds like you're also not getting as many hours as you would have otherwise, and that's problematic.

 

[LM02]

Assuming that this is an APA site, you should be given regular opportunities to provide feedback (through evaluations). I don't think it is worth directly commenting on the situation with the "extra" interns, as that ship has sailed and what's done is done. But I would bring up your concerns about not having as many training opportunities as you had anticipated. If you bring it up in a diplomatic way, I would hope that they would listen to you and think of ways to give you more training experiences.

 

[O Gurl]

I have never heard of this either. 😕

I don't know if it is kosher in terms of APPIC/MATCH practices, but that doesn't sound like the question you really need answered (or a fight you are willing to pick for obvious reasons). I, too, am assuming the site is accredited, so just out of curiosity, I wonder if the "extra" interns will be considered as having completed an accredited internship, too?

Anyway, I agree with both FuturePhD and LM02 that you should raise the issue and see if something can be done to arrange more training. If that route fails, talking with your grad program TD is another option as he/she still has a vested interest in how their trainees are treated during internship. Diplomacy is a big issue, of course, but you probably have more leverage than you think. Esp. since these changes occurred after the MATCH and have affected your training. If your graduate program TD took that complaint to a higher level, things could get really hairy for the internship. Of course, no one would want that kind of drama, so I am guessing (optimistic) that your site will understand your concerns and make accomodations for you.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Best of luck.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

While I haven't seen the exact situation happen, I have seen instances where the training experience changed in a significant way, and the trainee was left to figure it out. It is best to contact your mentor (or someone you feel comfortable with at your university) to get their input. I'd also want my university program to know, as they should be in the loop as soon as possible because they can watch out for your best interest. Your university TD would probably speak to the site TD (this is where you need to be careful), and hopefully they can figure something out.