Placing in internship site with less than stellar hours?

[ClinicallyPsyched_00]

Hey guys! I am applying to internship this year and am wondering if folks can share their experience of matching with an internship site when they had less hours than their peers or perhaps what is "typically" expected. I know the nature of this question is super vague but Ive had some concern that maybe my hours (~620) might look paltry despite the COVID disruption. Did hours make a profound difference in your capacity to interview and/or match?

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[AcronymAllergy]

My (n=1) perspective from the "other side:" once an applicant is over the minimum threshold (e.g., 500 hours), additional hours have much less impact on the overall competitiveness of the application. Unless a person has a lot of hours and a suspiciously smaller number of supervision hours. Or they're barely over the threshold with fewer hours than most other applicants while also having less apparent productivity in other areas (e.g., research).

 

[SunshinePsych]

Are the 620 Hours total hours or is that your direct intervention and assessment hours. I got hit hard by COVID for my last practicum and ended up with about the same number of direct hours that you are listing. There were maybe 1/2 dozen sites I was looking at for internships that I was under the minimum hours that the site wanted. 2 of those I really wanted to interview at. I emailed the training director for all of those of those sites. Most of them told me to apply anyways as they understand the reality due to COVID. I got an interview at 1 of those sites.

As long as you meet the sites hours (if they have a requirement), I don't think your hours will stop you from getting the interview.

As for site rankings / match, I have now had 2 opportunites to participate on the other side of the fence. Hours had no effect on how we ranked people for match.

 

[summerbabe]

Hey guys! I am applying to internship this year and am wondering if folks can share their experience of matching with an internship site when they had less hours than their peers or perhaps what is "typically" expected. I know the nature of this question is super vague but Ive had some concern that maybe my hours (~620) might look paltry despite the COVID disruption. Did hours make a profound difference in your capacity to interview and/or match?

At my site, you would above our threshold (unless 620 includes support hours). Beyond that, we'd look at quality and variety (balance of individual, group, and assessment), EBP experience that reflects our principles, and appropriate balance of individual and group supervision based on your hours.

For example, some people will list a gazillion assessment hours and 95% of them were PHQ9 administrations, in which case I'll consider the app less seriously.

You can also write in a way that reflects your understanding of these experiences and also hopefully have rec writers who can speak in detail to your abilities and qualities.

So ultimately, somebody with 'less' hours can come away with a much better application rating.

 

[Sanman]

Honestly, I will echo what others have said. I will add that having too many hours, especially if you have few reports or other higher level hours, starts to look fishy as well. The pandemic affected everyone and I generally compare folks to the other applicants in their cohort.

 

[PsyNeuro37]

I applied during the peak of Covid a couple years back. I did not have stellar hours. I can’t remember the exact number, but it was similar to ~600 F2F, maybe a tiny bit more. I did very well in the match and had no issues. If the rest of your application is strong and you’re above site minimums, the quality and diversity of your experiences matters a lot more than the quantity of your hours.