Seeking Postdoc information

[psychmama]

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Hi everyone,

As I go through the internship application process this year, I'm trying to decide how to rank my choices. One of the hospitals I'm considering has a history of hiring its former interns as postdoc fellows. This is obviously an attractive feature in today's job market. The VA I'm also considering has no postdocs, and I believe they only hire licensed clinical psychologists. An important additional point is that I cannot relocate, so making connections for future employment is especially valuable for me.

For those slightly farther along in this process than me, how important is it to think about jobs after internship? Should this be a consideration in choosing the internship site, or am I jumping the gun in thinking about this now? All thoughts are appreciated!🙂

 

[Cosmo75]

I don't think it's too early to think about it. The internship year goes by so fast that you barely have time to blink. An internship at a VA counts as 1 year of work experience, so if you continue in that system you don't have to start over so to speak. Some VA's do hire non-licensed psychologists (the one I'm at does). At your interviews, did the DCT review with you where former interns have ended up for their post-docs? And then there's the data on the APPIC site to help. I guess part of it is where you live that you can't relocate from. If it's an extra competitive part of the country, then taking an internship that may open up a job immediately after would be ideal. I'm not sure how helpful this was 🙄

 

[psychmama]

Cosmo - Thanks for your reply. I live in the NYC metro area. There is a lot of competition here, obviously. On the other hand, there are also a lot of opportunities for psychologists. I think I will ask a few more questions about where former interns end up, in order to get a clearer picture of my options. For me, this is a partly a choice of lifestyle that I guess I'll need to work through. Do I go to the big city hospital or choose the suburban VA with the saner working hours and easier commute? One factor I'm considering is where I'll form the most useful professional connections, since this may be of value wherever I end up after internship.

Thanks again.

 

[PsyDr]

a doctorate in psychology is nice and all, but really it is the license that makes it useful (research,academics, and netflix equation designers aside). a post doc is needed for licensure and specialist practice. sounds like a pretty important thing to worry about to me.


then again, i spent all my free time in internship networking.

in short: you can never be too prepared for post doc.

 

[Cosmo75]

Cosmo - Thanks for your reply. I live in the NYC metro area. There is a lot of competition here, obviously. On the other hand, there are also a lot of opportunities for psychologists. I think I will ask a few more questions about where former interns end up, in order to get a clearer picture of my options. For me, this is a partly a choice of lifestyle that I guess I'll need to work through. Do I go to the big city hospital or choose the suburban VA with the saner working hours and easier commute? One factor I'm considering is where I'll form the most useful professional connections, since this may be of value wherever I end up after internship.

Thanks again.

Sounds like you're in a similar boat. I'm in Chicago. Not sure if it's as crazy here as NYC, but I'm guessing close. My DCT is great at trying to network us interns, and has been sending us lots of post-doc info (mostly at other VAs). That's probably an important consideration when ranking, if you can get a feel for that.

I guess the question is can you see yourself working at the big city hospital with the crazy hours once you're done? If that's your goal, then getting in there now would be a good foot in the door. But I don't know that going to suburban VA would close that door either.

 

[Eruca]

Definitely a valid question and one I'm thinking about a lot. I've asked quite a bit about where the interns end up for post-doc and also if the site offers their own post-doc. Another important point has been, how many of your interns end up with the postdoc at the site? I know a bunch of people who chose sites with available postdoc opps.. but most of these are maybe 1 or 2 spots (for 4-10 interns) and so the chances to stay have not been as great as predicted.

On the other hand, if you kick some major booty that year...🙂

 

[Ollie123]

but most of these are maybe 1 or 2 spots (for 4-10 interns) and so the chances to stay have not been as great as predicted.

Though keep in mind several of those interns may not have any desire to stay on as a post-doc as they already have one lined up elsewhere, or got matched someplace they have no desire to stay at.

 

[BellaPsyD]

if I don't take an internship at a major city hospital, do I have a chance of post doc at one? (not to hijack the thread, but I thought it related!)

 

[psychmama]

if I don't take an internship at a major city hospital, do I have a chance of post doc at one? (not to hijack the thread, but I thought it related!)

I'm curious about this too. Also, I gather some places will hire you as a regular staff person instead of as postdoc. This actually seems like a better deal to me -- at least if the pay is higher than post-doc pay and they'll agree to supervise you for licensure. What do people know about all of this? Please enlighten us with your wisdom...😉

 

[PsyDr]

psychmama,

the places that would hire you as regular staff are very few and very far between. these would be places that are licensure exempt (e.g., some prisons, state hospitals,other government exempt jobs, etc)


third party payors specifically state that you cannot use the doctoral level CPT code when you are "in training" which the APA has concluded includes post doc. guess which CPT code gets used? the tech code (aka, the second lowest paid code out there). this is why neuropsych post docs can pay so little

bellapsyd:

hospitals are known to be fairly insular, such that they only want to hire ppl with hospital experience. it is a pain to train non-hospitalist how to properly function in this environment according to JCAHO standards (e.g., how to properly chart, what kind of heels you can wear, etc). i imagine this is similar to those environments with significant requirements such as a jail, the military, the VA, etc.