VA Internship Sites that are not APA-accredited

[Anxiety]

Quick question - if I do an internship at a VA site that is not APA accredited, can I still seek employment at VA's after I'm licensed?

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[erg923]

Quick question - if I do an internship at a VA site that is not APA accredited, can I still seek employment at VA's after I'm licensed?

yes

 

[Anxiety]

This is what I found on the VA website:

"To be eligible for employment as a VA Psychologist, a person must be a U.S. citizen and must have completed an APA, or CPA accredited graduate program in Clinical, Counseling, or Combined psychology or PCSAS accredited Clinical Science program AND must have completed an APA or CPA accredited internship in Psychology, with the emphasis area of the degree consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. The only exception is for those who complete a new VA internship that is not yet accredited."

I guess that answers my question. However, does that imply that all VA sites eventually get APA accreditation, they just don't in the beginning because they're new?

 

[Anxiety]

yes

then would you say I would have less competition if I applied to VA sites that haven't been accredited yet?

 

[erg923]

then would you say I would have less competition if I applied to VA sites that haven't been accredited yet?

In terms of number of other applicants, yes

 

[erg923]

This is what I found on the VA website:

"To be eligible for employment as a VA Psychologist, a person must be a U.S. citizen and must have completed an APA, or CPA accredited graduate program in Clinical, Counseling, or Combined psychology or PCSAS accredited Clinical Science program AND must have completed an APA or CPA accredited internship in Psychology, with the emphasis area of the degree consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. The only exception is for those who complete a new VA internship that is not yet accredited."

I guess that answers my question. However, does that imply that all VA sites eventually get APA accreditation, they just don't in the beginning because they're new?

Yes.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Second everything erg said. The one stipulation is that the site has to be "in good standing" with VA training/education oversight (I can't remember their formal names).

Basically, if a site is still offering an internship, it's very likely to be in good standing. VA sites that don't attain APA accreditation in a timely manner will lose their internship.

 

[eremitestar]

Yes, my understanding is that VA requires all training programs (internship and postdoc) to either be accredited or actively seeking accreditation. Any unaccredited program not making progress on that front, as AA said, gets shut down. That said, if a VA job doesn't work out, your options elsewhere are limited by the lack of an accredited internship.