Recommendations for
Students Applying for Clinical Internships
David J. A. Dozois, University of Calgary
In Dozois, D. J. A. (1997). Recommendations
for students applying for clinical internships. Canadian Clinical
Psychologist, 7 (1), 15 - 17.
A 1996 APPIC survey of graduate departments and professional
schools in North America indicated that the number of clinical
students seeking internship placements was 1,871. Seventy-eight
percent of individuals obtained a placement on Uniform Notification
Day (UND). Of those remaining, 22% did not procure a placement,
28% dropped out of the process, and 48% were eventually placed
through the Clearing House (the remaining 2% were unaccounted
for due to missing data). In 1997, 470 students in the United
States and 11 students in Canada were without placements on
UND (after placements were allocated through the Clearing
House, these numbers were reduced to 148 and 5, respectively)
There are several systemic and individual factors contributing
to this ominous trend. For example, some internship settings
that previously offered placements are no longer able to do
so because of cutbacks. According to APPIC's data, there are
also 3 principal individual-specific factors contributing
to the high number of unsuccessful applicants: (1) geographical
restrictiveness, i.e., not applying broadly enough, (2) applying
only to the most competitive programs, and (3) applying to
too few programs. Although these variables have made the ratio
of applicants to positions seem worse than it actually is,
there still appear to be a substantial number of unplaced
applicants after the Clearing House resources have been depleted
each year.
Apart from the obvious importance of attempting to remedy
this situation by applying more broadly to a wider range of
programs, there are additional steps that applicants can take
to improve their chances of obtaining quality internships.1
These strategies involve careful preparation at each of the
pre-application, application, interview, and decision-making
stages.
The Pre-application Stage
According to CCPPP's 1996 survey of internship directors,
the type of clinical experience and the strength of reference
letters, stated goals and interests, and academic scholarship,
are some of the most important variables considered by internship
faculty in their ranking of candidates.2 Given that quality
of clinical experience was rated higher than quantity, students
would be wise to round out their clinical experience, to the
extent possible, by balancing both bandwidth and fidelity
(e.g., attaining some degree of specialization while also
gaining experience in different therapeutic modalities, and
with diverse populations).
By the time internship candidates reach the application
compilation stage, they should have as many program requirements
completed as possible. Demonstration that one is near completion
of the Ph.D., not provides the internship setting with the
assurance that a candidate will be able to focus fully on
the internship experience, it also allows more experience
to accumulate which can be used in the assessment of one's
suitability for a program.
The Application Stage
When completing applications, it is crucial to be organized,
thorough, and accurate in the presentation of materials. Most
internship settings require a cover letter, a curriculum vitae
(CV), 3 letters of reference, academic transcripts, a statement
of internship readiness, and a completed APPIC application
form. One advantage for students applying for the 1998-1999
year, is that the majority of settings have begun to adopt
the standard APPIC application form, which should save time
and promote more polished responses to the information required.
Cover letters and personal statements reflecting both breadth
and depth, and letters of recommendation that support the
candidate personally, professionally and academically, are
recommended. Letters of recommendation should be acquired
from persons who have a good writing style, are credible and
trustworthy, are familiar with the candidate's work, may know
the internship faculty, and are reputable. Personal statements
of goals and interests should accurately and succinctly outline
previous experience, training objectives, career plans, rotations
of interest (and reasons for their appeal), and the ways in
which one is a good match for a particular setting. The curriculum
vitae (CV) should similarly be as concise as possible. CVs
should highlight one's education, work/practica experience,
awards and honours, any editorial, administrative, teaching
or supervisory experience, professional publications and conference
presentations, as well as manuscripts submitted for publication.
The Interview Stage
Some things worthy of consideration for interview preparation
include learning about the internship faculty and site, formulating
a list of questions, networking at conferences (and previous
involvements in professional organizations and committees),
being able to explain one's research project(s), and arranging
to meet with the current interns. During the interview, it
is important to be respectful and professional (remember that
internship faculty talk both within specific settings and
across settings), to keep discussion about one's school and
advisor positive, to be comfortable (but not lackadaisical),
to ask questions that demonstrate interest, and to be honest
and genuine.
The Decision-Making Stage
Assuming that there will be a choice as to which internship
setting one is ultimately placed in, it is also important
to ensure that this placement will maximize not only professional
goals, but personal and practical ones as well. A few studies
have examined variables that intern applicants deem important
in the determination of their ideal placements. Such variables
include geographical location (e.g., whether one's spouse
is able to find work in a given area, financial ramifications
of certain locations), future job prospects, specialty training
(e.g., empirically-validated treatments) and types of rotations
offered, diversity of experience, and stipend. Information
from each internship setting is most helpful if it is gathered
in a manner akin to a comprehensive psychological assessment
(i.e., multiple sources of convergent data). Information can
be gathered through internship brochures, informal interactions
with internship faculty, discussions with current and past
interns, advise from academic faculty, and interactions during
the interview proper. Once this information is accumulated,
objectively sifting through one's set of criteria and determining
how each setting meets them, can facilitate unbiased decision-making
as to which internship setting is most appropriate for one's
unique training and personal needs.
* Footnotes
1 Several of these steps were highlighted at a joint symposium/conversation
hour (sponsored by the Section on Students in Psychology and
the Section on Clinical Psychology) which was held at the
1997 CPA conference in Toronto, Ontario. This column represents
a synopsis of the main points covered in these presentations.
2 It should be noted that two American-based surveys found
that academic/research productivity ranked further down the
list of criteria. Dr. Martin Antony, of the Clarke Institute
of Psychiatry, however, noted that while this may represent
the mean ranking of internship directors, one must not ignore
the sigma (i.e., some institutions rank academic credentials
and research productivity higher tha
|
