| CLINICAL EXTERNSHIPS
The clinical externship is an integral part of the Clinical Psychology: Neuropsychology Doctoral Program and was developed to provide students with the opportunity to apply didactic and theoretical training in assessment and intervention in “real-life” clinical settings. Students with the required academic prerequisites complete a sequence of supervised clinical experiences that begins with applied training and experience in a Clinical Psychology setting where the chief activities will include assessment and the application of evidence-based intervention techniques, followed by specialized training in Clinical Neuropsychology, where the primary activity will be neuropsychological assessment and evaluation. Students are required to complete two years of externship and a third year is recommended but not required. For externship purposes, a 'year' means 16 hours/week for three consecutive semesters (e.g. summer, fall, and spring). The specific procedures for applying for externship may vary somewhat from year to year based on the Program’s training agreements with external sites; the description below provides general guidelines. Eligible students will receive information about externship applications at the end of each fall semester.
A. Requirements for beginning externships
1. Students may not begin externships until they have taken all of the following courses: Psychodiagnostics I; Psychodiagnostics II; Psychopathology; Psychometrics; Systems of Psychotherapy; Clinical Neuropsychology, Ethics/Legal Issues for Psychologists, Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology and Diversity Issues/Clinical Psychology.
2. Students may not register for externships for course credit beyond their 45th credit unless they have passed the first doctoral examination and completed their 2nd year project (at Level II).
3. Students taking externships must have practice and liability insurance, which may be purchased from APA as a student member, at http://www.apa.org/membership/.
B. Externship assignments
1. During the first year of externship training, which begins in June or September, students will optimally be assigned to a site that provides training in Intervention techniques (e.g., individual or group psychotherapy or counseling, cognitive remediation or rehabilitation, psychoeducation groups) and where the primary goal of training will be for the student to develop competencies in the following areas: (building rapport, conducting an intake interview, making and implementing treatment plans, recording client/patient progress and evaluating outcome, and dealing with termination issues, if applicable). All students will be required to be supervised by a licensed, doctoral-level psychologist at a program-approved site. Beginning in 2010, students will be assigned to the program clinic for training with program faculty.
2. The first year of externship consists of a total of 16 hours per week of supervised clinical training. Note that some of this work may be conducted “off-site” (e.g., report writing, background reading) and it is important for the student to discuss the workload expectations with the potential supervisor at an initial interview. The externship during the first year can consist of either three semesters with one supervisor or two consecutive semesters with one supervisor followed by a third semester with a different supervisor.
3. The first three semesters of externship are taken for course credit. As the first year of externship training usually begins in the summer before the student's third year in the program, students register for both 70341 and 70342 in the fall, and for 70343 in the spring of the third year. These courses will be listed in the online course catalog under the name of one of our Clinical faculty (even if you are not being directly supervised by one of these faculty members). Please contact the program faculty (currently Borod, Chacko and Foldi) to determine when you should sign up for credit.
4. In the event that a student is not placed in the program clinic, he/she may apply to external externship sites, as approved by the clinical committee. Students will be provided with a list of approved externship sites and must submit a ranked lists of preferred sites to the DCT in December. Rankings and prior experience will be used to assign students to either a faculty member’s site or to provide them with a list of sites that they should apply to. This is to ensure that students do not all apply to the same places. Students who are assigned to a faculty member’s site will not be authorized to apply to other sites or to refuse a placement with a program faculty member.
5. As per agreement among area doctoral training programs and externship sites, no student can apply for externship prior to January 15 for externships that begin in summer or fall of that year.
Second, and subsequent, years of externship
1. For the second year of externship, students will apply to sites that provide specialized training in Clinical Neuropsychology, where the primary goal of training will be for the student to develop competencies in the following areas: (conducting a neuropsychological intake interview, devising and administering an assessment battery addressing the referral question(s), report writing and providing feedback to patients and family members, if applicable). Students should plan to submit applications on January 15 for externships that begin in June or Sept of that same calendar year.
2. All students will be required to work at a site that is approved by the Clinical committee. The supervisor must be a licensed, doctoral-level psychologist. Students will be provided with a list of approved externship sites and must submit a ranking that may include a program faculty member’s site. Students who are assigned to a faculty member’s site will not be authorized to apply to other sites or to refuse a placement with a program faculty member.
3. Externships taken in the second and subsequent years do not receive course credit but are noted on the student’s transcript. For this purpose, students are responsible for providing the program with a written evaluations of the externship from the site supervisor (this can be the evaluation that the supervisor completes) and from the student.
4. Externships taken after the first two years will take place in sites approved by the Clinical committee and may include training in either intervention or assessment techniques, depending on the students desire or need for additional training.
Externship sites and oversight/evaluation
1. Students who would like to take an externship or practicum at a site not approved by the Subprogram would need to have the site seek such approval. This approval must be obtained before the student commits to working at the site.
2. At the end of each semester of training (at least two times per year), externship supervisors will be asked to complete an evaluation of the extern’s performance. Areas of evaluation are related to Program training objectives and include knowledge and application of diagnostic testing and therapeutic techniques, ethical behavior and appropriate interactions with clients/patients and professional staff.
3. Students are required to submit written records at the end of each semester that document contact hours, supervision hours, support hours and number of reports written, if applicable. The reports must include the supervisor’s signature documenting this activity and the report will serve as documentation of the students externship experience.
4. Students must also complete a site evaluation form at the end of the semester (two times per year).
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