The internship crisis: Graduate students look back and plan ahead (original) (raw)

2014, Training and Education in Professional Psychology

The internship is an integrative training experience and the capstone of doctoral training for developing professionals (Madson, Hasan, Williams-Nickelson, Kettmann, & Van Sickle, 2007). The imbalance between supply and demand of internships is an increasingly critical problem in professional psychology and one that the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) is committed to resolving with all stakeholders. This paper will provide a brief overview of the problem, summarize the efforts of APAGS to address the issue since its last article on the internship crisis (Madson et al., 2007), and provide a framework by which APAGS will continue to address the internship crisis-an issue we have defined as one of the most critical facing psychology graduate students today. Although systemic data collection was not underway at the time, it was suspected that the number of applicants outweighed the SHANDA R. WELLS earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Mid-Western University. She is currently a behavioral health psychologist at the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin working in integrated care with a dual appointment in pédiatrie and adolescent medicine and psychiatry. In addition to training and education, her research and clinical interests include integrated health care, primary care behavioral health and pédiatrie obesity. RACHEL BECKER HERBST completed her PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Miami. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in pédiatrie primary care at Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado. Her research interests include health disparities, undocumented immigrants, and culturally-informed integrated care. MIKE C. PARENT received his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Florida. He is currently an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. His research focuses on intersections of gender, sexuality, and behavioral health, professional issues in psychology, and research methodology. EDWARD J. AMEEN earned his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Miami in 2012 and currently serves as the assistant director of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) in Washington, DC. His clinical and advocacy interests are in strengthening outcomes and opportunities for disconnected youth. He most recently conducted qualitative research on immigration as well as the psychopolitical development of activists. NABIL HASSAN EL-GHOROURY received his PhD in clinical psychology from Binghamton University. He is currently the associate executive director of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS). His areas of interest are autism spectrum disorders, multicultural issues, social networking, and graduate student development. ALI M. MATTU received his PhD in clinical psychology from The Catholic