Tag Archives: APPIC

APA’s Third Pandemic Care Package for Students

Is Zoom Fatigue a thing? Are we in a “new normal” yet? That may depend on when, how, and to whom you ask the question.  Wherever this message may find you, the staff in APA’s Early Career & Graduate Student Affairs hope that you are safe and that all of your loved ones are well. This is our third pandemic “care package.” We’ve hand-picked a few of the top resources provided by APA and related organizations to assist you during this time. Please feel free to share this with your networks and reach out if you have any questions or specific concerns we can field.  

New resources:

Continuing resources: 

What else would you like to see?  Send us an email – your concerns are our priority.

APA’s Pandemic Care Package for Students

We, the staff in APA’s Early Career & Graduate Student Affairs, continue to offer our best wishes for your safety and well-being. This is our second “pandemic care package” and we’ve hand-picked a few of the top resources provided by APA and related organizations to assist you during this time. Please feel free to share this with your networks.

New resources:

Continuing resources: 

What else would you like to see?  Send us an email – your concerns are our priority.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

What Will Internship Sites Say About My Medical Marijuana?

Recently, we received this question in our APAGS inbox:

“As a psychology doctoral student, I am about to apply for internships. I take prescribed medical marijuana for a health condition.  How do I approach the issue of drug testing as part of pre-internship employment screening?” 

What a good question. I reached out to Dr. Jeff Baker, the head of the Association of Psychological Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, for his opinion on the matter. Dr. Baker kindly replied, giving his own personal thoughts on the matter (not those of APPIC’s) as formed by his years as a training director.  He said this issue has come up a few times before, and it’s not as simple as drawing a line around states where it is legal. He writes, “There are many sites in Colorado and California, where THC is legal, that will not allow a positive drug screen for it.  I’m not positive the rationale is universal, but a few programs have stated, ‘Alcohol is legal, but we do not allow trainees to have it in their system.'”

Dr. Baker’s advice continues —

“1. If a site does not allow medical marijuana, hopefully it says that in public materials (especially in states where that is allowed).  The site should have some statement saying it requires THC (drug) screenings so the applicant can decide what sites might be eligible or ineligible.

2. If this information isn’t public, I would check with the site’s Human Resources department, hopefully anonymously and discreetly, prior to submitting an application.  Some will have a policy, and some will not. This is not to be sneaky, but it is to remove any possibility that they would track your application.  PS: Don’t call from your cellphone with caller ID.  I don’t think most sites would go to this trouble to find out who called, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.

3. When checking with anyone at the program, I would advise applicants to be very clear about having a medical condition (do not give the name and disclose only what is necessary); that they have been prescribed THC; and that THC has been helpful for them to manage their medical condition which has been approved by a licensed health care provider.

4. I would advise them to apply to those sites that say it is not a problem but carefully read their public materials about drug screens.

5. I would advise them to be cautious about those that do not know their policy or clearly state that medical THC would be counted as a positive drug screen and is not allowed at this site. If they do NOT review the public/HR policy about prescribed THC and match to a site, then they find out that medical marijuana is not allowed, they have wasted a lot of time.

6. I do NOT advise applicants to consult with the program or training director directly about the issue.  I fear that will likely increase the chances that site will decline to interview that person. They will be taking a chance by disclosing it. This is NOT true for the vast majority of training directors but there is no need to disclose identifying information prior to submitting an application.”

With any luck, prospective sites will see you, dear reader, as an asset all around. Thank you for being so responsible and proactive with treatment and contacting APAGS with your question.

Match Day 2018: The Forecast is Looking Good!

As your APAGS Chair, I wanted to reach you on one of the most important days of the year for the psychology training community. The 2018 Match Day is upon us, and the forecast is looking good for students. We continue to make advances toward resolving the internship crisis, and we are always excited to see students progressing in their training. For those that did not match, we continue to be your ally in this struggle, and aim to support you through our advocacy efforts to ensure everyone has access to the training opportunities they deserve.

Let’s Talk Data

Here is today’s APPIC data about applicants seeking a 2018 internship:

  • 3,779 applicants participated in the Match, of which 3,727 were from accredited programs. A smaller student pool is likely because APPIC is now using stricter accreditation requirements for doctoral programs that send students into the Match.
  • 3,163 applicants matched in Phase I: An 88% overall match rate.
  • 85% of applicants who matched got one of their top three choices.
  • This is the first time there were fewer applicants than internship positions available (i.e., 3,906 positions available), which is a promising trend for future internship cohorts. For the 432 students that remain unmatched, 457 APA/CPA-accredited internship positions remain open. 

Although many students are celebrating the opportunities that await them on internships, many today remain unmatched, and we hope that the number of APA/CPA-accredited sites available in Phase II provides ample opportunity to secure a quality training experience this summer. We also hope that the 184 students who did not submit a rank list or withdrew their applications for reasons related to site availability advocate for their best outcomes and fare well.

I know that the pains of not matching can be personally burdensome, and the uncertainty about the coming year can be equally as draining. Be reassured that, just as there are terrific training opportunities available in Phase II, there are many terrific applicants that sites will be ecstatic to recruit. I know many high-quality, well-trained colleagues who matched in Phase II to terrific training opportunities, and I wish you all the best of luck as you continue the application process for this cycle.

Change is on the Rise

The internship crisis has improved over the years, and many more stakeholders are beginning to call it an imbalance. In its advocacy efforts, the APAGS Committee is always mindful of the training opportunities available to students. In our 2013-2018 Strategic Plan, we aimed for an APA/CPA-accredited internship for every student from an APA/CPA-accredited program. We are close to reaching that goal.

My belief is that greater emphasis will need to be placed on specialty training opportunities in the coming years. The substantial increase in APA/CPA-accredited internships has helped to resolve the internship crisis, but many students miss out on specialty training opportunities when they match to sites that are not the best fit for their training goals. Certain fields such as school psychology have fewer APA/CPA-accredited programs. Although many sites offer neuropsychological training at the internship level, when applicants fail to match to a site with such training opportunities, they become less competitive when securing postdocs within that specialty. Rehabilitation, health, forensic, and more — specialty tracks and training opportunities at the internship level are becoming increasingly prevalent, and we as a field should be aware that the crisis is about both supply and fit.

Our Advocacy Efforts

For those in the student community concerned about advocacy, the APAGS Committee has been actively working with the internship crisis at the forefront of our minds. Our past advocacy efforts have pushed for a $3 million internship stimulus package approved by the APA Council of Representatives, which  has been highly successful in the development of new training sites. Medicaid reimbursement for internship services has also helped to secure funding for additional training sites. We also produced an informative video and resource page on the internship crisis to spread awareness of the impact that not matching has on the lives of students. The APAGS Committee continues to focus on graduate and internship training opportunities for our constituents. If you have any perspectives on additional advocacy efforts, we are always appreciative of your input. Contact your APAGS Committee officers for additional information. Further, if you would like to have a place at the table, we encourage all APAGS members to consider applying for positions on the APAGS Committee.  Students of all backgrounds, subfields, and interests are encouraged to apply. These positions are the most effective way to advocate for your student peers within APA, as we strive for the highest quality training experience for all psychology graduate students.

Sincerely,

Justin E. Karr, M.Sc.

2018 APAGS Chair

Possible Impact of Federal Hiring Freeze on the Internship Match

Dear fellow students,

As many of you already know, President Trump issued an executive order on January 23rd toInternships in Psychology Workbook freeze the hiring of Federal civilian employees across the executive branch with the exception of military personnel. The President’s memorandum can be found here. At present, this freeze includes all hiring at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BoP), and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Taken together, these three Federal departments are host to more than 700 APA-accredited internship slots, the vast majority of which are accredited through the VA.

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