For additional information about the UCHSC Psychology Predoctoral Internship, please call or write:
Clinical Psychology
UCHSC
Box C258-48
4200 E. 9th Ave.
Denver, CO 80262
(303) 315-8848
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Introduction To The Predoctoral Training Program
The University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCD & HSC), located on several large campuses (9th and Colorado Blvd., Fitzsimons, Downtown Denver, and Children’s Hospital) includes graduate schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and graduate programs in an array of allied health professions. The School of Medicine is the only medical school in Colorado and the largest, most comprehensive of the seven medical schools in the Rocky Mountain Region. Faculty members provide continuing education and consultation to colleagues and to other hospitals and clinics throughout the state. The CU-Health Science Center's three-fold mission of excellence in education, patient care and research is pursued by more than ll00 full- and part-time faculty and 3000 staff. Major affiliated hospitals on UCHSC campuses include University Hospital (primarily adult) and The Children’s Hospital (pediatric). A wide array of specialty clinics and institutes are also present.
The Division of Psychology was established at the medical school in l953. The internship training program began one year earlier with 3 interns. Since that time over 250 graduate students have participated in the training program. Currently, the Division of Psychology offers a predoctoral, specialty-track training program and postdoctoral training in developmental disabilities, program administration and evaluation, pediatric rehabilitation, and psychosocial oncology.
The Predoctoral Internship Training Program is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; phone (202) 336-5500. The Training Program is also a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and requires the APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (APPI 2006). We participate in the APPIC Match and abide by the APPIC Match Policies which may be viewed at the APPIC website: www.appic.org .
We accept a diverse intern group in terms of ethnicity, graduate program, career goals, and theoretical orientation. For example, over the last ten years, approximately 40% of our trainees have identified themselves as members of an ethnic or racial minority group. Over the last 10 years, interns have come from a variety of Ph.D. and Psy.D. graduate programs including, Emory University, University of Oregon, University of Virginia, Northwestern University, Case Western Reserve, University of Maryland, University of Utah, University of New Mexico, University of Denver, University of Alabama, Dalhousie University, Vanderbilt University, Argosy University, Spalding University and many others. In terms of employment immediately after internship, many of our recent interns have accepted postdoctoral positions; others go into academic positions (including research and teaching) or accept clinical employment (both public and private sector). Initial theoretical orientations of recent interns have included psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, family, developmental, systems-based, and other approaches.
The faculty of the Division of Psychology is committed to a clinician-scholar model of training. We offer specialty training that reflects a general commitment to public service psychology for special need populations who are typically underserved in their access to mental health services. The program offers exposure to a diverse group of consumers of mental health services as well as to a variety of intervention strategies and approaches. A strand running through our program is training in the delivery of health services psychology.
Program goals include:
- Training in a specific area of psychology devoted to underserved clients
- Development of a professional identity which includes a scholarship-based approach to clinical work
- Training in health services psychology
- Breadth of training through exposure to areas of practice apart from the specialty area
- Training in ethics and values appropriate for a doctoral level psychologist.
Specific objectives for the training program include the following:
- Development of clinical and scholarly skills in an area of practice which meets the needs of underserved populations and is focused in the public sector
- Development of a range of skills pertinent to working with this population (e.g., direct treatment, assessment, consultation, psycho-education, patient advocacy, etc.)
- Development of the ability to relate scholarly psychological theory and research to the clinical work in the trainee’s specialty area and to other areas of interest to the trainee
- Development of ethics, values, and a professional identity which reflect a commitment to that specialty area and to psychology as a whole
- Development of breadth of training and ancillary skills through additional clinical and/or scholarly training
- Development of sensitivity to and clinical skills for working with diverse populations (including issues of culture, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, physical disability, urban-rural settings, as well as a diversity of psychological problems)
- Development of productive and collaborative relationships with faculty and fellow trainees which enhance the learning experience and form a basis for collaborative professional work in the future
- Development of the capacity to accurately evaluate one’s strengths and weaknesses as a psychologist and the ability to use this knowledge to guide one’s practice, use of consultation and scholarly resources, and one’s professional development.
The Division of Psychology at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCD & HSC) offers one-year, full-time training for predoctoral level psychology interns. The 2007-2008 training year will begin on July 1, 2007. For the 2007-2008 training year we will offer six specialty “major” tracks: American Indian and Alaska Native Track, Denver Children’s Home Track, Department of Corrections Track, Primary Care Psychology Track, JFK Partners Deaf Link Track, and JFK Partners Developmental Disabilities Track. Applicants may apply for only one “major” track. Because this training has a specialty emphasis, applicants who show promise of a career focus in the specialty area will be given priority. Evidence of prior experience in and commitment to the specialty area will be weighted heavily in evaluating applicant credentials. Individuals seeking a general internship would, in all likelihood, not be interested in the specialty track program at UCD & HSC.
Applicants should be aware that the training program requires a high level of energy, an openess to new experiences, an eagerness to learn, and the ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with a diverse group of supervisors, trainees, staff, and patients.
Interns generally do not have a significant amount of time or energy to devote to dissertation research during the training year. While the opportunity for scholarly activity is available, this time may not be spent on dissertation work. We encourage applicants to complete their dissertations before their internship year. We have found that students who come on internship unburdened with worry about completing their dissertation tend to have more satisfying training experiences. For similar reasons, predoctoral interns are not permitted to seek additional employment outside the training program, nor may interns see private patients outside the training program.
Each trainee meets with a faculty advisor throughout the year who assists in program selection and professional development. Each intern is viewed by the faculty as a professional intent on gaining increased competence. Therefore, systematic and periodic evaluation is an inherent part of the training program. Not only does the faculty collaborate with the intern in evaluating progress, but interns also provide their own evaluations of their supervisors, coursework, and clinical experiences. Such mutual feedback is based on the maintenance of an open dialogue between members of the faculty and trainees.
The internship is organized around major rotations and minor rotations. Major rotations correspond to the specialty tracks to which an individual applies. Major rotations are 24 hours per week for 12 months. A list of the major rotations (specialty tracks) and a description of each are found in later sections. Minor rotations are 10 hours per week for 6 months. Minor rotations allow interns to acquire additional training in an area of interest to them. Interns select two clinical minor rotations (descriptions of minor rotations are also found in later sections). One of the minor rotations must have a health psychology emphasis. In addition, interns complete a health psychology “independent study project” that is presented toward the end of the year to fellow trainees and faculty via a PowerPoint presentation and discussion.
In addition to the major and minor rotations, Additional Required Rotations include the minor in Developmental Disabilities, and a 1 week trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota (beginning and mid-year). Required Seminars include the Clinical Case Conference (weekly for 4 months), the Intern Lunch (weekly for the year), the Proseminar (weekly for 10 months), Short-Term Therapy and Empirically Supported Treatments (weekly for 4 months), Cultural Diversity Seminar (weekly for 3 months), Health and Primary Care Psychology (bi-monthly for 8 months), and Key Concepts in Developmental Disabilities (15 2-3 hour seminar sessions over 9 months). Interns may select additional coursework from the list of Optional Seminars.