By Jill Pease
Doctoral students in the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ clinical and health psychology program have achieved a 100% internship match rate for the second year in a row.
“We are truly thrilled for our students,” said Allison Holgerson, Ph.D., the director of clinical training and a clinical associate professor in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. “This is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication they commit to the program and the field. An internship match truly launches the next step in their career and represents the final step towards their Ph.D.”
In addition, The Department of Clinical and Health Psychology’s own internship program also reported successful match results, filling all slots with high-caliber students from across the nation who will train in the areas of clinical child/pediatric psychology, medical/health psychology or neuropsychology.
Following three years of study, practice and research at their home institution, Ph.D. students complete a required one-year internship that serves as a capstone experience to hone their clinical skills as scientist-practitioners.
The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers administer the national internship placement program for clinical psychology Ph.D. students. After undergoing a rigorous application process with written materials and day-long interviews with prospective internship sites, students rank their preferred internship placements. Internship programs also rank applicants. The APPIC Internship Matching Program then matches students and programs based on their ranked preferences. Similar matching program are conducted in other health fields, including dentistry, medicine and pharmacy.
Competition was especially fierce for this year’s clinical psychology internship match. Nationwide, the number of student applicants has increased by 10% and internship positions have decreased by 5%. This year’s national match rate for applicants to match with an internship is 87%.
The 17 UF students in this year’s cohort matched to American Psychological Association-accredited internship positions at highly prestigious academic medical centers, children’s hospitals and VA medical centers throughout the country. These include Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
“We are so proud of each student who matched and of our faculty in all domains — research mentors, clinical supervisors and course instructors — who support each student from day 1!” Holgerson said.
The department’s internship program also continues to attract strong students. Among internship programs, this year’s national rate for programs to match with their top candidates was 84.3%, compared to UF’s 100% match rate.
“Our internship program has a strong national reputation that was demonstrated again this year by matching with highly ranked applicants who were trained at stellar graduate programs,” said Lori Waxenberg, Ph.D., the internship program director, a clinical professor and interim department co-chair.
Eleven students will enter the UF internship program from institutions such as San Diego State University/UC-San Diego, the University of Kansas, Howard University and Auburn University.
“Our current interns and alumni share that they are appreciative of the expertise and warmth of our faculty, the range of clinical experiences they participate in and the high quality of training they receive,” Waxenberg said.