In addition to the clinical training experiences, each intern participates in multiple, weekly didactic experiences. There are a wide variety of didactic courses offered each year based upon faculty availability and department needs. AGH is an approved APA CE and AMA CEU sponsor and routinely presents many different continuing education offerings which are available to the intern at no cost. For instance, many neuropsychology-focused interns have chosen to attend the Dept. of Neurology Grand Rounds and Case Conferences, which offer excellent didactics in neuroscience.
All interns attend the following seminars:
Interns can also choose from a menu of other seminar offerings to equal a total of 50 additional seminar hours for the year. In order to provide a rich multidisciplinary educational experience, didactic courses often include both psychiatry residents and psychology interns.
Interns are required to present once each at the Dept. of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, journal club, and case conference during the internship year. Each of these presentations will be supervised by a faculty mentor to assist the intern with selecting appropriate content, preparing for the presentation, and to provide personalized feedback after each experience.
As part of the internship’s commitment to training future clinical supervisors, all interns are provided instruction in theoretical models of supervision and are expected to provide tiered-supervision at some point during their training year to either graduate practicum students, psychiatry residents, or interns with less experience in the service area. The goal of the tiered-supervision training component is to provide a structured, safe environment for the intern to begin developing and honing their supervisory style. By the end of the internship year, the intern is expected to have developed basic–level competencies in providing supervision in preparation for independent licensure.
The exact nature, structure, and timing of the tiered-supervision within each rotation is based on a combination of factors, including the intern’s readiness and the faculty supervisor’s model of clinical care. All tiered-supervision is provided under the ultimate supervision of the intern’s licensed faculty supervisor and they maintain full control and discretion over all clinical activities completed within tiered-supervision.”
As part of the internship training year, all interns participate in an 8-week course to prepare for taking the Examination for Professional Practice of Psychology (EPPP), which is required for independent licensure. This course is typically taught by one of the Post-doctoral Fellows, as they have the most up-to-date information, given that the exam process changes regularly. Many interns take the EPPP the year following internship (exact requirements on the timing of taking the exam vary across states) and this course serves as an excellent introduction to the exam and how to study for the different content areas. This course will NOT be sufficient for taking the exam, but is meant to be a thorough introduction to guide interns in independently preparing for the exam. Past interns reported the exam helped ease their anxiety about the exam process and was beneficial for focusing their study efforts on the content areas they were least familiar with. Specific areas of focus during the course include Lifespan, Treatment, Diagnosis, Cognitive, Ethics, Multicultural Issues, Industrial/Organization and Statistics.
In addition to the EPPP course, interns will be provided other information about the licensure process from the Director and Associate Director of Training during the weekly administrative meeting. Interns are also encouraged to discuss licensure as part of their overall professional development with their individual supervisors.
