Ph.D Program
Practicum Forms Evaluation of Practicum Student Practicum Match Form for Students |
Practicum Information PagePracticum TrainingCoordinator of Practicum Training: Evan Forman, Ph.D. Graduate Assistant for Practicum Training: Erica Yuen Securing a Practicum Training Experience |
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General OverviewThe practicum provides students with supervised clinical experience. It was developed to provide opportunities for students to integrate didactic and theoretical training with applied experience in general clinical psychology as well as in the specialty areas of forensic psychology, health psychology, and neuropsychology. The practica are viewed by the program as introductory clinical experiences that enable students to become familiar with multiple clinical settings, develop interactive and communication skills, and strengthen psychological testing, evaluation, and intervention competency. In addition to clinical placements, students also attend clinical practicum seminars as part of their practicum requirement. topPracticum Fieldwork TrainingStudents are required to complete at least two year-long practica. A minimum of 1800 clinical hours must be successfully completed before a student is allowed to apply for internship. Practicum placements are located throughout the greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley in medical centers, general hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, university counseling centers, geriatric centers, psychiatric facilities (including those specializing in the treatment of substance abuse), forensic assessment and treatment settings, and private practices. Each year, the practica consist of higher level experiences, with students performing clinical tasks with greater responsibility in preparation for a fifth year internship. These are generally 12-month placements for 16 hours per week. Placements in excess of 16 hours per week require the approval of the Department. In these clinical settings, students work directly under the supervision of some of the most well-known clinical psychologists in the United States in both direct patient care and research endeavors within a scientist-practitioner model. SupervisionThe primary supervisors in this program are Ph.D. level clinical psychologists who are dedicated to teaching and training activities, and provide close individual supervision. Ideally, most of a student’s supervision for practica come from a licensed clinical psychologist; however, the student could have 1 practicum with an individual licensed in his/her respective field (e.g., Ed.D., LCSW). Students and supervisors meet for formal individual supervision as well as for informal and/or group supervision. At the beginning of the training year, students and their primary supervisors should meet to develop their specific plans for clinical training, type and amount of client contact, and supervision. Many supervisors are actively engaged in both clinical and research activities, and enjoy working with students in both of these endeavors. EvaluationsPart of this requirement is that students must submit three evaluations for each practicum placement that they have: (a) a mid-year evaluation of the student completed by the supervisor, (b) a final evaluation of the student completed by the supervisor, and (c) an end-of-year evaluation of the practicum site completed by the student. Students are required to obtain evaluations of satisfactory or better in order to successfully pass the practicum requirements. Students who earn an unsatisfactory evaluation in any term of the practicum course may be required to take the entire 4-term sequence again, assuming that a placement can be arranged. Receipt of an unsatisfactory rating will immediately be brought to the attention of the Clinical Psychology Graduate Program for advice or action. Students will be granted only one opportunity to repeat a clinical practicum. Credit will not be given unless all three evaluations are submitted. Be sure to submit your evaluations in a timely fashion; otherwise, transcripts sent with internship applications may contain a notation of “no credit.” Securing a Practicum Training ExperienceStudent secure practicum experiences by first identifying training sites that are of interest. These sites must be chosen from the Listing of Approved Clinical Psychology Practicum Sites distributed at the Practicum Fair held during the Winter term. Students apply to each of the training sites in which they have an interest, following the guidelines outlined in the Listing. Students may then be offered interviews by any of the sites to which they have applied. A matching system is employed so that both students and practicum sites will have every opportunity to obtain their top choices. After the interview process, practicum sites rank students using the Practicum Match Form for Sites, and students rank their preferences using the Practicum Match Form for Students. The match forms are typically due towards the middle of March. The Coordinator of Practicum Training then conducts the match using an algorithm to give students their first choices, where possible. Match results are disseminated by email to students and sites. Students who do not match with a practicum site should work with their advisor and the Coordinator of Practicum Training to secure an alternate site. topGaining Approval for a New Practicum Training SitePlease note: Only training placements pre-approved by the Coordinator of Practicum Training can be counted as practica. To submit a training experience for consideration, students must have the site complete a Practicum Description Form and send it to the Coordinator of Practicum Training along with the CVs of all potential supervisors. Practicum Description Forms must be received by February 14th so that the new site can be included in the Practicum Handbook. Clinical hour requirements.To be considered a clinical practicum, students must spend at least 25% of their time but not more than 60% of their time in direct patient contact. While the total number of hours a student may spend in clinical activities will likely vary according to placement, the minimum requirement is 400 hours of direct patient contact during two different practicum years. It is the combined responsibility of the student and the student’s Graduate Study Committee, in consultation with the Director of Clinical Training, to ensure that a balance of experiences be obtained and to allow the student the necessary focus of skills toward career goals. Requirements for practicum sites and supervisors.To be eligible as a clinical training site, there must be a designated primary supervisor on-site who meets in supervisory sessions with the student for a minimum of 1-2 hours per week depending on the total number of hours worked at that placement. One hour per week should be spent in formal individual supervision. The primary supervisor must be licensed in his/her field and competent in the area to be supervised. topPracticum SeminarsThe practicum seminars address professional practice issues and are held several times throughout the training year. This year’s schedule is available online. Most seminars are facilitated by expert guest speakers. Each year, there will be a Practica Fair during the Winter term and an Internship Information Session during the Spring term. During the Practicum Fair, information is provided by current trainees and site representatives about upcoming practicum training opportunities. In addition, a handbook of available sites will be distributed. The Internship Information Session provides students with information relevant to the internship application process, and will be conducted by a panel of students who have recently completed this process along with the Director of Clinical Training. Students are required to attend at least 10 practicum seminars by the time they apply to internship. Attendance is documented with certificates of attendance which are distributed at each seminar. Course RegistrationUp until 2005: Students generally register for Psy 899 in Spring of their 2nd and 3rd years (3rd and 4th years for J.D./Ph.D. students). Two credits are required before commencing internship. Credits are awarded as follows:
Beginning in 2006: Students must earn at least 2 credits of Psy 899 and 3 credits of Psy 897 prior to commencing internship.
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