A 12-month long program, the Psychology Internship at Indiana University School of Medicine begins on the first working day of July and continues through the last working day of the following June. The training year is structured into two, six-month core rotations (two-and-a-half days per week), which are determined by track.
Clinical Experience
To ensure breadth of training, interns are expected to complete at least one core or elective rotation in a traditional psychology clinic setting as well as one core or elective in a behavioral medicine setting. Psychology interns are also required to complete at least one core or elective rotation with an adult population and at least one core or elective rotation with a child-adolescent population. Interns must also complete two days of elective rotations per week during each of the six month rotations. Specific elective rotations are selected via post-match discussion between each intern and the training director based on the intern’s interests and training goals.
Didactics
In addition to the core rotations and elective rotations, interns attend a series of weekly didactics presented on a wide variety of topics. These didactics take place on Fridays (1–4 p.m.). Interns also attend Director’s Conference weekly on Fridays (12–12:45 p.m.), just prior to didactics. This is an opportunity for interns to have regularly scheduled time with the director of training and/or the assistant directors of training.
Interns also attend the Psychiatry Department Grand Rounds on Fridays (11 a.m.–12 p.m.), September through May. Interns must attend at least 75% of the Grand Rounds, or they are asked to make up missing sessions by viewing recorded sessions.
Interns have the opportunity to schedule Quarterly Educational Seminars (QES) and are encouraged to develop full-day workshops, which need to include at least six hours of educational activity in areas of interest specific to the intern class. The interns, coordinated by the chief intern, can select a topic from a list of available programs or create their own seminar. These seminars are to be conducted four times a year, once per quarter on preset days. One QES is done in the memory of Robert Ten Eyck, who supervised Psychology interns for many years. Funds are available for food and other seminar activities.
Core Rotations
Rotation schedules are established during the spring prior to the start of the internship taking into account each intern’s training goals. Incoming interns, program leaders and supervisors work collaboratively to determine the best combination of rotations for each intern. Psychology interns train at clinical facilities in Indianapolis, including the IU Neuroscience Center/Goodman Hall, Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, the Pediatric Care Center (a Riley Hospital for Children/IU Health facility), IU Health University Hospital clinics, and IU Health North-Meridian Crossing.