Introduction

The Clinical Psychology Internship Program is part of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Eastern Virginia Medical School. The predoctoral internship in psychology was founded in 1976 as one of the graduate training programs of the Eastern Virginia Medical School. It has maintained full and continuous accreditation by the American Psychological Association since 1983, and provides training for six to seven interns each academic year.

General Description

The Internship subscribes to an apprenticeship model of training which encourages the growth of individual strengths, provides a variety of teaching styles and professional models, and emphasizes the development of the scientist-practitioner. Specific training goals include further development of assessment and psychotherapy skills with a wide range of client populations through involvement in diversified inpatient and outpatient activities.

Interns are also expected to develop leadership and consultative skills within a medical center setting, and function as part of a multi-disciplinary treatment team. Professional development through lectures, seminars, and workshops, and opportunities for clinical research are provided during training. Clinical settings also provide for an opportunity to integrate ethical and administrative issues into an appreciation for treatment issues.

The intern can expect to complete the year with solid general clinical training and a realistic sense of competence commensurate with this stage of training. The major rotation sequence focuses on the development of basic clinical skills. The intern may explore specialty areas through the choice of elective minor rotations and in outpatient work.

Curriculum

The intern completes two major rotations, each lasting six months, and typically consisting of assignment to adult or pediatric medical facilities. The intern spends approximately 24 hours per week in the major rotation. The major rotations provide opportunities for conducting personality, intellectual and neuropsychological assessments; participating in a multi-disciplinary treatment team; and providing group, family and/or individual psychotherapy.

Each intern completes a minor rotation in a primary-care domain tailored to meet the individual intern’s needs. Minors are generally limited to eight hours per week. Minor rotations can be developed in virtually any area within the medical school, but must be approved by the internship director(s). Minors offered in the past have included inpatient consultation-liaison services for primary-care physicians, outpatient primary-care psychology, child and adolescent neuropsychology, eating disorders, obesity, sleep disorders, geriatric primary-care psychology, clinical research projects and outpatient psychotherapy concentrations.

All interns carry a limited outpatient caseload which provides an opportunity for longer term therapy than that permitted by six-month rotations. Efforts are made to assign supervisors based on the intern's interests with respect to therapeutic modality and patient population.

Hour-long seminars are taught or facilitated by full-time and community members of the Medical School faculty. Series vary from year to year and have typically included behavioral medicine, child and adolescent assessment and psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, sleep disorders, neuropsychology, ethics, professional development and advanced personality assessment.

Application Information

Application and interview information and procedures are available here.

For more information, contact: 

Director, Clinical Psychology Internship
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
P.O. Box 1980
Norfolk, VA 23501

757-446-5881
757-446-5918 (Fax)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TOP