The internship consists of four primary components:

• major rotations
• an outpatient psychotherapy caseload
• a series of seminars
• optional minor rotations

The intern completes two major rotations, each one lasting six months (July 1 through December 31, and January 1 through June 30) and concurrently follows outpatients through the year.

The intern spends approximately 32 hours per week in his/her major rotation, dependent upon the nature of the rotation and the intern's other interests and activities. Minor rotations are optional and are tailored to meet the individual intern's needs. Minors are meant to be specialized training experiences, and are generally limited to four hours per week. In any given year, most interns do not elect to participate in minor rotations. Permission to do a minor rotation is given only with the joint approval of the intern's major rotation supervisor, who serves as the overall coordinator of an intern's activities, and the internship Director.

All interns carry a limited outpatient caseload which provides an opportunity for longer term therapy than that permitted by six-month rotations. Each Wednesday, interns spend approximately half a day in seminars that are designed to supplement and complement the clinical training received in this program. The remainder of that day is allocated to outpatient work, minor rotation activities, or return to the major rotation site.

Interns will be assigned to one of the following major rotations/units each six months:

• adult inpatient psychiatry at Eastern State Hospital
• rehab/neuropsychology at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital
• pediatric behavioral medicine at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters

All of 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. Depending upon the site, the relative balance and nature of these activities will vary. Major rotation site descriptions are presented later in this application material.

Minor rotations are elective, and generally pursued by one to three interns per year. Minor rotations can be developed in several content areas within the medical school. The necessary ingredients are a motivated intern and a faculty member interested in the intern's proposal. However, it should be noted that most interns typically do not participate in minor rotations, and in all cases minor rotations require the prior approval of both the major rotation supervisor and the internship director.

In addition, it should be noted that most minor rotations are conducted in conjunction with the major rotation and often at the major rotation site. There are several minors that have been offered in recent years and are expected to be available in the future. These minors include child and adolescent neuropsychology, eating disorders, sleep disorders, clinical research projects, and outpatient psychotherapy concentrations.

EVMS Internship Track Preferences

All interns entering the EVMS Pre-Doctoral Clinical Internship Program will rotate at Eastern State Hospital for six months of their training year. In addition, two interns will remain at Eastern State Hospital on an additional rotation at this facility. This latter option is considered the adult inpatient track. Typically, the intern is assigned to two different six-month rotations to ensure breadth of experience. Four interns (two each rotation) will be involved in training on the Rehabilitation Medicine Unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and this will constitute the Rehab/Neuropsychology Track. Two interns (one each rotation) will be involved in training at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and this will be considered the Pediatric Behavioral Medicine Track.

During the interview process, we will ask you to indicate your preferences concerning these tracks, and we will provide track numbers for each of these specialty areas in terms of intern ratings. Since tracks are subject to change from year to year, we require interns to verify the number and types of tracks available each year prior to their rank ordering of internships to ensure accuracy and the best possible rotational fit. Following your interview, but prior to our submission of ranking information to the matching service, we will send each intern information about the track we are using to rank that individual. Of course, no applicant will be provided with any other ranking information beyond confirming the track used for ranking purposes.

• 160711 Adult Inpatient - placement at Eastern State Hospital serving psychiatric inpatients with rotation possibilities (six months each) that include Admissions, Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Forensics, Geropsychology, and Neuropsychology
• 160712 Rehab/Neuropsychology - placement at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital serving inpatient and day treatment  Rehab programs for one six-month rotation and placement at Eastern State Hospital for a second six-month rotation in one of the five possible rotations at that facility (see 160711 above)
• 160713 Pediatric Behavioral Medicine - placement at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters  for a rotation involving assessment and consultation of children and adolescents in various pediatric settings.

All Interns are generally expected to carry two or three outpatients during the course of the year. The type of patient with respect to diagnosis, the modality of treatment, and demographic variables will vary with the specific interests of the intern when feasible. Efforts will be made to assign supervisors based on students' interests. Outpatient treatment cases usually involve higher-functioning patients who may be seen on a short-term or longer-term basis, depending on the type of training model desired. Supervision is provided by licensed professionals from the EVMS full-time or community faculty (see Supervision - Core Supervisors and Faculty for more information).