Professional Development Experiences: Are Psychology Interns Getting Enough?

Abstract

Understanding the professional development needs of psychology interns is essential to maximize the utility of predoctoral internship training; yet, little research has explored the professional development training experiences interns receive. In Study 1, 275 psychology interns from APPIC-listed programs completed a 20-question web-based anonymous survey, assessing experiences of and satisfaction with professional development training obtained on internship. Using a mixed method research design, a series of descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted. Results indicated almost 90% of interns reported receiving professional development training on internship, and 60% of interns were satisfied with their professional development training experiences. More comprehensive coverage of relevant professional development topics was associated with greater overall satisfaction and any coverage of a particular topic tended to be associated with greater satisfaction. Multiple linear regression results suggested that perceptions of preparedness for various post-internship positions were associated with satisfaction with professional development internship training experiences. In Study 2, 194 internship training directors completed a modified version of the same survey. Training directors reported more hours of coverage than did interns and tended to perceive interns as more satisfied with professional development training experiences on internship than did interns themselves. Implications for those involved in the training of interns are provided.

Perspectives of internship training directors on the use of progress monitoring measures.

“…There are several limitations of our survey that must be considered when interpreting our results. Although the response rate we obtained is consistent with studies targeting TDs (e.g., Ginkel, Davis, & Michael, 2010;Kluck, Pennuto, & Hartmann, 2011;Rings, Genuchi, Hall, Angelo, & Cornish, 2009), we cannot be certain that the TDs who responded are truly representative of all internship TDs. In addition, the sample size for some of the subgroups was modest, so conclusions drawn on these subgroups should be viewed as tentative.…”