Systemic challenges in health service psychology internship training: A call to action from trainee stakeholders

Abstract

The challenges observed in health service psychology (HSP) training during COVID-19 revealed systemic and philosophical issues that preexisted the pandemic, but became more visible during the global health crisis. In a position paper written by 23 trainees across different sites and training specializations, the authors use lessons learned from COVID-19 as a touchstone for a call to action in HSP training. Historically, trainee voices have been conspicuously absent from literature about clinical training. We describe longstanding dilemmas in HSP training that were exacerbated by the pandemic and will continue to require resolution after the pandemic has subsided. The authors make recommendations for systems-level changes that would advance equity and sustainability in HSP training. This article advances the conversation about HSP training by including the perspective of trainees as essential stakeholders.

Doctoral students' intention to use assessments in their career: The incremental role of self‐reported competence

“…Thus, engaging students in highly valued and supportive training (e.g., high rapport in supervision) are likely critical to developing and fostering students' self‐efficacy which, in turn, impacts willingness to engage in long‐term career practice of psychological assessment. This finding is also critical for training programs as adjustments are made following the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic (Casline et al, 2021; Palitsky et al, 2022; Patel et al, 2021), highlighting the need for supervisory experiences to meet the needs of trainees dependent upon modality of assessment experiences (i.e., virtual assessments). Thus, explicit focus on supervision components unique to assessment (Schneider et al, 2004; Wright, 2019) may assist trainer and, in turn, trainee competency.…”

“…This pattern of findings suggests that efforts to foster assessment competence may be shaped by coursework and practicum training. Further, these efforts should also consider the shift towards remote administration of psychological assessments following the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and bolstering trainees' competency across multiple avenues of assessment administration (e.g., in‐person, virtual/remote; Casline et al, 2021; Palitsky et al, 2022; Patel et al, 2021). Thus, efforts to increase exposure and training with assessments may result in greater competence and career engagement.…”

“…Training in health service psychology (HSP) revolves around a culture of competence (Roberts et al, 2005). This emphasis grew quickly after the 2002 Competencies Conference: Future Directions in Education and Training in Professional Psychology (Rubin et al, 2007) and has produced widespread impacts on education for HSP trainees, including recent advancements in considering the implications of assessment training following the COVID‐19 pandemic (Casline et al, 2021; Palitsky et al, 2022; Patel et al, 2021). Contemporary training in these programs focuses on students' benchmarked progression through the development of foundational skills (Rodolfa et al, 2005).…”

Psychology Internship Training Amidst COVID-19: Balancing Training Opportunities, Patient Care, and Risk of Exposure

“…This pandemic has also had a profound impact on the structure of clinical training and provision of supervision across medical settings (Palitsky, Kaplan, Brodt, Anderson, Athey et al, 2021 ). While there continues to be a growing body of literature supporting the use of virtual technology in mental health care (Langarizadeh et al, 2017 ), there is little written about the role of telesupervision.…”

“…Furthermore, from a clinical and supervisory standpoint, there is limited guidance within the literature on how supervisors can adapt and create a virtual inpatient rotation where trainees can meaningfully engage in a variety of clinical activities that in some fashion mirror an in person inpatient rotation (i.e., how do we bring a therapeutic milieu to an iPad?). Lastly, there is limited published work highlighting intern training experiences (Palitsky et al, 2021 ).…”