Psychology Internship

Overview

The University of Massachusetts Medical School/Worcester State Hospital pre-doctoral internship is designed to provide an American Psychological Association accredited internship in psychology to students from doctoral programs in psychology. Our mission is to provide training experiences across a broad range of ages, types of psychopathology, clinical settings, and types of assessment and intervention approaches in order to prepare interns to function professionally in a variety of public sector contexts. Our allegiance is to the notion that any comprehensive view of human behavior must include assessment of functioning at different levels of organization. Thus understanding one person involves the integration of that individual's thoughts, feelings, and behavioral interactions in a variety of interpersonal and group structures, cultural contexts, and ethnic origins. In addition, we must be prepared, especially in the case of individuals having severe problems in living, to design programs for change at different levels of psychosocial organization. Our philosophy of training is an extension of the scientist-practitioner model of psychology training developed by Dr. David Shakow at Worcester State Hospital. In the context of a psychology internship training staff whose members provide clinical service, basic and evaluation research, and training, interns are exposed to a program in which a multidisciplinary or team approach is utilized for training and research. We believe that the context for training should also be broad rather than narrow, based on principles rather than particular techniques. Because interns have diverse backgrounds and interests, we are particularly attentive to individual differences in training needs. Under the guidance of the Director of Training, a diversity of opportunities and resources is available for interns to develop a program in keeping with their unique interests and professional goals. Moreover, this sensitivity to individual differences, needs, and goals is repeatedly stressed with interns in their work with clients.

As stated by Dr. Shakow in a 1946 article describing the Worcester internship program, "Another principle emphasized from the beginning was the social responsibility which contact with patients involves. The fact that the intern's findings might actually play a significant role in the disposition of a case required not only an appreciation and respect for the subject as a person, but also an understanding of the social implications of his examination." Respect for the dignity and rights of those with whom the intern works continues to be central to our training philosophy.

Setting

The grounds of the Worcester State Hospital are now the site of a developing health and research complex which includes the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Worcester Youth and Family Services, a biotechnology park, the Worcester State Hospital, the Irving S. and Betty Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and the Center for Comparative NeuroImaging. For the past 15 years, the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Department of Psychiatry-Division of Psychology and the Worcester State Hospital's Department of Psychology have been merging. The combined departments have sponsored a variety of psychology training activities such as postdoctoral fellowships in forensic, neuropsychology, and primary care and family medicine psychology in addition to the pre-doctoral internship.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School campus consists of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and the UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC) teaching hospital, community clinics, and outpatient services. Thirty doctoral psychologists are on the University of Massachusetts Medical School staff, many of whom have a role in the training program. The Director of Psychology Intern Training in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, coordinates and reviews all intern activities at the Medical School. The University of Massachusetts Medical School provides a number of rotations involving outpatients which complements the inpatient work at the state hospital.

Worcester State Hospital is a large, urban psychiatric facility primarily for adult patients. The current census of 125, dramatically lower than the 2,800 patients served in the 1950's, represents a wide cross section of psychiatric disorders. In addition to the admission and rehabilitation psychiatric units, the hospital has an adolescent long-term treatment unit, intensive treatment units, and a forensic service. The hospital population generally consists of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. Between 50 and 70 percent of this population has a co-occurring substance use disorder.
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Benefits

Interns in Psychology are employees of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Interns receive a stipend of $16,640, a choice of employee health insurance plans (cost varies), and paid vacation and holidays.
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Community

The University of Massachusetts Medical School and Worcester State Hospital provide services primarily to citizens of Worcester and other areas in central Massachusetts, although some clinics or services are statewide. The ethnic and cultural populations in central Massachusetts are diverse. As public sector institutions, the client populations tend to be from lower socioeconomic groups. Census information for Worcester (2000) indicated 77% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic, 6.9% African American, and 4.9% Asian. Hospital wards and clinics reflect the community composition fairly closely, except that inpatient psychiatric admissions are 60% male, 40% female.
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Orientation Period

The training program begins on or about September 1st, with an orientation period lasting several weeks. During this period, the intern becomes acquainted with the daily routines of the hospital, is given a formal introduction to the staff and programs of various departments of the hospital, and is systematically introduced to the principal emphasis and lines of work within the Psychology Department. As part of their orientation to the hospital and to psychiatric patients, the interns participate in staff conferences, engage in diagnostic interviewing, observe admission procedures, and attend lectures on administrative and legal aspects of hospital procedures. In preparation for later community work, interns visit a number of community programs and review with key leaders the goals, the organizational structure, and the day-to-day functioning of these special programs. Intensive training in interview techniques and behavioral assessment techniques is given during the orientation period to prepare the interns for a variety of clinical activities. By the end of the orientation period, interns are in a position to map out individualized internship training experiences in the core areas. 
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