A survey of clinical psychology doctoral students in Quebec.

Abstract

In a recent issue of Canadian Psychology dedicated to the future of psychology in Canada, a number of topics and issues were presented as opportunities, or as challenges, for psychologists (Counsell, Cribbie, & Harlow, 2016; Drapeau, Holmqvist, & Piotrowski, 2016; Hartman, Fergus, & Reid, 2016; Karesa, & McBride, 2016; Campbell et al., 2016; O'Neill, 2016). Two of the articles included in that issue addressed the working conditions of psychologists, including of psychologists in training (Roy, 2016; Votta-Bleeker, Tiessen, & Murdoch, 2016). In particular, Roy (2016) underscored that the unfair wage conditions within the public sector in Quebec contribute principally to the displacement of many psychologists from the public sector to the private sector, resulting in a significant shortage of psychologists working within the public sector in that province. Roy also admonished that the distinctive value of psychologists, compared with other health care professionals who offer psychotherapy, is not well recognized and is poorly defined both among managers in health facilities and among the general public. In a related vein, Votta-Bleeker et al. (2016) contended that, throughout Canada, student debt and a dearth of employment vacancies in the public sector are two substantive factors implicated in the precarious employment prospects for psychology graduates. Furthermore, in Quebec, the wage conditions are still not commensurate with the new doctoral training requirement to secure the title of psychologist, leaving highly qualified psychologists to face significant wage disparities in comparison with other health care professionals holding a doctoral degree (e.g., physicians, pharmacists; Roy, 2016). Even more concerning, in Quebec, compared with the rest of Canada, the internship that is part of the training to become a psychologist is currently unpaid, which creates further work strain and adds precarity to the financial portfolios of doctoral students in the applied fields of psychology.Within Quebec, since 2006, a clinical doctorate (PsyD, DPs) or a postgraduate PhD is the minimum training requirement for designation as a psychologist. Accordingly, in Quebec, the number of doctoral graduates in psychology has increased markedly by 150% between 2003 and 2010 (Service Canada, 2015). Standards associated with the training and practice of psychology in Quebec have been similarly undergoing significant changes to align with the standards of other Canadian provinces, resulting in noteworthy changes in the level of academic and clinical training of working psychologists.Nonetheless, Quebec remains the only province in Canada in which psychology internships are unpaid. In 2015, data from the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Programs (CCPPP) demonstrated that Quebec is encountering major challenges with regard to the remuneration of internships (Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Programs [CCPPP], 2016). Comparatively across Canada, 99.6% of doctoral students in psychology complete paid internships, the average salary of which has been estimated to be $31,000. Hence, despite conforming to the highest professional and academic standards, the training conditions of future psychologists in Quebec, particularly with regard to the financial costs associated with pursuing the training to become a psychologist, remain an underdeveloped area of investigation.To gain a better understanding of the factors related to the nonremunerative nature of internships in Quebec, a sociodemographic survey of 503 clinical doctoral students in Quebec (training to become psychologists) was undertaken. Some of the questions in this survey explored the vocational intentions and career aspirations of these students. Before delving into the noteworthy findings from this survey, however, a brief overview of the academic and clinical training requirements to become a psychologist in Quebec are explicated, in addition to a brief overview of the participants for this study. …