The internship match: New perspectives from longitudinal data.

Abstract

For years the annual quest for internship positions has left many doctoral students in professional psychology stranded without a placement. For some time this situation grew increasingly dire for those entering the match sponsored by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), which faced a steep and apparently inexorable rise in applicant numbers. This study examined this situation using longitudinal data from doctoral programs regarding internship placement, enrollment, and attrition, coupled with APPIC data on match participants and outcomes. Results showed that more than 50% of APPIC’s rise in applications between 2008 and 2013 was attributable not to expansion of doctoral programs as feared, but to a shift in the percentage of applicants seeking positions through the APPIC match versus outside of it, a shift that seemed to plateau by 2013. Further, even as match registrations increased during this period, initial enrollments in accredited doctoral programs actually declined by 11.3% between 2008 and 2013; these enrollees constitute the bulk of students destined to enter the match between 2012 and 2017, thus presaging a significant improvement in match outcome during the coming years. However, the situation is complicated by the decision of American Psychological Association governance to expect accredited doctoral programs to use accredited internships exclusively by 2020. Projections of possible outcomes based on this new standard are offered. Despite strenuous efforts to grow accredited positions, adopting this standard would substantially reduce the number of available internships. Additional funding and support for internships will be needed to accomplish this goal.