Applications

Application Procedures and Eligibility

 

Slots Available Per Track 2025-2026

Adult	Autism and Developmental Disabilities	Behavioral Medicine	Child	Rehab Neuropsychology
3	2	6	4	1

Application Instructions

As part of your APPIC application, the applicant must submit a cover letter.

The cover letter is used to identify the specific track (or tracks) to which applicants are applying. The applicant may identify up to 2 tracks of interests. We urge candidates to consider which track(s) fits best with their internship training and academic goals as well as their long-term career goals. Each candidate is evaluated by each track separately.

We suggest applying to tracks with similar overlap such as Behavioral Medicine Track and Neuropsychology Track; or Behavioral Medicine Track and General Adult Track. Furthermore,  it is a rare applicant whose background and experiences make them a strong candidate for the General Child Track and the General Adult Track. Additionally, rarely are applicants strong candidates for both the General Child and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities tracks. We would encourage applicants to make a choice between these two tracks, unless there are exceptional circumstances about your training background.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to apply to more than two tracks, you MUST contact the Program Coordinator at psychsom@uw.edu for further instructions.

For candidates that apply to 2 tracks, we will do our best to ensure interviews occur at each setting and that you get a sense of each program’s structure. However, this also means that the Open House Day will be split between two tracks for interviews in the afternoon. Please note that you will only be able to attend one morning breakout session for one track as these track sessions happen simultaneously.

Applicants are required to follow specific instructions for preparing their cover letter for the track(s) to which they are applying. Please click on the link below to view the specific cover letter instructions for all tracks.

• COVER LETTER – ALL TRACKS

For questions about the ONLINE AAPI please contact APPIC http://www.appic.org/

Requirements

Applicants must:

• have completed at least three years of graduate study.
• be in good standing in an APA or CPA accredited, scientist-practitioner or clinical scientist PhD or PsyD program in clinical, counseling, or “combined” psychology.
• have completed comprehensive examinations and have an approved dissertation proposal by the deadline for application to the internship.

Guidelines

• Successful applicants will generally have accrued about 1000 hours (grand total) of practicum experience. The 1000 hours includes support hours, intervention, assessment, and supervision hours. It is not a strict cutoff but rather an overall guideline. We look at a balance of direct patient contact, supervision, and other activities.
• Because our selection process is weighted toward applicants showing promise of future academic and/or clinical research careers, applicants from programs that are primarily geared toward training practitioners are less competitive.
• Because of this program’s diversity and its geographic dispersion, it is best suited for individuals who are well organized, self-reliant, and adaptable.

Ratings of Applicants

Our psychology resident selection process is designed to ensure a fair review of all applications. Applications are rated independently by at least two faculty psychologists. Ratings are made on the quality of academic and clinical training and performance, research potential, personal characteristics, and the apparent goodness of fit between the applicant’s interests and our program.

We will make every effort possible to notify applicants of their status as soon as possible. Please, do not email or call the program to inquire about your application status unless you think there is a problem. Response time for about a week after the application deadline will be slow as we process applications.

Application Materials

All materials should be included with the online APPIC materials. Nothing should be sent separately to our program. The only materials accepted will be those uploaded with the APPI application.

APPIC requires 3 letters of recommendation; you may submit as many as 4 if you wish. The new APPIC system doesn’t allow for more than 3 letters. If you have a 4th letter of recommendation, please send the 4th letter directly to psychsom@uw.edu and it will be forwarded to the correct review team. Thank you!

For the diversity question on the APPI application which reads, “Please describe your experience and training in work with diverse populations. Your discussion should display explicitly the manner in which multicultural/diversity issues influence your clinical practice and case conceptualization”; please do more than list your experiences.

Our Programs APPIC/NMS program TRACK codes

• General Child Psychology
  (APPIC/NMS program code = 161912)
• General Adult Psychology
  (APPIC/NMS program code = 161913)
• Behavioral Medicine
  (APPIC/NMS program code = 161914)
• Rehabilitation Neuropsychology
  APPIC/NMS program code = 161915)
• Autism and Developmental Disabilities
  (APPIC/NMS program code = 161916)

APPIC MATCH-NEWS Email List

APPIC recommends that applicants subscribe to their email list, as they will be distributing important announcements about the Match, the AAPI Online, the APPIC Directory Online, and other important news items.

Information of Interest to Diverse Applicants

We strive to have classes that vary in terms of geography, age, socioeconomic background, gender, and race/ethnicity. The training faculty have diverse interests, personal, and professional backgrounds. The program facilitates supportive, collegial connections between psychology residents and faculty. In the larger University and School of Medicine community, there are several resources and events specifically for minority students. (UW SOM Center for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; Diversity Advancement Committee)

The ethnic distribution of the population of Seattle and the University of Washington community and the participating medical centers of the internship are shown in the chart below. The population served by these medical centers encompasses adults, and children with a broad range of psychological and medical problems and drawn from a diverse array of ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Seattle is a community known to be welcoming of other forms of diversity including a large and active gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community.

Internship training faculty would be pleased to speak with applicants further about any resources or aspects of the Seattle community that are of interest.

Ethnic Diversity in Seattle and the UW Community
	African American	Asian/ Pacific Islander	Caucasian	Hispanic/ Latino	Native American	Comments
Seattle	8%	14%	70%	7%	1%	5% multiracial 2% other
UW Students	3.5%	29%	43%	7%	1.3%	15% international 2.5% other

Information of Interest to Applicants with Disabilities

Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply to our program. In the past, we have accommodated psychology residents with a variety of physical disabilities, including disabilities requiring manual and motorized wheelchair accessibility. The Disabled Student Services Office coordinates special services made available to residents, including a variety of university services, equipment, and publications. Special services from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Assistive Technology Resource also are available. The University of Washington Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Medicine and Rehabilitation Psychology Divisions are internationally known, and collaborations between students and faculty members are regarded to be mutually beneficial. The internship program offers experience in working with patients who have a variety of physical disabilities. (Disability Services Office) (Access Guide)

Covid Updates

We have a COVID-19 Updates page which provides an overview of our current COVID-19 polices related to our psychology residents’ safety during their internship year and our current plans for future training years.

Vaccination Requirements

Psychology interns are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, including booster vaccines, prior to beginning their training and will be expected to adhere to any additional COVID-19 requirements that may be implemented during the internship training year.  Exceptions may be made only for those with approved medical or religious exemptions. All vaccine requirements are mandated by University of Washington School of Medicine policy.

Background Check Policy

Prior to beginning internship, all incoming psychology residents must pass a background check per the University of Washington policies. To read more about the background check criteria and process please review https://hr.uw.edu/talent/hiring-process/background-checks/background-checks-overview/.

For candidates that have consistently resided and worked in Washington for more than three years, the UW will run:

• Washington Access to Criminal History (WATCH) through the Washington State Patrol
• National Sex Offenders Check*
• Nationwide Federal Criminal Search*

For individuals who have not resided in the state of Washington for the previous consecutive 3-year period prior to their criminal conviction history background check, in addition to the above, the UW will run the following checks:

• National Criminal Database Check*
• Nationwide/International Place of Residence Criminal Conviction Check*

*The check is conducted by A-Check America, with results reported to UWHR in consultation with the Psychology Internship Program.

Except as required by law, when evaluating conviction history, the University considers the nature of the criminal conviction(s), its relationship to the position for which the candidate is being considered, how much time has passed since the conviction(s), the candidate’s complete employment history, records of relevant educational achievement, and any other information bearing on the candidate’s ability to function reliably, lawfully, and safely as an employee.

Only after this full assessment is completed does UWHR, in consultation with the Psychology Internship Program, determine whether it is appropriate to disqualify a candidate from employment based on a criminal conviction record.

Last Modified: October 11, 2024