About the UW Internship Program

For track-specific questions not answered in the FAQs, please contact the appropriate track coordinator.

Open House

Q: Is attendance at the January Open House mandatory? How does it factor into the selection process?

A: Attendance is not mandatory at the Open House. If you are invited, we encourage you to come to Open House so that you can get the best possible information about our program and how it might fit your training needs. We offer individual appointments and brief interviews with faculty during the afternoon of Open House. Although we do not require applicants to attend Open House in order to match with us, we would like the opportunity to meet with applicants under consideration, either by phone or Skype, prior to submitting ranking lists. This will provide applicants with more information about the program in terms of their individual interests and needs, and allow us to get to know applicants better to evaluate the “goodness of fit” with our program in terms of applicant training interests, background and goals. Just as applicants take all available information into account in ranking programs, all contacts with applicants provides information that we as a program may use in determining rankings of applicants.

Residents vs Interns

Q: Why are psychology interns called “residents”?

A: The UW Psychology Internship Program changed the official title from “Psychology Interns” to “Psychology Residents” on 03/01/99. Within medical settings, the title of “Intern” traditionally refers to a junior trainee who recently received his/her M.D. and is beginning their specialized training, whereas the title of “Resident” traditionally refers to a more advanced trainee. Given that the majority of the rotations take place in medical settings, the title change was instituted to reflect the level of training and experience the psychology residents bring to the various rotation sites.

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Benefits

Q: What benefits are available for Residents?

A: The 12-month salary for the internship is $41,544 plus benefits (medical, and dental, insurance). Insurance plans include coverage for residents, spouses, same-sex domestic partners, and dependents. Each year at orientation a benefit representative presents an overview of benefit plans and answers questions. Additional benefits include eleven days of paid vacation, five days of paid professional leave (e.g., attending conferences, dissertation meetings job meetings), and one sick day per month of completed service. Residents also are eligible for a variety of other benefits, such as borrowing privileges in our library system, use of athletic facilities, and discounted transportation passes. For more information see Summary of Benefits for Psychology Interns.

Research time

Q: Is time offered for research activities?

A: The UW Internship Program has a long-standing commitment to the academic and research development of the residents. Applicants accepted into the program have sound, productive research backgrounds. Psychology residents may apply to participate in a year-long seminar on research skills and grant writing training. Participation in this activity includes the provision of 5 hours per week of release time from clinical rotations to participate in a seminar devoted to teaching skills needed for developing and writing grants, and to pursue development of a grant proposal or research project under the mentorship of an internship faculty member. Participation in the program is most appropriate for those residents who have either completed or are in the latter stages of their dissertation research, are interested in research areas that can be mentored by faculty members of the internship or the department and are looking towards career choices in which grant writing skills will be needed. Residents are not required to participate in the seminar program. Psychology residents not participating in the Grant Writing and Career Development Seminar may apply for one half-day (4 hours) of release time, per week for research (including dissertation research) with an internship training faculty supervisor. The UW Internship Program is embedded within an extremely productive research community with exceptional resources. Please refer to the faculty page for further information about research collaboration and/or check the University of Washington web site for research interests.

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Rotations Across Tracks

Q: Am I able to do rotations in other training tracks?

A: Typically, the answer is no. The UW Internship Program strives to provide scientist-practitioner training experiences across a variety of contexts (inpatient, outpatient, community) with diverse populations. Given the scheduling of each track in unique it is extremely difficult to accommodate such requests, however, most trainees receive excellent training during their internship year and are generally satisfied with their training experiences in each track.

Supervision Hours

Q: Approximately how many hours of supervision are available each week?

A: At least four hours per week of supervision by training faculty are provided. At least two of these hours are devoted to individual supervision, while the remaining hours may be subsumed in other forums, such as group supervision. Ongoing, informal supervision also is provided as needed.

Verification of Training Completion

Q: What is the best way to get a verification form completed and signed?

A: Need an internship verification for licensing or a new job? This is the place. Please follow these steps for a seamless verification process. Please allow extra time for processing as the entire office is working remotely due to Covid-19 and we may need to make a special trip to UWMC to search our non-digital records.

1. Fill out the form with as much information as you can, you might not have everything, just do your best.
2. Please use Dr. Ty Lostutter, Training Director, as your contact for this form. He might not have been the director or supervisor at the time of your internship, but he is the director at this time and, typically, the person to sign off on the verification.
3. Send a digital copy of your form to psychsom@uw.edu and the program coordinator will print the form out, complete any remaining info, and prepare for Dr. Lostutter’s signature.
4. Once the form is signed, it will be scanned and sent back to you unless otherwise requested. We are happy to send out hard copies or the original to the requesting agency if needed.
5. SAMPLE Washington State Department of Health License Verification Request Form

Post-doctoral Opportunities

Q: Are post-doctoral opportunities available at UW?

A: Yes, a number of UW-affiliated post-doctoral training opportunities are available each year. A diverse range of post-doctoral training fellowships are available throughout the UW system, and each position will vary in regards to the proportion of time devoted to research and clinical activities. The fellowship opportunities vary from year-to-year. Acceptance into the internship does not guarantee placement in a local postdoctoral fellowship or faculty position.

Resources

• Fellowships – Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Research Training Opportunities – Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• University of Washington Dept of Rehabilitiation Medicine
• University of Washington Rehabilition Psychology Fellowship
• Community-Based Integrated Care Fellowship

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Moonlighting – Working outside of the internship program

The School of Medicine moonlighting policy only applies to physicians-in-training, not to psychology residents. The internship policy on moonlighting is that a psychology resident can receive compensation for paid professional activities outside of the internship training program for up to 8 hours/week of outside activities, subject to approval by the Training Director. Possible acceptable activities include research or consulting activities; outside clinical activities are not acceptable. A psychology resident who wishes to engage in such activities must make a written request to the director to do so prior to engaging in these activities. The work must be conducted outside of regularly scheduled internship hours and must not interfere with training. Payment for such activities must conform to University and all applicable (e.g. federal) policies and procedures regarding payment from grants or other sources. The University provides no liability coverage for activities that are done outside of the internship training program.

The UW requires professional staff to obtain University approval before engaging in any outside activities, regardless of whether paid or unpaid, if the activities could be in conflict with their UW duties. Please fill out this form and return it to the Staff HR team prior to starting any outside work, pbpsyhr@uw.edu.

Moonlighting at the UW and its affiliates is not possible as it would put you into more than 100% FTE with the UW and this is not allowed.

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Child Track

Assessment Hours

Q: Do I have enough assessment hours to be successful in the Child Track?

A: Our track is likely to match with individuals who have a solid foundation in clinical training with both depth and breadth of experience as part of a high-quality graduate program. This encompasses course work, practicum, and supervised clinical experience. Successful applicants typically have at least 700 total practicum hours (including assessment, intervention, supervision and support), and usually substantially more than that. Our internship provides a lot of opportunities to advance assessment skills, but our program best suits individuals who come in with some experience with administration and interpretation of cognitive and achievement testing (i.e. WISCs, WJ Achievement etc.), as well as some DSM-V diagnostic assessment experience. Additionally, applicants should have experience writing comprehensive integrated reports (usually at least 5) although this can vary across graduate programs. In sum, it is unusual for us to match with individuals who do not have at least some assessment experience as described above.

Last Modified: September 1, 2024