Regent University’s School of Psychology and Counseling Students Advance Internship Placement Record

For the second time in its young history, all doctoral students — 16 in total — from the School of Psychology and Counseling (SPC) who applied for internships via the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) received placements at American Psychological Association (APA) accredited sites.

“The program’s ongoing pattern of outstanding match rates is clear evidence of its quality,” said SPC Dean, Dr. Bill Hathaway. “Students in the last year of on-campus coursework must apply to these highly selective internships through a standardized national process.” Given the challenge of achieving matches with APA-accredited sites, a 100% match rate is remarkable.

Each doctoral psychology student must complete an internship in order to fulfill the academic requirements of their degree.

Students who apply for matches aren’t guaranteed they’ll receive a placement, moreover one at an APA accredited site. The matches the 16 SPC students received indicates they’ve towed high academic marks.

“This match rate demonstrates the excellence in training provided at Regent University,” said Dr. Linda Baum, the doctoral program’s director of clinical training. “Our students leave our classrooms prepared to serve clients at top sites across the country — the match rate indicates that we are competitive with other doctoral programs in the country.”

Each student applied to sites based on their career-oriented areas of interest this past fall and were informed of their placements in February and March. According to Baum, they’ll be stationed at various sites and clinics spanning the nation, “from Wyoming to Florida,” the coming school year.

For the students, the internship carries implications beyond academia.

“Completion of an APA-accredited internship is required for job placement in some circumstances,” said Baum. “For instance, Veterans Affairs Medical Centers will only hire individuals that completed APA accredited internships.”

“The high match rate to accredited sites means that our students will not be limited in terms of career opportunities,” she added.

It isn’t the first time SPC’s doctoral students have achieved high match rates for internships. In the last six years, except 2015, 100% of them received a match. And both this year and in 2017, 100% of those matches with APA-accredited sites.

“Obtaining an accredited internship is the final piece of clinical training necessary for the students’ doctoral degrees, meets licensure requirements for internship across the United States and Canada, and improves their competitiveness for career options,” said Dean Hathaway.

“Bottom line — we have a great training program [and] amazing students,” Baum said. “God has blessed our program tremendously.