Research and program development

The internship program in clinical child/pediatric psychology in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Children's Memorial Hospital has a strong commitment to training students as scientist/practitioners. This is an ideal setting in which to teach students how to integrate research and clinical practice. In addition to allowing access to a number of populations (e.g. medically ill children) who are otherwise difficult to study, this setting provides students with a unique opportunity to study the effectiveness of a variety of treatment approaches with children and families.

As the field of psychology moves increasingly towards accountability and the use of empirically supported treatments, this becomes a critical component of training at the doctoral level. After interns have completed their dissertation work, they are encouraged to get involved in an ongoing research project in the department. They are assigned a research mentor, based on their particular interest, to help guide them in this process. Interns are encouraged to spend approximately four hours per week working on their chosen research project.