Clinical Psychology Ph.D. students complete a pre-doctoral internship, typically during the fifth year of the program. The internship typically lasts 12 months, and the Ph.D. degree is awarded upon completion of all academic work and the internship. It is expected that the internship be with an APA-approved internship agency unless the Director of Clinical Training in consultation with the clinical faculty has approved an exception.

Although fairly new, the UCF Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program has placed successfully students at a wide variety of excellent APA-accredited internship sites. The success rate for students seeking internship is 100%: 2/2 in 2003 and 8/8 in 2004. Many of our students were accepted to their first choice placement site.

In addition to discussions with advisors, students may begin preparation for pre-doctoral internship by reviewing various publications. A list of internship sites is published each year in the December issue of the American Psychologist (see “The Accredited Internship and Postdoctoral Programs for Training in Psychology”). An additional source of valuable information concerning predoctoral internships in clinical psychology is “How to survive the search for an internship.” (Bridget Murray, APA Monitor, January, 1998, page 31).