How to Find APPIC Internships

Posted by: PsyKey on January 29, 2012 | No Comments »

This article provides important information to help students understand what APPIC internships are, what accreditation is important, and how to find APPIC internships using tools provided by APPIC.

What is an APPIC Internship?

When investigating potential internships, you might hear programs referred to as an “APPIC Internship” or even “APPIC accredited”.  It’s important to remember that the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers, or APPIC for short, is not an accrediting agency.  When the term “APPIC internship” or “APPIC accredited” is used, it indicates the internship site is an APPIC-member, and participates in the APPIC Match process as well as being listed in the APPIC Directory.

To become an APPIC-member, an internship site must be in compliance with APPIC membership criteria at the time of enlistment, pay membership dues, and remain in compliance with APPIC policies through a renewal process. It is always important to verify that an internship site is still an APPIC member.  Verification of membership status can easily be obtained by contacting the APPIC Central Office

APA Accreditation

When looking for an internship, APA accreditation remains the “gold standard”. It is important to remember that APA-accreditation is NOT required to be an APPIC member. Always verify the APA-accreditation status of any program you are interested in.  To do this either contact APA directly, or visit their Accredited Programs List.

Finding APPIC Internships

An updated list of APPIC internships and post-doctoral training programs are posted on the APPIC Directory Online.  APPIC has worked very hard to make their database easily searchable, and convenient for students to find sites that match their interests.

The APPIC Directory provides an overview of the internship, however it’s not meant to be comprehensive.  Information about each internship’s site is provided by the program’s Training Director, and is updated once per year (usually in the spring).  It is possible information may have changed since the last update.  Remember to check the “Last Modified” date when investigating an internship site so you know the last time the information was updated.  If you have questions about a training program, do not contact APPIC, instead contact the training site directly.

APPIC also provides static copies of their Online Directory, available as a PDF.  Obviously, these are “frozen” copies of the directory with information accurate up to the day the PDF was published, which is usually in September.