In 2012, we are facing an internship crisis. The number of trainees registered to participate in the nationwide match sponsored by the Association for Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) has reached an all-time high. Even if all 3,202 internship positions are filled during the two phases of the internship matching process, over one thousand of the 4,400 applicants will either have to delay their graduation by at least a year due to the shortage of accredited internship spots or pursue alternative internships of unknown quality. Larkin (2012), using publicly available statistics published by APPIC, compares two models for reduction of the demand for internships, built on two presumptions: 1) that the rate of increase of the number of available internships remains the same as within the past decade and that 2) some reduction in the number of eligible applicants is necessary in order to solve the crisis by the end of the current decade. Larkin argues that the most effective model for exiting the current crisis will involve both reducing enrollment in all doctoral programs whose graduates register for the internship match, and applying more stringent criteria for allowing doctoral students to apply for internships implemented at the national level. Larking further discusses the potential obstacles to resolving the current imbalance, as well as possible problems of implementation of the suggested strategies.

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Valentina Stoycheva