Stricter Guidelines for Graduate Admission May Help Solve the Internship Crisis
Valentina Stoycheva & Jairo N. Fuertes, Ph.D., ABPP, LMHC
February 10, 2013
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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About the Author
Jairo N. Fuertes, Ph.D., ABPP, LMHC
Jairo N. Fuertes, PhD, ABPP, LMHC is Professor of Psychology in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry in the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He served as Senior Associate Editor of Behavioral Medicine from 2020 to 2024, and has served on the editorial boards of other top-tier journals, including Psychotherapy and Psychotherapy Research. Dr. Fuertes is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 12 and 29) has previously served as Chair of the Education and Training Committee and as Diversity Domain Representative in APA’s Division 29 (Psychotherapy). He is a licensed psychologist and mental health counselor in New York State, and is board certified in both clinical and counseling psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. For over 20 years he has been a Supervising Psychologist in the Counseling Center at Baruch College, The City University of New York; he also maintains a bilingual private practice in Garden City, NY.
Dr. Fuertes is an immigrant from Colombia, South America. He arrived in the U.S at the age of 10, and graduated from the public school system in Montgomery County, Maryland. He is also a “Triple Terp”, having obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is a professional percussionist, having recorded several albums over his musical career. He lives with his wife Hnin and their two daughters in Garden City NY.
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