Pediatric Psychology Internship

Preparing interns to meet the mental health needs of children.

The University of Minnesota Medical School Psychology Internship is a stimulating educational environment that is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association.

The aim of the University of Minnesota Medical School Psychology Internship is to prepare interns for professional practice and to meet the mental health needs of children and to function as psychologists in academic health centers or other clinical contexts.

The Internship has been continuously accredited since 1965 by the American Psychological Association making it the longest APA-accredited internship in this region, and is known for its quality assessment and improvement activities. It was awarded full accreditation for ten years in 2017 by the APA Commission on Accreditation.

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Rotations, Tracks, & Faculty

Each intern completes two rotations. Each rotation has two interns at a time. Each pair of rotations is considered a track. Only one application is required to apply to the internship. However, at the time of ranking, we strongly encourage applicants to submit rankings for all three track combinations (i.e. to rank our program three times). The track numbers are listed below:

Program: 138112 - Psychiatry-Neuropsychology
Program: 138113 - Psychiatry-Pediatric Psychology
Program: 138114 - Neuropsychology-Ped Psychology 
 

Supervision and Clinical Services

Supervision/Mentoring: The internship is dedicated to providing excellent supervision to interns. Interns enjoy supportive and close working relationships with faculty supervisors on each rotation. Interns work with multiple supervisors throughout the year. Interns also meet with their faculty mentor throughout the year.
 
Clinical Services: Supervised experiences are provided for assessment/diagnostic, treatment, and consultation activities with a broad range of medical, neurological, psychological, and psychiatric disorders. The rotations vary in terms of the specific training and research opportunities available to interns.

Academic Health Center

 The AHC is a world-class academic center at the leading edge of health care and is part of a major research university. The AHC includes the Medical School, the School of Dentistry, the School of Nursing, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Public Health, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Allied Health Programs, and numerous teaching hospitals and clinics. The internship is offered through the Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience within the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Joseph P. Neglia, MD, MPH heads the Department of Pediatrics. Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD is the Dean of the Medical School.

Department of Pediatrics

The Department of Pediatrics is one of the largest Pediatrics Departments in the nation and offers a wide range of general and specialty pediatric services. The U.S. News and World Report ranking of hospitals ranks MHealth and the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital as among the best hospitals in various specialties.

Academic Health Center/Medical School

The University of Minnesota Academic Health Center (AHC) and the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital are involved in primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary care activities. The M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital opened its new inpatient facility and new clinics in 2011. MHealth has provided health care, education, and pioneering research since 1911. It serves local, statewide, national, and international patients, offering 150 general and specialized clinics, and providing approximately 325,000 patient visits annually.

It is noted for advances in organ and bone marrow transplantation, cancer, cardiac care, cystic fibrosis, infectious disease, neurosurgical and orthopedic care. The University of Minnesota was the site of the first successful heart-lung machine, adult and pediatric open heart surgeries, artificial heart valve replacement, implantable drug pump, pediatric bone marrow transplant, pediatric hemodialysis, cystic fibrosis vest, total body CT scanner, liver transplant for a pregnant woman, and numerous other innovations. It currently supports one of the world's largest kidney transplantation programs, with a record of nearly 7,000 transplants. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was developed at MHealth. The Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) and several other psychological measures have been developed by faculty associated with our internship. The University of Minnesota and the Medical School are renowned for pioneering studies of twins.

M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital

The clinical and didactic activities of the internship are primarily on the Riverside/West Bank campuses of the University of Minnesota at the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital. The Department of Psychiatry offices and outpatient activities are also on the Riverside campus. Office space is situated on both campuses. A free shuttle service (approximately every 10 minutes) provides transportation for staff and trainees between the sites on the east and west sides of the Mississippi River. 

The clinics and hospital have a secure, integrated health record (Epic).

The mission of the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital is to improve health, both individual and collective, of the communities it serves. It is committed to benefiting the whole person, providing the finest in health care, and addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Along with its partners with the Fairview Health System, M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital is renowned for excellent clinical care and community health services integrated with education and research to help individuals, families, and communities continually optimize their health throughout all stages of life.

Interprofessional Experiences

The internship provides collegial contact with medical and psychological staff, students, and postdoctoral fellows in diverse health professions. We also offer a rich mix of interprofessional activities with physicians of diverse specialties, especially pediatrics and psychiatry, as well as with professionals in chaplaincy, chemical dependency, genetics counseling, nursing, nutrition, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, schools, and special education.  In addition interns gain limited exposure to the Behavioral Emergency Center (BEC) to help them learn about dealing with behavioral emergencies including psychiatric admissions. The University of Minnesota Academic Health Center hosts the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. Interns are also encouraged to participate in the Better Together: Preparing for Collaborative Practice program, a new learning experience that will introduce interns to key foundational concepts of interprofessional education and collaboration.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We condemn racism, discrimination, and oppression in all forms. We affirm that racism and oppression are public health crises with serious mental health consequences for the communities we serve. We are part of a system that has allowed racial disparities in medical outcomes to persist for far too long. We commit to listen to and promote Black, Indigenous and people of color; we also commit to amplify their calls for change. We look forward to having you join us in creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive educational environment and healthcare system.

For more information, read more here:
https://med.umn.edu/psychiatry/education-training/education-office
https://med.umn.edu/psychiatry/about/diversity
https://drive.google.com/file/d/165y1XWu5BqMt4s3RWR1I4Pzch1nmkFZ7/view?usp=sharing
https://eoaa.umn.edu/sites/eoaa.dl.umn.edu/files/university_of_minnesota_equal_opportunity_statement.pdf

Stipend/Benefits

The stipend for the 2022-23 internship year is $34,400. In addition, benefits include Dental Insurance, Health Insurance, Professional Development Time, Sick Leave, Vacation, as well as discounts on computers, sporting and cultural events.

The University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is one of the largest universities in the US and ranks highly in terms of clinical research publications, research and development expenditures and federal funding, industry-sponsored research, patent issues to US universities, and number of doctorates awarded. It has one of the largest library collections in the country. Its programs in psychology, law, engineering, agriculture, business administration, and other scientific and professional areas consistently rank among the best in the country. The University of Minnesota stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte.

Beyond the Internship

Graduates of the program pursue a range of professional activities, generally in healthcare. In addition to numerous interns who have obtained Pediatric Neuropsychology fellowships at the University of Minnesota Medical School, interns have pursued postdoctoral fellowships at: Boston Children's Hospital, Brown University School of Medicine, Children's Medical Center of Minnesota, Children's National Medical Center in the District of Columbia, Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard University, Duke University, DuPont/Nemours Children's Hospital, Emory University School of Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Los Angeles Children's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin, Memorial Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston, Children's Medical Center of Texas, the University of Florida Health Science Center, Oregon Health Sciences Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Washington University School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, the Univeristy of Colorado Medical School, and other postdoctoral fellowships in the U.S. and Canada. Some years additional postdoctoral fellowships are available at the Univeristy of Minnesota Medical School in Pediatric Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

We invite you to explore our program's entire website to develop a full understanding of the internship. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Again, thank you for your interest. We hope you find our program to provide exciting opportunities to prepare you for a rewarding career.

Contact Us

Internship Coordinator
Lauren Lofgren
internshipcoord@umn.edu
For questions regarding individual rotations, visit our rotations page

Mailing Directions

US Mail
Psychology Internship Admissions Committee
University of Minnesota Medical School
Health Psychology
MMC 741
420 Delaware St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0392