Year In Review

With 12 days left before I leave the district of columbia, I have been reviewing the past year and a half and marveling at all that has happened. I feel like a totally different person than I was when I came out here. Up until last Feb I had had minimal disruptions in my academic life, was liked by all my advisers and professors, and felt pretty competent at what I did. 

I took quite a blow when I didn't get an internship last year. I honestly believed I would get an internship, things had always worked out so well for me professionally. Not matching and then being passed over for two more internship spots right after really hit my confidence. But, I picked up the pieces and worked hard to find a place for me to be this year, and was rewarded with a spot at Children's National Medical Center in D.C. Little did I know, coming to D.C. was going to provide some of the toughest professional situations I have ever been in. What was left of my confidence was totally shattered and I found myself questioning my own instincts about everything. Around December, I seriously thought about quitting and moving back home. I was miserable for awhile. Luckily I had friends and family to support me, and get me through the tough times. 

If nothing else, this year has taught me how much strength a person can have when given multiple hurdles to cross. I look back and can't believe what I have been through this year, and that I am standing on the other side ready to start a new chapter in my life. I made it through a nightmare in professional conduct, two hour drives to work in the morning, finding roommates and a place to live, re-applying for internships, questioning my own capabilities, planning and attending nine internship interviews, a broken heart (still not quite over that though), living without my kittens, sleeping on an air mattress for a year, a health scare, three feet of snow and a week off of work, an earthquake, looming financial ruin, and three people living in a two person apartment. Amazing!

Of course, it wasn't all bad, and there are a lot of things I am absolutely going to miss when I leave D.C. I met some amazing people, who accepted me and supported me right away without question. My paying job in neuropsychology was amazing and saved my life this year. What a great group of people and advisers. Other great things that happened included learning how to ride the metro, playing on a flag football team, meeting amazing friends and contacts, getting an incredible internship for next year, being able to hang out a lot with my best friend, buying my first car, lobbying on capitol hill, going on a tour of the White House gardens, having a great time when my family visited on Easter, seeing the 4th of July fireworks on the mall, and experiencing the kind of relationship that made me feel good about myself, however brief it was (minus ex-gf drama!).  

I'd say the best thing about this year is looking back and realizing that everything does work out in the end. Even if something does not go as planned, something just as good or better is on the horizon not too far away. I realized how many good people there are in this world and am amazed that I continue to meet them. I am going to miss a lot of things in D.C., and am sad to leave all the great friends that I've made. Such is the life of a psychology graduate student, unfortunately, but the good thing is that it gives me a chance for a fresh start and to break ties with the parts of  my life that didn't contribute to my happiness.  

I'd love a chance to be able to see everyone at least once more before I leave D.C. Get a hold of me if you want to set something up. I'm going to miss you!!

Looking forward to the beach!!   

Figures!

Top 5 Hurricane Vulnerable & Overdue Cities 

Look at the article I just found on weather.com! After 3 feet of snow and an earthquake here in the DC/MD/VA area, I wouldn't be shocked for a hurricane when we get to Miami! Ah, life is a banquet... haha :)

An Administrative Nightmare

So we're getting down to just over a month before I leave DC and move on to warmer temperatures (although ironically I think it's been hotter in D.C. this month than in Miami!). The number of arrangements that need to be made are growing by the day. Here's the rundown:

1. The MIA Apartment: We finally settled on details for the new apartment a couple weeks ago. I did the calculations and realized that I will be spending almost $200 less in rent than I am now in Arlington, VA. AND WE'RE LIVING ON THE BEACH! That is just incredible. We're still waiting on details for the building of a third bedroom in the apartment.

2. The Moving Truck : So in the two days I was at home in Flint over the 4th of July holiday, my mom and I drove to Toledo to have two moving companies give us estimates on how much it would cost to move my things to Miami. It looks like its going to cost around $2,000, which is insane, but I think I might actually have a company that I'm going to go with.

3. The Car: I realized a few weeks ago that I have 8,000 miles left on my car lease, with a little less than a year left on the lease. I knew that this was not going to last, so I started making phone calls trying to figure out my options. The second of the two days I was at home in Flint, my mom and I went to the car dealership and ended up walking away with a Chevy HHR (see pic on right). However, my Pontiac G6 was still in D.C., and I was flying out of Detroit that day. We decided that my mom would take the car to her house and then we'd figure out how to swap out my old car with the new. I'm going to turn in my Pontiac here in D.C., but we weren't sure how to get the new car out here. By some miracle, one of my mother's friends was driving to drop her daughter off in North Carolina, and they have offered to help us with the car exchange. So, my mom will drive the HHR to Virginia, meet up with me on Saturday, and then tag along for the rest of the trip with her friend.

4. The VA Apartment: My two current roommates had been looking for a new third person to take my place when I leave. One of their former college buddies was looking for a place to live and so that worked out nicely. I got an email from my roommate the other day, however, asking if the new girl could move her stuff in Thursday or Friday of this week (as in today or tomm). So she is moving in her bed and dresser tonight, and I'll actually be upgraded from the air mattress which is cool :) However, we will have 4 people's stuff in a 2 bedroom apartment. It's going to be tight!

So I think that is the update on everything that is being worked out right now. Luckily, everything is finally coming together and most of the important decisions have been made. Right now I'm most worried about getting the 3rd bedroom built in the Miami apartment, as I could see that being something put off until the last minute by the management. We'll see though.

Happy Thursday!

P.S. You'll notice that many of these activities were completed by "my mom and I." She's been such a big help and I appreciate that I haven't had to do it all alone!

D'Backs vs. Tigers 6/19/10

Kate & I decided to go on a road trip to see the Tigers play baseball in Detroit. The reason we picked the weekend we did is because they were playing the Diamondbacks - which is Kate's favorite team! It was a LOT of driving (it's 10 hours from D.C. to Detroit), but we were able to see my mom, my kitties, and meet two of our classmates, Aaron & Darren for breakfast. 

The game was fun, we had incredible seats 25 rows up behind home plate. Kate was able to get her favorite player to sign a picture for her before the game. The picture to the right is of her waiting her turn! The funny part was that the picture he signed was a picture of him signing her t-shirt at a different game!

 
Anyway, we missed the Tigers batting practice so I didn't get any signatures. There was also a wedding held on the field immediately after the game. How much would it cost to do THAT I wonder?!

Kate is moving on the 30th to Mississippi for her post-doctoral position, so I won't see her for awhile. I am going to miss her a lot!

Home In Miami

So it has been an interesting week in the world of apartment hunting in Miami with my two future roommates (in pic on left). As previously mentioned in this blog we had been working with a realtor down in Miami to help us find places to live. On Thursday, two days before we were to leave, we got a message from the realtor's colleague that she was not going to be able to show us around, but that he would. On Friday, the colleague told us that it was "not worth his time" to spend Saturday looking for apartments with us. So, we are 5 hours from flying out to Miami with no realtor and no plans for what we were going to do. Luckily, Jessica found another realtor on Craigslist who ended up being AMAZING. He was able to find us a place on Miami Beach! 

The apartment is one of the older buildings in Miami Beach and is called Seacoast Suites (www.seacoastsuites.com). The building is part hotel and part apartment complex. The picture above is of the apartment building. The side of the building that our apartment faces is the bay side (seen below).  

Because the building is part hotel it has a resort-feel to it in that it has a little convenience store, a restaurant, and little huts outside that have different services. Our favorite is the massage station!

The other side of the hotel has a slightly amazing view....

  

Honestly, we're still in shock that we found such an amazing place, but the deal is not 100% done yet. The apartment is about 15-20 minutes from the hospital, which seems like nothing to us D.C. people. Anyway, we're hoping to sign in the next week or so and have a great place to stay for our year in Miami!!

Long Time No Post!

So an update on what I've been up to over the past few months:

1. Advocacy Days with the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - I spent a day up on Capitol Hill meeting with staffers of several congresspeople. I got to meet specifically with people working for Carl Levin (senator from Michigan) and Jim Webb (senator from Virginia). I basically spent the day with a bunch of psychiatrists from the AACAP and we had a bunch of "talking points" we were given to discuss with staffers. It was pretty interesting to see how the process of lobbying works!

2. Washington D.C. Zoo!   I went with Kari to the zoo and had an excellent time. The zoo here is free! That is amazing to me. Although lacking penguins and giraffes, the zoo had an excellent display of big cats. 

3. Kate's Internship Graduation & Weekend of Fun! I traveled to Pittsburgh for Kate's internship graduation dinner. The dinner itself was nice, but we had the most fun on Saturday at a place called "Color Me Mine." At this place you pick out a piece of pottery (bowls/mugs/picture frames etc.), paint it as you like, and then they fire it up in the kiln. This was so much fun, and Kate and I had some pretty nice products when we were finished if I do say so myself!

4. Flag Football - I joined a random flag football team for the spring season and have had a blast playing. I've met some great new people and I really like being involved in a social league sport (it's not high competition by any means). Our team record is 2-2-1 and we have one more game before the playoffs. Unfortunately I have not scored any touchdowns though :(

Other Important Events:
-I am officially finished with the volunteer portion of my experience here in D.C. (working with kids who have diabetes). This means I will be working three or four days a week for the rest of the summer, and working on my dissertation the other free days.
-The wonderful air mattress I have been sleeping on (and blowing up every night before bed) has died. It was sad before, and now that I am sleeping on two foam pads on the floor, its even more sad. But don't despair, a replacement is ordered and on the way!
-This weekend I am heading to Miami to look at potential places to live. VERY excited for this and I will post some pics when I get back!

I actually have a realtor??

I am sitting here watching CNN cover the House vote on the healthcare legislation. Since they are dragging this out longer than the season finale of American Idol (is that possible??) I decided to take a few minutes and give an update on the goings-on with internship.

The two girls I know from DC that are going to Miami and I have decided to live together next year. The girl's names are Cat and Jessica. I know both of them but they didn't know each other so we had dinner a few weeks ago and the girls got to meet. Dinner went well, and we all seem to be on the same page in regards to living in Miami. We have decided to live as close to the beach as possible, and are looking in the Miami Beach area for a townhouse or condo. Amazingly, you can rent a place on Miami Beach for the same amount you can rent an apartment in Arlington, Virginia!

Initially we had planned on flying down to Miami at the beginning of May to look at housing. However, Cat called to check out a place we had seen online and the realtor told us that we shouldn't start looking until late June/early July. I guess we are used to getting college campus housing, where you have to have something locked up by May or you might not get anything. Anyway, Cat found out that the realtor is paid by the properties she rents out so we can use her services at no cost to us. I'm actually really excited about that because none of us really have any idea about renting in Miami. We told her our criteria and she said we would have no problem getting a place for us. We're still going to go down in early July to look at things before we commit though. 

The best news? Both girls are okay with the kittens coming to live with us! I'm sure they will LOVE the Miami humidity :)

Extra Info...

So I've also found out that the girl from D.C. I stayed with in Miami also has matched there! So three out of the five interns at the Mailman Center are from Children's National Medical Center! I am really glad to have people I know moving with me, it makes it so much easier to know at least one or two people right from the start. I probably will room with one or both of them too as the stipend that we get in Miami is not generous, which is putting it mildly ($20K a year). 

Also, my start date is not until September 1st, so I will be spending at least 6 more months in D.C. This is good as my lease in D.C. does not end until Sept; otherwise I'd be paying two rents for a couple of months if I moved earlier. So I finally know what my future will look like, at least for the next year and a half!

And I'm moving to......

Benvinidos a Miami, Florida! (I keep singing the Will Smith song for those of you who know it). I matched with my #5 choice, the Mailman Center for Child Development.  The track is working with kids with cancer, which will be challenging. I also found out that a girl from D.C. that I work with right now is going to be in the same program with me next year so it will be nice to know someone! It's farther than I really wanted to move but after having 3 feet of snow this winter I could be ready for a 70 degree winter! I told my dad that I was moving closer to him but as it turns out, Miami is only one hour closer to Atlanta than D.C. is, haha!

I am pretty surprised because it was a lower pick than I thought I would get. It looks like this year, four out of five applicants (81%) were matched to their top 3 choices and 5% were matched to their 5th choice. I really know how to beat the odds apparently, someone should take me to Vegas. :)

I am going to keep updating this blog as I get ready to move and as I settle in Miami so keep checking back for updates!

Here are some interesting statistics that show how difficult it is to get an internship right now.

Applicants Participating in the Match             3,669

Applicants Matched                                      2,823  (77%)

Participating Applicants Not Matched                846  (23% of students did not match this year)

Match Results by Rank Number on Applicant's List:
(percentages may not total to 100 due to rounding errors)

      Rank              Number of Applicants

        1                   1,295  (46%)
        2                     614  (22%)
        3                     373  (13%)
        4                     201  ( 7%)
        5                     135  ( 5%)
        6                      80  ( 3%)
        7                      52  ( 2%)
        8                      25  ( 1%)
        9                      14  ( 0%)
       10 or higher            34  ( 1%)

       Total                2,823 (100%)

It's Time!!!!

Just a reminder that tomorrow is "match day" where all internship applicants find out if they will have an internship next year. The process is done in two steps: tomorrow we find out IF we are going on internship, and then Monday we find out WHERE we are going. Last year I got the notification email pretty early so hopefully it will all be over before I even go to work! 

I was not nervous until this week, and tonight I am pretty freaked out. This is the culmination of two years of applications, an extra year of grad school, and the final step to graduating. It's a really big deal. I remember last year the shock of opening up the email to see that I hadn't matched. It was literally a punch in the gut. I think I'm reliving that a little bit tonight which is not fun. However, tomorrow could be redemption too! Then of course the wait for Monday....

This is a big weekend for me in many ways so keep me in your prayers! 

Ranking List

As I described early on in my blog, the next part of this process after interviews is to "rank" the sites in order of preference. The internship I would most like gets ranked #1, and then my second favorite and so on. The internship sites also rank the students that they interviewed in terms of who they think is the best fit for their site. If anyone is interested in a more detailed explanation I will paste it at the end of this post.

I had originally thought there was some systematic way of figuring out how to rank the sites, but it is difficult because they are all so different. My rankings are due on Feb 3rd and I have been putting it off. However, last night I just decided to go with gut feelings and ended up ranking them. I feel pretty happy with the lineup.  There is a chance I may re-order a few of them but for now it's set. So, in order of preference, my internship site rankings are:

Rank	Code	Training Site Program
1	153811	CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA, PA PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
2	134421	KENNEDY KRIEGER/JOHNS HOPKINS U BALTIMORE, MD PEDS CONSULT/NEUROPSYCH
3	119711	DUPONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN WILMINGTON, DE PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
4	121313	MAILMAN CTR CHILD DEV/U MIAMI MIAMI, FL CHILD PROTECTION TEAM
5	121317	MAILMAN CTR CHILD DEV/U MIAMI MIAMI, FL HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY
6	151917	UNIV OF OKLAHOMA HEALTH SCI CTR OKLAHOMA CITY, OK CHILD CLINICAL/PEDIATRIC PSYCH
7	136211	CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN DETROIT, MI PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
8	121319	MAILMAN CTR CHILD DEV/U MIAMI MIAMI, FL PRESCHOOL INTERVENTIONS
9	153012	GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER DANVILLE, PA CHILD CLINICAL AND PEDIATRIC
10	137911	CHILDRENS HOSP/CLIN OF MINNESOTA MINNEAPOLIS, MN PSYCHOLOGY INTERNSHIP
11	143011	UNIV MED DENT NJ/UNIV BEHAV HC NEWARK, NJ CHILD TRACK

Description of the Matching Process

The matching process uses the preferences stated on the Rank Order Lists submitted by applicants and internship programs to place individuals into positions.
The process starts with an attempt to place an applicant into the program that is most preferred on the applicant's list. If the applicant cannot be matched to this first choice program, an attempt is then made to place the applicant into the second choice program, and so on, until the applicant obtains a tentative match, or all the applicant's choices have been exhausted.
An applicant can be tentatively matched to a program in this process if the program also ranks the applicant on its Rank Order List, and either:

• the program has an unfilled position available for the applicant. In this case there is room in the program to make a tentative match between the applicant and program.
  
• the program does not have an unfilled position, but the applicant is more preferred by the program to another applicant who is currently tentatively matched to the program. In this case the applicant who is the least preferred current match in the program is removed from the program to make room for a tentative match with the more preferred applicant.

Matches are referred to as tentative because an applicant who is matched to a program at one point in this process may later be removed from the program, to make room for an applicant more preferred by the program, as described in the second case above. When an applicant is removed from a previous tentative match, an attempt is then made to re-match this applicant, starting from the top of this applicant's list.
This process is carried out for all applicants, until each applicant has either been tentatively matched to the most preferred choice possible, or all choices submitted by the applicant have been exhausted. When all applicants have been considered, the matching process is complete and tentative matches become final.
In summary, each applicant's Rank Order List is traversed "downwards", from most preferred program to least preferred, until the first program is reached at which the applicant can be tentatively matched, or until the applicant's list of choices is exhausted. Each program accepts applicants "upwards" on its Rank Order List, continually removing less preferred matches in favor of more preferred applicants, until the program is matched to the most preferred applicants who wish to be matched to the program.
An example of how the matching algorithm works and a discussion of common misunderstandings about the matching process are provided in other sections of this web site.

Example

An example of the matching process involving three applicants and three programs is shown below. The Rank Order Lists submitted by programs and applicants in this example are as follows:

Programs' Rank Order Lists

Program A	Program B	Program C
(2 Positions)	(1 Position)	(1 Position)
1. Charles	1. Baker	1. Baker
2. Baker	2. Charles
3. Able	3. Able

Applicants' Rank Order Lists

Able	Baker	Charles
1. Program B	1. Program A	1. Program B
2. Program A	2. Program B	2. Program A
	3. Program C

Match Process

The actual matching is done on a computer. However, the matching process itself could be completed as effectively by hand; the computer serves only to expedite the process. The computer is set up to process the lists in the following manner.
It first attempts to place Able into his first choice, Program B. Since Program B has an available position, Able is tentatively matched to Program B. Next an attempt is made to place Baker into Program A. Since Program A has an available position, Baker is tentatively matched to Program A.
The computer then attempts to place Charles into Program B. Program B's position is currently filled, but Program B prefers Charles to its current match with Able. Able is therefore removed from Program B, and Charles is tentatively matched into Program B.
Since Able has just been removed from a tentative match with Program B, an attempt is made to re-match Able. The computer first tries to place Able into Program B; however, this is unsuccessful because Program B's position is now filled with Charles, who is preferred by Program B. Next an attempt is made to place Able into his second choice, Program A. Since Program A still has an available position, Able is tentatively matched to Program A.
The matching process is now complete as each applicant's list has been processed, and each applicant is tentatively matched to the most preferred choice possible. Tentative matches now become final.
Note that in the matching process, no applicant or program can be forced into a final match until all applicant Rank Order Lists have been considered for the best possible tentative matches.

INTERVIEWS COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most exciting day in months: the day I finished internship interviews. It's been a long, long month (two months actually) of traveling and being stressed and nervous and I can already feel the sickness coming for the after-interview crash. It feels great to be done though, and not had any major traveling problems, and having seen so many great internship sites. I really think I'd be happy at any of them. Now, although I interviewed at 9 places, I will actually be ranking more than nine sites. This is because some of the internships have you apply for each of their positions, rather than just the internship as a whole. For example, for the Miami internship I would rank both the Child Protection Team position and the Hematology/Oncology position.

Mainly for my purposes, but so you can see too, here are the positions that need to be ranked, in no particular order right now :)

137911    CHILDRENS HOSP/CLIN OF MINNESOTA      MINNEAPOLIS, MN      (3 spots)
136211    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN          DETROIT, MI                   (4 spots)
                UNIV OF OKLAHOMA HEALTH SCI CTR         OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
                          151917 CHILD CLINICAL/PEDIATRIC PSYCH              (2 spots)
                 MAILMAN CTR CHILD DEV/U MIAMI               MIAMI, FL
                           121313 CHILD PROTECTION TEAM                             (1 spot)
                            121317 HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY                            (1 spot)
                           121319 PRESCHOOL INTERVENTIONS     (1 spot)
                 UNIV MED DENT NJ/UNIV BEHAV HC               NEWARK, NJ
                            143011 CHILD TRACK                    (4 spots)
119711     DUPONT HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN               WILMINGTON, DE        (6 spots)
                 GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER                            DANVILLE, PA
                             153012 CHILD CLINICAL AND PEDIATRIC                (3 spots)
153811     CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA          PHILADELPHIA, PA
                 KENNEDY KRIEGER/JOHNS HOPKINS U         BALTIMORE, MD
                              134421 PEDS CONSULT/NEUROPSYCH                       (2 spots)

1/27 Geisinger Medical Center

Internship Site: Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, PA otherwise known as the middle of nowhere)

Major Rotations: General Child and Pediatric Psychology
Special Stuff: Focus on research looking at how well different therapies work in the real world, Preschool evaluations & Head Start consultation, specialized clinics for different mental health disorders.
Downsides: More heavily child clinical and less peds, lots of behavior disorders, a majority of outpatient therapy experiences, minimal flexibility in schedule/activities, location.

I had actually interviewed at Geisinger last year and liked the program so I applied again this year. One of the initial downsides of Geisinger is it's location. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. The hospital is the majority of the city and the surrounding area is tiny. I stayed at the Pine Barn Inn the night before the interview which is a small little hotel right next to the hospital (pictured). This was the only interview where they covered any sort of travel expense - they paid for one night in a hotel which was really cool. 

The interview day consisted of three half hour interviews and lunch with the current interns. This was actually a very easy interview day as I had interviewed last year with two of the three faculty members I was interviewing with this year. Both of them were very kind and empathized with my not matching next year and just wanted to know what I had been doing since last year. I enjoyed the sympathy :) 

The program consists of three 4 month rotations in addition to year-long experiences. There are lots of experiences for group work, including group therapy for adolescents, obesity, and disruptive behaviors. In addition, there are a couple of clinics that focus on specific disorders: the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, Adolescent Depression Clinic, and the Step Up Clinic which is basically a clinic for kids who wet themselves at night or during the day. I like this model because it really allows you to focus on a single disorder and how you might evaluate and treat the disorder. Sometimes I feel as though we are so busy with so many different disorders that you never really have time to focus on one at a time. There is also a peds oncology service which is new from last year. Interns are required to work in adult emergency services as well for one full day a week during one four month rotation. This would be an area I am least experienced in as I really have not worked much with adults at all. 

Now, the internship does have primary care work but its very minimal. For six months interns go to a pediatrician primary care site for 2 days each month. Interns also spend time working on-call in the consultation-liaison service which is available for physicians should they need a psychologist. My understanding of this is that referrals are more limited to certain types of disorders in kids and that the adult consultations are much more varied and interesting. There is a pediatric neuropsychologist that is one of the supervisors at the internship. There is minimal hard-core neuropsych testing, however. The faculty member does, however, work with kids with traumatic brain injury and uses a program for kids with concussions that I am using this year in D.C. 

This internship is definitely one I would be happy at, and would provide at least the basic experiences I am looking for. I am not sure it would totally prepare me for a neuropsychology post-doc, or provide much primary care experience. It is also unclear as to what experiences I might have with advocacy/program evaluation. Research is not a large component of the program, although this is true with most of the internships. One cool thing is that the interns get to wear the "white jackets" that doctors usually wear and are called "residents" just like they are medical residents. It's amazing how much more respect you command when wearing the white jacket! 

A final note about the location - the scenery itself is pretty beautiful. The hospital is actually set atop a hill with gorgeous views. The town also lies next to a decently big river which is cool too. Also, the cost of living is close to nothing (especially compared with DC!). People have apparently rented whole houses on an intern salary. That's pretty good!

1/22 University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Internship Site: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (Oklahoma City, OK)

Major Rotations: Child & Pediatric Psychology
Special Stuff: Individualized Education Program, Extensive primary care work, Child Abuse & Neglect work, Oncology, brand new buildings/facilities. 
Downsides: Huge department, Interns don't have a lot of contact, Neuropsych opportunities are available but not a major focus. 

It was fun to go to my interview at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) because, as most of you know, my brother attends the OU main campus and I was able to stay with him. My poor brother had to wait four hours for my plane to arrive as it was diverted to Wichita, Kansas when there was a hailstorm over OK City. It was probably one of the scariest flights I've had! 

I spent Thursday mostly with my brother and even attended one of the classes he is taking, a developmental psychology class which I have actually taught before. It was interesting to sit in on the class though and see how someone else teaches it. 

My interview was on Friday and consisted of eight (technically nine), but EIGHT 45 minutes individual interviews. It was definitely a gauntlet! This interview was different as there was only myself and one other candidate interviewing that day and we never had contact with each other. It made me feel sort of special in a way! The program at OUHSC is pretty much designed for interns to create their own schedule using any combination of rotations and programs. This schedule can change as the year goes on as well. In general, the year is split up into three semesters (4 months each) in which an intern has one major rotation (25 hours a week) and one minor rotation (15 hours a week). This is totally awesome except when you start looking at all of the opportunities it becomes very daunting. 

For example, pediatric psychology is a major rotation, but within pediatric psychology there are tons and tons of programs and you can make up any combination of those programs to create the ped psych major rotation. It's a little difficult to describe actually but it's an overwhelming task. Some of the activities that interested me included a consultation-liaison program that provides consultation to physicians in the hospital when they have patients with psych needs, a hematology/oncology program, the primary care clinics, and the Fostering Hope Clinic (primary care for children in foster care). In addition, OUHSC has a cool program called the Interdisciplinary Training Program on Child Abuse and Neglect which is a training course for students in different disciplines to be leaders in the field of child maltreatment. This course would be great for my advocacy/public policy interests. 

The buildings on the campus were beautiful and looked brand new. It was pretty impressive. One interesting thing happened after my first interview which was in the VA building on campus. The faculty member was supposed to help me find my next interview spot but no one in the VA building was familiar with the child building, which is where I was going next. It took a good 25 minutes to figure out where I was supposed to be. This is one problem I see with the program is that it is HUGE. There are 42 faculty members!  I can see it being easy to get lost within such a large department. My final interview was with the director of training and I asked him if I got a prize for making it to the end of the day. He said yes and gave me candy :)

The pictures for this entry were taken with my cell phone so they are not as close up as I would like. Anyway, it gives you an idea. 

1/20 University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Internship Site: University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey  (Newark, NJ)

Major Rotations: General Child Clinical
Special Stuff: Program Development/Evaluation Project, teaching opportunities, Violence Institute, Many community intervention opportunities, Individual private offices
Downsides: Pediatric C/L activities are limited, Expectation to become licensed in NJ after internship, location, elective rotations are only 4 hours/week.



I was actually really nervous about traveling to the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Luckily, a friend of mine from work also had an interview there on the same day so we drove together. I had had a previous experience driving in Newark that was extremely scary so it brought out some anxiety to go there this time. We rolled in around 10:30 pm and were both nervous until we found our hotel, which was very nice. Crisis averted.

The structure of the interview day was a group overview of the program, two individual 45 minute interviews and a 45 minute small group interview. Most of the day was pretty routine. The program has a pretty specific core program and then also allows for some "electives." The core therapy experiences include general outpatient cases, groups, and work in the partial hospitalization program for kids with behavior problems. For assessment, they require interns provide crisis services in the ER in addition to 8 testing patients over the whole year. They also run something called a "Children's Mobilization and Response Unit" which actually goes to people's homes in the event of a safety emergency, such as an out of control child or suicidal child. The point of this service is to avoid inpatient admissions when the parents eventually bring the kids to the ER. There are some cool assessment experiences too such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Clinic and the opportunity to do a year-long rotation in neuropsychology. 

Another interesting and unique component to the program is the Core Performance Evaluation and Improvement Experience which is an opportunity for interns to work on some existing problem within the services UMDNJ provides. For example, helping doctors remember to screen for mental health issues in the ER. The idea is for interns to learn how to plan, evaluate and fix services, in addition to providing quality improvement for the hospital. They have an impressive list of electives that an intern can take; of which the interns can choose anywhere from 2 to 4 or 5 for the year. Some of the more interesting electives to me are a couple that use specific types of therapy, primary care consultation, and Youth Consultation Services which is group treatment for mothers and babies. Another interesting one is the Violence Institute which provides violence intervention programs in the schools. They also have a consultation-liaison elective but the current interns said that there are not many pediatric experiences. Although there are many many cool electives, interns only spend one half day a week doing the elective (about 4 hours a week). All of my primary interests are electives so that would mean I would be spending a minimal amount of time in my areas of interest. 

So I will explain the mini-group interview now, which was something I had not done before. They had four interns sit in a little circle facing each other, and discuss four different "topics" over the 45 minute period. While the interns were discussing, two faculty members observed and took notes. Two of the questions were case examples and we had to discuss an issue related to the hypothetical case. The other two questions were: 1. What has been the most frustrating part of your professional development and 2. What challenges do you forsee in working with an underserved inner city population. Neither of these questions are particularly tricky but the group you were in made all the difference.  My friend said her group was really friendly and focused on agreeing with each other and giving each other equal amounts of time to talk. My group, however, was more competitive and cutthroat and I had to literally cut people off to get a word in. I'm not the type to fight for the floor, I'm just as happy to sit back and listen, but that is not adaptive in this setting. Anyway, I did not like the group interview needless to say!

After the interview, both my friend and I drove to Philadelphia to fly out to our next interviews: mine was in Oklahoma.  

Oh by the way, here is an idea of the safety around Newark - all interns are required to leave the hospital by 5. Another sign is the full-porch bars as seen in the picture below.  I have never seen something like this!

Future Planning

As those of you reading this can probably tell, it's getting harder and harder to decide which sites I like the best. Part of the problem is that I still am grappling with what I really would like to do in the future. Internship is supposed to help us narrow down our interests but there are a lot of factors that go into future planning and it just gets difficult weighing all the factors. 

Right now I think my interests are in two areas: either working in a primary care office doing consultation with patients who come to see their pediatrician, or training as a neuropsychologist who does testing with children to measure their IQ, achievement potential, memory, attention, and concentration. A lot of times the patients are kiddos who have had some sort of illness either directly or indirectly affecting the brain. In primary care I could do a lot of prevention and catch kids before they have severe behavior or mental health problems. It is also a slower environment than working in a hospital. Primary care is also the way of the future; the focus is on integrating psychology into everyday health care so I would be right on the edge of what's new and being funded :) 

The problem with neuropsychology is that you have to do a two year postdoc (two years after getting the doctoral degree. Coming off of an extra year of training already the thought of adding MORE training does not excite me very much. In addition, the field of neuropsychology has its OWN match so I would be going through this exact same thing for a third time. Neuropsych also usually carries the most intense amount of work because there are really long reports that need to be written after each evaluation. 

Finally, I'm just tired of moving around and having to establish new sets of support and friendships. I like meeting new people and have been able to meet some incredible people everywhere I've lived but it's just a lot of work. Anyway, I just wanted to give an idea of my thought process through all of this. Having the degree is great but it opens up SO many choices that it can be tough to find the area you love. And of course there's always that tiny part of you that says, "is this REALLY what I want to be doing?" After 9 years of schooling that's a tough thought to have!

1/15 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Internship Site: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

Major Rotations: Pediatric Psychology
Special Stuff: Primary Care work, Community Work, Opportunity for advocacy/policy work, Systems integration is a major focus
Downsides: Might not get enough neuropsychology experience


I had two very important interviews in a row, so after Kennedy Krieger I was prepared for CHOP. A student from my program, Meghan, is currently working as staff at the hospital and did her internship there so I had an "in" for this one. I drove out to Philly with my friend Lauren, who I had met earlier during my interview in Minneapolis. We stayed at the Hyatt as my current roommate works there and gets great deals. The hotel was awesome but we forgot about the extra "perks" included in expensive hotels: $27 a day parking, and $10 a day for internet. Now, this is a mini soap box speech here but why do cheaper hotels provide these services for free but not expensive hotels? 

Anyway, Lauren and I had dinner with Meghan at a crepes restaurant. She gave us some info on CHOP and some hints and advice. Meghan is probably one of the more successful students from my program which is a great thing for me as it makes our program look really good! She loves it in Philly and has been there for the last three years I believe. This interview started with a general overview of the program, then a "meet the faculty" breakfast, followed by two individual interviews. I really hate the receptions that some of the programs have. There is so much pressure to meet as many people as possible and in order to do that you have to interrupt other students talking to faculty. I feel like I'm on The Bachelor vying for private time with the guy and cat-fighting with the other contestants. I am not one to "mingle" really so this is always a tough thing for me to do. 


Anyway, during the reception I spoke with the faculty member who works in the Thoracic Organ Transplant Program, which involved children who have heart and/or lung problems. Psychologists help kids with the transplant process and help trouble-shoot any problems during that time. This is a unique program and I would be excited to be involved. Some of the other programs that look great are Behavioral Health in Schools Initiative and Violence Prevention Programs. They both involve working in the community and providing prevention or treatment services. 

One of the coolest parts of the day was when I heard that one of the interns has put together a public policy program for himself in which he will be involved in making changes in government policy regarding mental health issues. I spoke with the woman who is in charge of this and she said that I could absolutely put together a project such as that myself. I would probably want to create a policy project within education. I really like this site because of the unique opportunities they have, the wide variety of rotations, the opportunity to work with world leaders in various medical disciplines, and of course the fact that it is a pretty prestigious program.


I didn't get to take any pictures for some reason so you'll have to imagine it in your head!

Falling Behind!!

Just a quick update - I've interviewed at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and am going to interview at Oklahoma tomorrow. These interviews have been in such quick succession that I have not had time to write them up! Quick review: I loved Philly and was not super impressed with New Jersey. I will let you know more details when I get back home from Oklahoma!

1/12 Kennedy Krieger Institute

Internship Site: Kennedy Krieger Institute (Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD)

Major Rotations: Pediatric Consult Team & Neuropsychology
Special Stuff: Inpatient neuropsychology a major component of the program; Chance to work with really rare disorders; Lots of professional development support.
Downsides: No child clinical experiences; one student works in a rotation at a time; very little work space

Today I interviewed at Kennedy Krieger, which is one of the more prestigious pediatric psychology internship sites in the nation. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University which of course carries a lot of weight with its own name. The facilities themselves are really swank too. The building this program is housed in has its own valet service.

The tracks I applied for are half year (6 months) each, one being pediatric consultation and the other neuropsychology. The pediatric consultation rotation consists of seeing patients who are referred by physicians in the hospital. These consults could be for a variety of reasons, but generally are a one-time consult and then you are done with that patient. The other aspect of the peds consult is an outpatient program in which you see children for therapy who have some sort of medical diagnosis as the primary problem. This is very similar to the work I have been doing with kids with diabetes at the Children's Hospital in DC. 

The other rotation is neuropsychology, which is testing to determine a person's brain strengths and weaknesses (attention, concentration, memory, verbal ability etc.). We also do what is traditionally known as "IQ" testing. One day a week on this rotation interns will see a patient through the outpatient program and do a full testing day with the patient. The other days will be spent with children who have sustained some sort of brain injury and are followed through their recovery to track brain functioning. This is a really unique program and is similar to the model I used in the concussion clinic I work at, except with much more serious brain injuries. I had the inside scoop on this internship as I work with many people in DC who went to Kennedy Krieger for their internship. Networking is always helpful!

I think this is probably my top one or two choice so far. You cannot get a better training environment and would work with some of the best doctors in the world. They take 21 interns which is many more than other internships by far. The last 3 interviews have been so great that it's going to get hard to choose which are my favorites! 


 

1/8 Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children

Internship Site: duPont Hospital for Children    (Wilmington, Delaware)

Major Rotations: Child Clinical & Pediatric Psychology
Special Stuff: Social Venture Program; Primary Care placement; Almost zero staff turnover; Extremely tight group of students and staff.

Downsides: Interns report working 50-60 hours a week

I decided to take the train from D.C. to Delaware for my interview today which was fun but ended up being really stressful as well. My train was a little delayed leaving D.C. but at that point I was still okay time-wise. However, about 20 minutes into the train ride (it was a 1.5 hour trip) the train in front of us broke down and we were required to pick up all of the passengers from that train and take them with us. It was 9:30 am at that point and my interview started at 11 am. I knew right then and there I was going to be late for the interview. I ended up only being 15 minutes late and as it turned out, another girl that was interviewing with me was on the same train! We ended up walking in together which was better than walking in late alone. It occurred to me while I was on the train that it was the exact same train ride that Joe Biden used to take when he worked as a senator and lived in Delaware (random fact).

I could tell right away that the atmosphere was one I would feel totally comfortable in as there was lots of joking with the staff and everyone appeared to be very laid back. It was also clear that they took training very seriously there. The interns mainly all follow the same training plan with small variations. For example, everyone works in assessment/evaluation settings, but you can choose which 3 out of 4 you want to rotate through. Another major component of the program is consultation, when the interns get called on to go visit with kids who are in the hospital. Apparently there is a huge variety of medical diagnoses that the interns see throughout the year.

Another cool program is the Social Venture Program, which provides on-site consultation to child care centers and charter schools in the area. I really like this opportunity as it allows me to work in the community providing consultation and advocacy. Like Miami, there are also primary care clinics that the interns work at a half day a week. The faculty are also involved in teaching medical residents about psychology which is something that interests me as well.

The thing about this program is that there's not necessarily one part of the program that really draws me to it, but the training environment is incredible. A large number of the faculty were interns themselves in the program and either continued on working there or came back after doing post-doc somewhere else. They said they have only hired one new person in the last 10 years (out of the training faculty) and all of the current interns are planning on applying for post-doc at the hospital. This really speaks volumes to me. On a more superficial note they have the best stipend I have seen and Wilmington has a really low cost of living.

I felt really good about this interview and that I was able to stand out from the other candidates. I really think right now that this is my first choice site so far. I know it may be more hours than other sites but it seems to be worth it!

Since I was running late to the interview and forgot after, I did not get any pictures of the actual hospital but did take some pictures on the train! It had just snowed the night before so it was a really beautiful train ride before all the stress! :)

1/7 Mailman Child Development Center

Internship Site: Mailman Child Development Center (Miami, FL)

Major Rotations: Hematology/Oncology; Child Protection Team

Special Stuff:  Individualized training plans; 1/2 day a week for research; wide variety of rotation experiences; opportunity to work in primary care settings; Lots of work with children birth-5; GORGEOUS setting!
Downsides: One intern per major rotation; Location is pretty far.

Flying into Miami was amazing - it was a beautiful blue-sky day and I flew in over the water and right by the Miami skyline. This made me very excited for the internship, the scenery was so gorgeous. I had flown in early the day before the interview in order to have some beach time, however, there were several kinks in this plan. One, it was 40 degrees in Miami. Two, I was staying out near the airport, which  meant three bus transfers to get to South Beach. In the end I decided I did not feel safe enough to go which I was disappointed about but felt good about the decision.

The interview day was fairly long but everyone was really laid back and welcoming. It was funny though because the building had not turned the A/C off and it was FREEZING. All of the faculty and staff were walking around all huddled up and in coats and stuff. The training director said she had to dig for something professional to wear because she did not have any warm professional clothes. The training director was so protective of her interns (i.e. making sure that they are treated well) that I felt like she was a mother to these people, which was a cool thing. It came across in the way she spoke about how we would be treated as well.

The internship site allows their interns to focus both on basic child psychology as well as pediatric psychology, which is working with kids who have medical illnesses. This is a strength of the program as it would allow me to work in both areas without having to commit quite yet. The program also allows for each student to have their own individualized internship plan which I really like as well. A cool aspect of the program is that they have interns work off-site at primary care clinics, and there is also a "mobile" unit that travels around and provides medical care to children in rural areas. A picture of the mobile unit is to the right.

I interviewed for two major rotations: Hematology/Oncology and the Child Protection Team (CPT). Hem/Onc is a rotation where you work with children who have cancer and their families. CPT is a rotation where you provide forensic assessment for kids who are suspected of being abused. You also spend a considerable amount of time evaluating adults and suspected perpetrators as well. The CPT team described themselves as having pretty "dark" humor which is something I would fit right into I think. The saying "if you're not laughing you're crying" comes to mind. I know that that kind of humor is what got me through grad school so far - my classmates and I had to find everything funny or it would have been difficult to handle some of the stressful times.

Overall, this was the best site I have seen so far in terms of opportunities and connection with faculty and staff. The campus was like paradise and was very appealing in itself!

So I have a plane ride home, and then tomorrow (Friday) morning I take the train to Delaware!