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!