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! :)