Our Doctoral Program
The first two years and advancement to candidacy
During the first two years of our program students take a variety of courses on child and adult psychopathology, clinical assessment and intervention, research methods, ethics, multicultural issues, foundations of clinical science, and a number of electives in developmental, cognitive, personality, social, and biological psychology. An independent, Master's level research project is also completed by the end of the student’s second year. The students are involved in practicum training on a part-time [8-10 hour a week] basis at local agencies beginning their second year. Students also start to assist in teaching undergraduate courses during their second year. Finally, students complete a preliminary portfolio before obtaining their Masters degree and advancing to PhD candidacy.
Candidacy, Dissertation, and Internship
During the third and fourth years, most students focus on developing and completing, with guidance of a faculty committee, an individualized program of advanced study and the "dissertation prospectus." Students also may take additional elective courses and obtain additional clinical experience by completing part-time clinical practica at local agencies.
During this time, students must also make a choice between A) applying to complete their full-time clinical internship in our University of Michigan Internship Consortium (see below) or B) applying to the National Internship Match (APPIC) in order to complete their internship at an external site. For those students choosing to apply to do their internship in our consortium, the internship can be completed during the 4th or 5th year of study. Those selecting to apply to the national match usually complete their internship during their 5th year of study. Finally, students usually defend their doctoral dissertation during their 5th year.
Internship Consortium
At this time we have the Consortium internship but this internship is likely to be phrased out in the coming years. As a result, the Consortium will not be available to new students entering the clinical program for the foreseeable future.
The University of Michigan Internship Consortium was created in 1969 in order to provide students enrolled in the UM Clinical Psychology program with a diverse array of clinical internship experiences which offer quality training in contemporary professional psychology. It was created with the explicit purpose of allowing UM students to receive professional field training experiences which could be closely integrated with the rest of their graduate school education. Unlike the typical internship model in which students must enter another highly competitive application process for a full-time national match internship, and re-locate themselves and their families away from university colleagues and mentors, the UM model allows students to remain on the Ann Arbor campus while completing their internship. This arrangement permits the development of professional clinical skills while remaining in close proximity with their research mentors. All Consortium interns complete half-time rotations in two sites during their fulltime year, and are thus exposed to more varied experiences than would be possible if they received all of their training at a single internship site. Interns may participate in the training offerings at all Consortium sites; other training resources are also shared within the Consortium. Note: As of September 1, 2011 the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center will no longer be offered as a Consortium internship site.
For more information about our internship consortium click the link below.
Additional Information:
