Clinical Practica
The IUPUI campus and the city of Indianapolis provide a rich environment for clinical practica and internship opportunities.
Clinical Practicum
A clinical practicum is a supervised training and educational experience conducted in a university, hospital, or community health care setting. Generally, the sites for these practica are located in the Indianapolis area, but other locations are also possible. Practicum training emphasizes the scientist-practitioner model and encourages the development of skills that are unique to psychology. Training stresses the integration of scientific method, critical thinking, and evidence-based knowledge into professional practice. Practicum training helps students increase their basic clinical skills and confidence, and acquire increased understanding of professional responsibility and ethics, and the many roles that psychologists can perform.
Practica are organized on a one or two semester-long basis and are usually one or two days each week. An important feature of the practicum experience at IUPUI is a high degree of access to many different clinical settings and client populations within and across specializations. In addition, most practicum sites involve professional psychologists who provide on-site supervision and serve as mentors. Health professionals including psychiatrists and others also function in supervisory and mentoring roles. Close liaison is maintained between the Practicum Coordinator and each practicum site to assure that the practicum experience is meeting the training needs and educational objectives of the student.
Examples of Practicum Sites
Behavioral Medicine/Health Psychology: Integrative Pain Center (Wishard Hospital), IU Cancer Center, Indiana Women’s Prison, and LaRue Carter Psychiatric Hospital.
Neuropsychology:
Rehab Innovations, Hook Rehabilitation Center, Neuroscience Center of Indianapolis, Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, Reach Rehabilitation Center, Neurorehabilitation Outpatient Clinic (IU Medical Center), Alzheimer’s Clinic (IU Medical Center), Department of Neurology (IU Medical Center), and Professional Psychological Services.
Severe Mental Illness/Psychiatric Rehabilitation:
Midtown CMHC Community Support Center, Midtown CMHC Crisis Intervention Unit (Wishard Hospital), Midtown CMHC Emergency Services (Wishard Hospital), Roudebush VA Hospital (IU Medical Center), Cummins CMHC, Southcentral CMHC, LaRue Carter Psychiatric Hospital, and Insight Consulting.
General:
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (IUPUI Campus), Indianapolis Psychiatric Associates, Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic (IU Medical Center), Indiana Women’s Prison, Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility (Indiana Girls’ School), Plainfield Boys’ School, and Indianapolis Public School System.
Recent Internship Placements
The program requires a year-long internship and students have obtained placements at many excellent clinical and research facilities around the country. Examples of recent placements include:
- University of Washington School of Medicine
- University of Michigan VAMC
- University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Dartmouth Medical School
- Henry Ford Hospital
- Indiana University Medical Center
- Cleveland VAMC
- University of Alabama
- University of Mississippi/Jackson VAMC
- Children’s Hospital of Michigan
- VA Chicago Health Care System
- Jefferson County Internship Consortium
- IU - Counseling and Psychology Services
- West Virginia University School of Medicine
- New Haven VAMC