Pediatric Psychology Internship Program

Training Sites

Outpatient Psychological Evaluation | Outpatient Therapy | Inpatient Consultation & Liaison Service | Feeding Disorders Program | Obesity Program

Outpatient Psychological Evaluation

Through the Outpatient Center, interns are responsible for the entire process of psychological evaluation for outpatients and day patients, including preparation of treatment plans, interviewing, testing, data interpretation, report writing, and feedback. Referrals come from physicians, schools, state agencies, community mental health centers, social workers, parents, MWPH Psychiatry Day Program, and other professionals at MWPH. Referral issues involve diagnostic questions and problems in attention, memory, organization, and learning, as well as problems in behavioral and emotional functioning. Supervision is provided by pediatric psychology faculty.

Rotation Goals and Objectives:

Goal: The intern will demonstrate knowledge and competence in administering and scoring psychological tests for children, writing detailed and accurate reports of findings, formulating effective recommendations based on evaluation results, and providing appropriate feedback to families and caregivers.

Objectives:

  1. The intern will be aware of relevant theory and testing issues as they pertain to psychological testing (e.g., reliability, validity, normative sampling)
  2. The intern will successfully administer and score psychological tests assessing intelligence, achievement, cognitive functioning, and emotional functioning
  3. The intern will demonstrate competence in generating a comprehensive report of psychological functioning, incorporating patient history, behavioral observations, test results, clinical impressions, diagnoses, and recommendations
  4. The intern will demonstrate competence in providing accurate and helpful feedback to families and/or caregivers based on results of psychological testing

Activities, methods of assessment, and outcome measures to achieve these goals and objectives will be presented to the interns at the beginning of their internship year.

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Outpatient Therapy

Through the Outpatient Center, interns carry a caseload of child and family outpatient therapy cases. Referrals come from physicians, schools, state agencies, social workers, parents, and other professionals at MWPH. Children and families are referred because of problems in emotional and behavioral functioning. Supervision is provided by pediatric psychology faculty.

Rotation Goals and Objectives:

Goal: The intern will demonstrate the knowledge and competence to function independently as a diagnostician and therapist. The intern will demonstrate competence in developing effective rapport with a diverse population of children and families, diagnosing a wide range of disorders of childhood, developing effective treatment plans with families and caregivers, and implementing these treatments in effective ways.

Objectives:

  1. The intern will demonstrate competence in performing a comprehensive diagnostic interview
  2. The intern will demonstrate the ability to develop effective rapport with a diverse population of patients and caregivers
  3. The intern will demonstrate competence in formulating an effective treatment plan for patients, based on diagnosis and report of symptoms
  4. The intern will demonstrate competence in implementing and carrying out treatment plans in a manner that is clear and understandable to children and their caregivers
  5. The intern will demonstrate competence in case management skills relevant to specific cases

Activities, methods of assessment, and outcome measures to achieve these goals and objectives will be presented to the interns at the beginning of their internship year.

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Inpatient Consultation and Liaison Service

Interns will have a caseload of inpatients throughout the internship year. Consultation requests involve evaluating and providing service to help children and their families adapt to acute and chronic medical conditions, medical regimens, separation from family, home, and friends, and pain management. Patients have a variety of conditions, including orthopedic anomalies and injuries, burns, brain injuries and neurological conditions, diabetes, asthma and other pulmonary conditions, cardiac problems, AIDS, feeding and related food and GI disorders, and lead poisoning.

Although the majority of consultations involve patients over 2 years of age, pediatric psychology is occasionally consulted on cases in the neonatal unit. Interns are responsible for reviewing medical records, consulting with staff, observing rehab sessions, interviewing child and family, and completing consultation reports. Interns are also responsible for communicating findings to both the family and to the clinical team (typically by attending the appropriate rounds).

They develop goals and objectives, communicate these to the clinical team (the interdisciplinary team working with that child), and develop an appropriate treatment plan. The intern continues to provide consultation and therapy services to that child and family throughout their admission to the hospital. Supervision is provided by pediatric psychology faculty.

Rotation Goals and Objectives:

Goal: The intern will demonstrate the knowledge and competence to function independently as a consultant to pediatric inpatient and outpatient populations. The intern will be able to write a complete and concise consultation report/evaluation. The intern will be able to communicate the results of the consultation to the medical team and the patient’s family.

Objectives:

  1. The intern will be able to assess the reason for referral
  2. The intern will understand the role of the consultant on the Consultation Liaison Service
  3. The intern will demonstrate the skills to work effectively and collaboratively within the context of a multi-disciplinary team
  4. The intern will demonstrate competence in conducting a mental status exam with children and adolescents
  5. The intern will demonstrate competence in general clinical interview skills
  6. The intern will demonstrate competence in presenting the case conceptualization, including integration of medical, psychological, and psychosocial factors
  7. The intern will demonstrate competence in using the multi-axial diagnostic system (DSM-IV)
  8. The intern will demonstrate the ability to develop appropriate recommendations and discharge plans for the patient
  9. The intern will be able to summarize all relevant data in a written diagnostic assessment and provide detailed information about treatment and progress in a written discharge summary
  10. The intern will integrate clinical experiences with cases into ongoing seminars

Activities, methods of assessment, and outcome measures to achieve these goals and objectives will be presented to the interns at the beginning of their internship year.

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Feeding Disorders Program

The Feeding Disorders Program serves infants, toddlers and children with a variety of feeding or eating problems. The primary role for interns is attending the Feeding Day Treatment Program (FDTP). However, interns will also be responsible for following inpatient and outpatient cases involving feeding disorders. The FDTP is a six-week intensive outpatient program involving multiple disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pediatric psychology, social work, nutrition, occupational therapy, and speech pathology. Interns are involved in several of the functions of pediatric psychology, including behavioral feeding evaluations, team consultation, development of feeding protocols, development of patient short and long term goals, implementation of feeding treatment plan, and caregiver training. Issues addressed include inappropriate mealtime behaviors, premature termination of meals, selective diet, food refusal, anxiety, caregiver-child interaction, and caregiver training. Supervision is provided by pediatric psychology faculty.

Rotation Goals and Objectives:

Goal: The intern will develop an understanding of feeding disorders and the relationship between the feeding disorder and family functioning. The intern will conduct intakes and assessments of a variety of patients with feeding disorders across multiple settings. The intern will use behavioral observations and interviews to develop effective mealtime interventions. The intern will provide parent training to caregivers to promote generalization of progress to the home setting.

Objectives:

  1. The intern will be able to collect data when observing and during therapy at 80% accuracy
  2. The intern will calculate data and make appropriate interpretations of the data
  3. Objective #3: The intern will use data to make treatment decisions
  4. The intern will be able to feed patients independently
  5. The intern will use behavioral observations to guide treatment decisions
  6. The intern will be able to complete a behavioral feeding intake and evaluation
  7. The intern will gain an understanding of diagnoses relating to children with feeding disorders
  8. The intern will use appropriate documentation via chart notes, mealtime protocols, feeding evaluations, and outpatient treatment summaries
  9. The intern will display appropriate interactions with the multidisciplinary team

Activities, methods of assessment, and outcome measures to achieve these goals and objectives will be presented to the interns at the beginning of their internship year.

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Obesity Program

The obesity program is a multidisciplinary program designed to assist children and their families in enacting positive lifestyle changes. The program includes medical and nutrition education, exercise, and behavior management. Pediatric psychology plays a major role in meeting with the patients and their families in a group format, helping them enact positive changes in eating habits and exercise. Interns are involved in the obesity screening clinic and in facilitating group therapy sessions. Supervision is provided by pediatric psychology faculty.

Rotation Goals and Objectives:

Goal: The intern will be able to participate in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents defined as overweight or obese by their physicians. The intern will be able to develop and implement effective treatments for children and families, including the dissemination of information, combining nutrition, exercise and behavioral theory in both individual and group format.

Objectives:

  1. The intern will be able to perform an effective diagnostic interview with the family of a child who is obese or overweight
  2. The intern will participate in the process of team decision making regarding the most effective course of treatment for children who are obese or overweight
  3. The intern will participate in the individual treatment of families of children who are obese or overweight
  4. The intern will participate in interdisciplinary group treatment of families of children who are obese or overweight

Activities, methods of assessment, and outcome measures to achieve these goals and objectives will be presented to the interns at the beginning of their internship year.

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