Intern Clinical Psychologists' Experiences of their Training and Internship Placements

Abstract

The study involved a mail survey of all 150 intern clinical psychologists registered with the HPCSA during the year 2009. A response rate of 55.3% was achieved with a representative provincial distribution. The results indicated that 34.9% of the respondents felt adequately prepared for the internship and 53% felt only partly prepared, while 53% considered the training to be relevant and 31.3% felt it was only partly relevant. Although the majority of the respondents were satisfied with various components of their work and supervision, less than half reported having adequate infra-structural support. Only 12% had completed their Masters' dissertations, and less than one-third of the sample favoured the proposed HPCSA ruling on dissertation completion before the internship. The majority of respondents were keen to pursue further research and a doctorate. One-third had planned to emigrate, and this group showed significantly higher levels of dissatisfaction with aspects of the training and supervision, experienced significantly more language difficulties with patients, and had significantly less favourable views of Community Service. The results are discussed within the context of local and international training issues in Professional Psychology, with some recommendations provided.