Didactic Training

Orientation

The internship year at HCMC begins with two weeks of orientation, during which the interns are introduced to the faculty and the facility as well as to policies and procedures. Current trainees play an integral part in orienting incoming interns to the hospital setting, the department, and the training program. The orientation also includes a series of lectures on basic topics such as interviewing, report writing, mandatory reporting of abuse, ethics, community resources, working with interpreters, and clinic procedures. Unscheduled time between lectures provides the interns the opportunity to become acquainted with each other and with the staff, and to organize their office space. Interns are informed of their supervisory assignments and initial meetings are arranged with their supervisors during the orientation weeks.

Each new trainee is also given a Student Handbook, to be used as a reference throughout the year. Pertinent ethics documents are included in the handbook.

Seminars

The orientation week is followed by several weekly, one-hour seminar series. During the fall quarter, interns participate in a Consultation Seminar, which covers topics related to psychological consultation to the medical and trauma services. The Adult Assessment Seminar also takes place during the fall and early winter quarters. The Child Assessment Seminar starts in the fall and continues throughout the training year. In addition, an eight-session Neuropsychology Seminar occurs in the winter quarter.

A 12-session CBT Seminar is taught jointly to the psychology interns and third-year psychiatry residents in the fall, and is followed by a six-session Family Therapy Seminar in the winter. The Group Therapy Seminar meets weekly throughout the training year. Each year, a brief Didactic Seminar focusing on a specific topic is offered in the late spring or early summer and is attended by faculty and trainees. Both faculty and trainees also participate in the Ethics and Professional Issues Seminar, which is held most months during the training year. Finally, each intern is required to make two case presentations to faculty and fellow trainees, integrating clinical data and scientific data from a review of the pertinent literature.

In addition to the psychology-specific didactic offerings, the Psychiatry Department sponsors a weekly Special Topics Seminar. Time permitting, psychology interns are welcome to attend lectures and seminars offered through the psychiatry residency program, also. As noted earlier, HCMC is a teaching hospital and each year the Office of Academic Affairs organizes numerous grand round presentations, lectures, and workshops that are available to all medical center staff and students. Finally, the Hennepin County Multicultural Employees Association sponsors programs focusing on cultural diversity.

During the internship year, two all-day workshops are arranged jointly by several area APA-accredited internship sites. The fall workshop focuses on diversity and the spring workshop focuses on supervision and ethics. These training days also afford interns the opportunity to meet trainees from other local programs.