The internship is an integrative training experience and the capstone of doctoral training for developing professionals (Madson, Hasan, Williams-Nickelson, Kettmann, & Van Sickle, 2007). The imbalance between supply and demand of internships is an increasingly critical problem in professional psychology and one that the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) is committed to resolving with all stakeholders. This paper will provide a brief overview of the problem, summarize the efforts of APAGS to address the issue since its last article on the internship crisis (Madson et al., 2007), and provide a framework by which APAGS will continue to address the internship crisis-an issue we have defined as one of the most critical facing psychology graduate students today.Although systemic data collection was not underway at the time, it was suspected that the number of applicants outweighed the SHANDA R. WELLS earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from MidWestern University. She is currently a behavioral health psychologist at the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin working in integrated care with a dual appointment in pédiatrie and adolescent medicine and psychiatry. In addition to training and education, her research and clinical interests include integrated health care, primary care behavioral health and pédiatrie obesity.
Although care within a medical home increases parental satisfaction with health care services and improves health care utilization, significant racial/ethnic and language disparities persist in health care settings. Integrated, team-based approaches can decrease health disparities. The current study examines medical records of 2,353 youth who received a behavioral health consultation in an urban, residency training pediatric primary care clinic. A three-phase, mixed-method approach was used to examine whether differences in clinician-identified presenting concerns and recommendations were present across English-, Spanish-, and Other-language-speaking families. Findings reveal disparities among language groups in presenting concerns and referral to behavioral health services. Factors in medical record documentation also differed across language groups and by provider type. Recommendations for further research, identification, and assessment of psychosocial concerns for families with limited English proficiency (LEP) and development of evidence-based approaches for families with LEP in primary care are discussed.
Despite a continuing need for clinicians to engage in socially-‐just practice that addresses systemic factors impacting the mental health of clients through advocacy, there are often limited formalized opportunities for doctoral counseling psychology students to be exposed to and to engage in community or public arena advocacy. Two counseling psychology faculty members initiated and supervised a Participatory Action Research (PAR) team comprised of six advanced counseling psychology doctoral students and three early career counseling psychologists with experience conducting community and public arena advocacy. The nine PAR team members explored the doctoral students’ experiences conducting advocacy during their doctoral training and the resulting qualitative data was analyzed using a content analysis methodology. The study results highlight the challenges inherent in facilitating and conducting these types of advocacy training activities, discuss essential supports provided by their doctoral programs, and offer recommendations to counseling psychology faculty interested in preparing their students to engage in this work.
Overweight and obese children are at an increased risk of remaining obese. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends addressing healthy habits at well-child checks, but this poses challenges, especially in low-income populations. A clinical innovation project was designed to adapt recommendations in a busy urban clinic and consisted of motivational interviewing, culturally tailored tools, and standardizing documentation. A quasi-experimental design examined innovation outcomes. Of 137 overweight and obese children aged 24 to 66 months, providers’ documentation of weight during well-child check visits improved post-innovation ( P < .01), as did development of healthy habits goals ( P < .001). Families were more likely to return for visits post-innovation ( P = .01). A logistic regression analysis showed that adding body mass index to the problem list and establishing a specific follow-up timeframe most predicted follow-up visits to assess progress ( P < .001). Comprehensive innovations consisting of motivational interviewing, implementation of culturally tailored tools, and standardized documentation can enhance engagement in an urban clinic setting.
Unaccompanied and undocumented immigrant minors (UUIM) have become the focus of increased attention. Unfortunately, public discourse is often decontextualized, simplistic, and polarized. Empirical literature fails to capture the experiences of UUIM and identify strategies to promote their well-being. In this article we begin to address these gaps through qualitative inquiry. We analyzed written narratives of 292 Latino UUIM using a theoretical thematic analysis. Participants described motives for, and experiences of, the migration process. Guided by Ungar et al.'s (2007) conceptualization of resilience, five subthemes emerged: access to material resources, relationships, identity and cohesion, social justice, and perilous journey. The results from our study highlight (a) the youth's difficult and often traumatic experiences in their homeland, (b) the factors that made migrating to the United States appealing to them, and (c) the dangerous journey they experienced. Implications for practice, research, and advocacy are discussed.
to address behavioral health programs in primary care. We share learnings about how four innovations have made our program novel and successful in scaling and spreading.
Background
Behavioral health disorders have steadily increased and been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though behavioral health disorders can be successfully mitigated with early implementation of evidence-based parent management strategies, education for pediatric residents on behavioral health anticipatory guidance has been limited to date, with training challenges compounded by the physical distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality (VR) simulations provide an opportunity to train residents on this complex competency by allowing deliberate practice of necessary skills while adhering to current social distancing guidelines.
Objective
This study explored the usability of a VR-based behavioral health anticipatory guidance curriculum for pediatric residents.
Methods
This mixed methods study included 14 postgraduate third-year pediatric residents who completed the behavioral health anticipatory guidance VR curriculum. Residents completed the MEC Spatial Presence Questionnaire to assess immersion in the virtual environment. Semistructured interviews were used to elucidate residents’ perspectives on the curriculum’s content and format. The interviews were analyzed using conventional content analysis.
Results
Quantitatively, residents reported a high degree of immersion, spatial presence, and cognitive involvement. Most residents (11/14, 79%) agreed or strongly agreed that it seemed as though they took part in the action of the simulation. Qualitatively, two themes emerged from the data: (1) the curriculum expands behavioral health anticipatory guidance and motivational interviewing knowledge and skills and (2) VR technology is uniquely positioned to develop competence. These themes revealed that the curriculum expanded their current level of knowledge and skill, addressed training gaps, and was applicable to all residents. Additionally, residents experienced VR as immersive, feasible, realistic to the clinic setting, and a safe space to practice and learn new skills.
Conclusions
Pilot data indicates that VR may be an effective tool to teach pediatric residents behavioral health anticipatory guidance, meeting a current gap in medical education training. This VR curriculum is particularly relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic given the increased behavioral health concerns of families.
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