Working toward Socially Responsive Recruitment Practices of Psychology Interns in an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Objective This study describes a quality improvement (QI) process to reduce bias and increase inclusion and equity in the recruitment of health service psychology interns in an American Psychological Association-accredited psychology internship program at a national children’s hospital. Methods This QI project utilized two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles targeting the application review and the interview processes primarily using supervisor engagement and feedback to inform these processes. The goal of the PDSA cycles was to increase diversity in psychology doctoral interns offered interviews and ultimately recruited to the internship program. Results The application rating form was revised to place a greater emphasis on factors related to diversity, such as increasing the number of points applicants could earn for being bilingual. Regarding the interview process, structured interview questions were created, and a new, unified rubric was used to score interviewees. The changes in demographics of applicants selected for interviews and feedback from applicants who interviewed are reported. Conclusions The QI process resulted in tangible changes to improve equitable and inclusive internship recruitment. Lessons learned throughout this process included the need for continual auditing of practices through an equity lens, engaging supervisors at all stages of the process, and implementing incremental actions.

Implementation of a data-driven approach to internship recruitment.

“…Internship recruitment must prioritize efforts to increase diversity among pediatric and child clinical psychologists (American Psychological Association, 2003). As such, there is a real need to develop recruitment procedures in which diverse representation is monitored at all stages of the recruitment process (Glover et al, 2022). This requires that training faculty have a proactive plan for addressing imbalances in minority representation among applicants.…”

“…Previous research aimed at developing screening measures for sites to use to measure internship readiness (e.g., competencies and experiences) has demonstrated the difficulty of creating one measure to capture the full range of experiences while highlighting the need for such tools (Power et al, 2011). Recent work also emphasizes the importance of socially responsible practices in internship recruitment (Glover et al, 2022). However, no official standard or guidance for this process exists or examines the process across both application review and interviews.…”

From quality improvement to equality improvement projects: A scoping review and framework

“… 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 Engage Systematic Equality improvement Few disparities can be expected to be abolished in one cycle; therefore, tools must form part of a broader framework that detect disparities and points to corresponding interventions to reduce disparity. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 Encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration Cross-disciplinary projects are more likely to yield understanding of the complex causes of inequity and different teams are well-positioned to generate an appropriate interventions. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 Outreach/educating patients Successful EQIPs used outreach techniques to engage minorities and provide information on their available care.…”