Pre-doctoral Internship in Pediatric Psychology
2008 - 2009

Pediatric Psychology Vision
To achieve the status of a premier pediatric psychology department by delivering state of the art psychological treatment and developing a nationally recognized training program guided by an expertise in multiculturalism and diversity.

Pediatric Psychology Mission
To foster the well-being of the whole child and family by addressing their unique emotional and developmental needs with sensitivity and innovation.

Pediatric Psychology Values

Innovation: Advancing pediatric psychological services by utilizing creativity and state of the art interventions.

Excellence: With integrity, setting and achieving the highest standards in the behavioral sciences.

Compassion: Caring with sensitivity, respect, and empathy for individual differences.

Collaboration: Partnering with families, professionals, and our community to provide family centered care.

Scholarship: Mentoring young professionals to develop and advance the field of pediatric psychology.

Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) is pleased to offer a one-year, full time, pre-doctoral internship in pediatric psychology. The training year begins on August 29, 2008 and ends on August 28, 2009. The internship is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association. The internship at CHOC focuses on training advanced level doctoral students to work effectively within medical settings with medically fragile children and their families, as well as offering continued training with more traditional child outpatient presenting problems. All of the training experiences take place within the hospital setting. CHOC is one of relatively few accredited internships which provides year long specialized training in children with medical problems fully within a hospital setting.

Childhood chronic illness is a significant health concern. As medical treatments improve, more children are living longer with chronic illnesses. It has been estimated that 15 to 18% of children in the US are living with a chronic illness. Of these, about half experience a restriction in their ability to participate in normal activities. Medically fragile children and their families experience a wide range of unique stressors, yet many do not have access to quality mental health services. Uniquely tailored psychological services, such as specialized assessments, psychosocial support, more intensive psychotherapy and consultation with medical teams can have a very positive effect on quality of life for children and their families. In recognition of these positive effects children’s hospitals and clinics are increasingly working closely with psychologists and other mental health professionals to provide comprehensive services to their patients. The psychology internship at CHOC seeks to train psychologists to work effectively with medically fragile children and their families within the context of hospital based inpatient and outpatient services. This is a particularly exciting time to be a part of pediatric psychology as the medical field increasingly understands the critical role of psychological factors in overall health and is thus increasingly involving psychology services into standard health care services. In addition to the intensive experiences with children with medical diagnoses, we believe in offering solid training in child psychology, thus interns also receive training and experiences in more traditional outpatient therapy and assessment.