Clinical internship

On this page:
- What is the clinical internship?
- Who can do the clinical internship?
- Duration of the clinical internship
- Combining the research and clinical internship
- Requirements to start the clinical internship
- Aims of the clinical internship
- 1YMA & RM: Aims of the clinical research part within the clinical internship

What is the clinical internship?

The internship is meant to provide provide an introduction to the organization and practice of mental health care, as well as basic experience in clinical diagnosis and therapeutic interventions. In the Research Master programme, you also conduct a small-scale research project.

For students who intend to pursue post-academic clinical training as a health care psychologist, psychotherapist, or clinical (neuro)psychologist, for example after completing a PhD, participation in these internship activities is a prerequisite for admission to many programmes.

Provided certain additional requirements are met, the clinical internship provides the opportunity for students interested in a clinical career in the Netherlands to obtain two official certificates (the BAPD and GZ certificates) that are important for entering the field of mental health care in this country.

Who can do the clinical internship?

 

Programme	When	Duration
Mandatory for Forensic Master	2nd year, period 1 - 6
Optional for 1Y Master Neuropsychology  * reduces length of research internship * also known as 'the clinical NP variant'	Period 4 - 6	28 weeks
Optional for Research Master Neuropsychology. * reduces research internship to 19-21 weeks. * includes clinical research and minor thesis. * also known as 'the clinical NP variant'	2nd year, period 2 - 6  (Nov. - July)	Min. 520 hours (13 weeks)
Optional for Research Master  Psychopathology * reduces research internship to 19-21 weeks. * includes clinical research and minor thesis.	2nd year, period 2 - 6  (Nov. - July)	Min. 520 hours (13 weeks)
Post-graduate option For the other 1-year master tracks (NeuroPsychology, Health and Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Legal Psychology) and for the Research Master specialisation NeuroPsychology and Psychopathology (only research internship completed),  it is possible to do a clinical internship after you graduated. See Clinical Internship after graduation >> There is no post-graduation option for the other Research Master specialisations, as these do not provide any preliminary training in clinical skills.

 Should you be interested in a optional clinical internship, please contact the coordinator of your specialization first.


 

Duration of the clinical internship

A clinical internship lasts 13 weeks fulltime (520 hours) of the total internship period.  For the optional Psychodiagnostics registration,  include a minimum of 200 hours diagnostics.

Additionally, for Research Master, it  includes performance of a small-scale clinical research project. These research activities and thesis (4 ECTS) should be accomplished in approximately 13 days, or about 1/5 of the minimally required clinical internship period of 13 weeks.



 

Combining the research and clinical internship

The research and clinical internships can be conducted either separately (in any order) or in combination with each other. In a combined internship ( approximately 34 weeks), you can establish a plan with your supervisor about scheduling the components of the two internships, as long as the clinical part is equivalent to at least 520 hours.

If you intend to devote more than the minimum requirement of 520 hours (about 13 weeks full-time) on your clinical internship, please be aware that you need to spend a minimum number of hours on your research internship . For the 1Y Master, the minimum research internship is 588 hours (about 14,5 weeks). For the Research Masters, the minimum research internship is 760 hours (about 19 weeks). The balance between the two internships should be reflected in your contract details.

Requirements to start the clinical internship

 

Programme	RRequirements to start
Forensic Master	You have at least 60 ECTS.
1Y Master Neuropsychology	Text being revised. See the EER.
Research Master Neuropsychology	You have at least 60 ECTS, and a pass for PSY4106 Advanced Statistics I, PSY4107 Advanced Statistics II, PSY4433 Neuropsychological Assessments, PSY4434 Basic Cognitive Psychological Skills , PSY4423 Neuropsychology in Practice.
Research Master Psychopathology	Same as Research Master Neuropsychology, plus a pass for Clinical Skills I-IV.

 
 

Aims of the clinical internship



1YMA & RM: Aims of the clinical research within the clinical internship

Conducting research in a clinical setting is essential to further scientific understanding in the fields of psychopathology and clinical neuropsychology. By testing theories and evaluating the effects of diagnostic or therapeutic interventions in individuals seeking help for cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems, clinical researchers add to the evidence base that guides and helps refine current treatment approaches.

Given the limited time available, your clinical research project should be clearly formulated and limited in scope. Case-series designs are often feasible in this context, or analysis of test performance, questionnaire or interview data. Ideally, you should have collected at least some of these data yourself. In many clinical settings you may benefit from analysis of ‘historical’ data already obtained on patients. Discuss this possibility with both your institutional supervisor and your UM Minor’s thesis supervisor. As this is a clinical research study, the research question should be relevant in the context of the institution where the research is performed, and the sample must include patients or clients with clinically significant behavioral, cognitive or emotional complaints.