Environment and hours
RUSH offers a truly beautiful work environment. This includes an award-winning hospital and a Behavioral Sciences Division and Clinic location in a marble high rise medical building across the street from the main hospital. Psychology interns work in medical center inpatient units and outpatient clinics, as well as the Department’s Psychology Clinic and Department of Pediatrics treatment rooms. Health and Neuropsychology interns share nicely appointed offices with a view of the city and the medical center, have individual desks and ample storage, and desktop computers with Windows, Outlook, and SPSS. Child/Adolescent/Pediatric interns have similarly appointed individual offices.
Interns are expected to be at the medical center from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, some interns attend seminars or rounds that begin at 7 a.m, and others may stay past 5 p.m. to complete their work, including test scoring and report writing. The average hours spent in the internship over the past three years is 40-50 hours per week. Interns do not see outpatients during evening or weekend hours, nor do they have on-call duties. Interns should not work more than 60 hours per week, and even hours approaching this level of work should be temporary, for an occasional week during the training year. Interns are encouraged to report excessive work hours to the training director, who will review the situation with supervisors and identify ways to reduce duty hours. This limitation serves to enhance the educational goals and learning objectives of the program and the well-being of the intern.
Evaluation procedures
By the end of the training year, the intern is expected to be prepared for competent, independent clinical practice. To this end, evaluation procedures are instituted to ensure the intern’s progress throughout the year, to provide feedback when changes are necessary, and to give the intern a clear idea whether or not they are proceeding satisfactorily and if there will be any difficulty in finishing the internship successfully. Interns are evaluated on the Profession-Wide Competencies (PWCs) defined by APA, which include: Research; Ethical and Legal Standards; Individual and Cultural Diversity; Professional Values and Attitudes; Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Assessment; Intervention; Supervision; and Consultation and Interprofessional/Interdisciplinary Skills. Evaluations are conducted three times per year, at four months, eight months, and 12 months of the internship. All evaluations are completed through a computerized evaluation system (MedHub). After 6 months, the track director, intern, and training director meet to formally review the intern’s performance, including areas of strength and need for improvement. These mid-year progress reports are summarized in an overall evaluation report, which is sent to the intern’s graduate program training director. Minimum Levels of Achievement (MLAs): By the end of internship, ratings of at least "Satisfactory" on all competencies and at least "Good" on at least 75% of competencies is required.
At the end of the training year, interns complete anonymous written evaluations of the program and of all supervisors. These are compiled by the director of clinical training and, together with earlier less formal intern comments, used to modify training policies, and to give feedback to clinical supervisors.
The program has written due process and grievance procedures in place should they be necessary. These documents are distributed and reviewed during internship orientation at the start of the year, and may be reviewed upon request.
Stipend and benefits
Stipends are provided through the Medical Center and are currently $36,828. Intern stipends are adjusted each May for the following training year. Fringe benefits are excellent and include:
- Free individual premiums and (very) low-cost family premiums for health insurance
- Dental insurance, life insurance, malpractice insurance, disability insurance
- Prescription benefits
- Parking
- Access to the McCormick Educational Technology Center (METC) and the Library of RUSH University
- Four weeks of vacation/professional time
- Flexible Wellness Allowance (four quarterly stipends of $250)
- Up to $1,000 continuing education reimbursement per calendar year (i.e., $2,000 total for the academic year) for conference and workshop registration
- Flexible spending accounts
- 403(b) plan
Non-discrimination Policy
RUSH University Medical Center complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. Rush is committed to the principles of equal opportunity and promoting and maintaining an environment that emphasizes the dignity and worth of every member of its community. Rush strives to have an environment that is free of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and related retaliation. Learn more about equal opportunity and accessibility at RUSH.
We encourage people with disabilities and from other diverse backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate based on disability. We provide reasonable accommodations as needed to people with disabilities.