Clinical Psychology Externship Program

All our externships share a common core of requirements, although some externships have additional requirements. Please review this list carefully and also check requirements for each individual externship to see if you qualify for the externship and are eligible to apply.

General Requirements

Our training year runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Requirements for ALL externships include:
1.    Enrollment and good academic standing in a doctoral program in clinical or counseling psychology that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA).
2.    Ability to devote 16-20 hours to externship training which may need to occur on-site. 
3.    Residence in the state of Illinois for services that may be provided when the trainee is off-site. 
4.    Many of our externships are considered to be advanced training opportunities. Therefore, completion of relevant foundational doctoral coursework is preferable. Please read the description for each externship to ascertain courses that must be completed in order to be considered. 
5.    At least two previous practicum experiences unless otherwise specified. 
6.    For any externship that involves the provision of psychotherapy, you will need to have a Master’s degree in order to be compliant with our institution’s credentialing guidelines. If you have not yet completed your Master’s degree, you may still apply for externship, but this degree will need to be obtained prior to the start of your externship. Failure to have obtained your Master’s degree by June 30, 2025 may result in rescinding the offer to be an extern at UCM. Please feel free to reach out with questions or to seek clarification.
7.    Willingness to be vaccinated against COVID and influenza. Medical and religious exceptions may be available. 
8.    The onboarding process including completion of required documentation and preemployment screening will begin in late spring. Externs will need to successfully pass a preemployment screening which includes a medical examination, a drug test, and a background check. Please note that although marijuana is now legal in Illinois, the use of marijuana in any form is not exempt from the drug test. Failure to pass these screenings will render you ineligible to train at UCM. 
9.    Malpractice insurance coverage provided by your school. You will be required to provide us with a copy of this insurance. If you have supplemental individual malpractice insurance, this documentation is needed as well.
10.    Although the training year officially begins on July 1st, some training in the month of June may be required for certain externships in order to facilitate the orientation process and continuity of patient care. Completion of UCM-related training including HIPAA, EPIC, etc.
11.    Completion of UCM-related training including HIPAA, EPIC, etc. This training may also occur prior to July 1. If you are selected as an extern at UCM, please communicate with your supervisor(s) about their expectations for these formal trainings and for informal observation/shadowing prior to your start date. 
Note about Internship Applications: Historically, we have interviewed all past and current externs who applied to our internship program. However, since the 2024 Match, our faculty evaluate our externs using the same criteria as other applicants. In other words, being an extern at UCM no longer guarantees you an internship interview slot. We want you to be aware of this information in the event that it impacts your decision to apply to our site for externship training. 
Application Information
Faculty who provide externship training at UCM do not abide by ACEPT training guidelines. Thus, we will not be following the official Chicago-area “Match Day” policies. However, we will be participating in a collaborative effort with Chicago-area Clinical Psychology PhD programs to standardize the application due dates, interviews, and offer schedules. For the 2025-2026 training year which runs from 7/1/25 to 6/30/26, applications for all our clinical psychology externships are due on Friday, January 24th, 2025 by 5 p.m. CST. Interviews will occur anytime between February 3rd and February 28th, 2025. All offers will be made by the final date of March 3rd, 2025. Offers may be extended at any time; please ask the Externship Director about their preference for a response. Although all offers must be accepted or declined no later than 9 a.m. CST on Monday, March 3rd, 2025, some programs may require an earlier response. Our supervisors will make every effort to conform with your program’s expectations and policies. All externship offers will be copied to your academic Director of Clinical Training (DCT). Positions will remain open past 3/3/2025 if they have not been filled. After this date, please contact the Externship Director directly to see if positions remain available.
For the 2025-26 training year, application to ALL externship programs will be made using the UCM Externship Application portal. Applications will not be considered outside of this system. You may apply to more than one externship at UCM; please select and rank order up to 5 externship programs for which you wish you to be considered. Please use your cover letter to confirm your preferences (in descending order) for externships in writing. Although the requirements for application for our externships are relatively similar, please read the individual requirements for each program to determine if you meet our application criteria and are able to fulfil the required responsibilities for the program.
Please read the information below carefully before you start your application to the Externship Programs at the University of Chicago. All externships to our program are following a common application process described in this brochure. Applications that are emailed directly to faculty members will not receive full consideration. 

Submission Portals

Externship applications to the UChicago Medicine will need to be submitted through our Externship Submission portal. Your references will need to be uploaded directly by your letter writers through our Externship Reference portalal.

UCM Externship Application Submission Portal

https://redcap.link/UCMPrac2526 
Please review the following list as you prepare your materials for submission via the portal. In the portal, you will be asked for the following: 
1.    Information about YOU
a.    Name
b.    Email address 
c.    Phone number
2.    Information about your EDUCATION
a.    Your graduate program
b.    Degree you are seeking
c.    Accreditation status of your program
3.    Information about the DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL TRAINING at your graduate program who will be copied on some communications to you
a.    Name
b.    Email address
c.    Phone number
4.    Externship programs to which you are applying (Select and rank order up to 5 externship program)
5.    Information about your Master’s degree which is required for all externships except Neuropsychology.
6.    A current CV
7.    A cover letter 
a.    Please address your cover letter to the faculty member(s) to whose program(s) you are applying. 
b.    In the document, please indicate your preference (in descending order) for the externships for which you wish to be considered. 
c.    Submit only ONE application and ONE cover letter even if you are applying to multiple programs. You may take as much space as necessary to explain your rationale for applying to more than one program.
8.    An unofficial transcript
9.    A deidentified sample or practice report (required for the Adult and Pediatric Neuropsychology Tracks only)
10.    Names of three individuals who will be writing letters of recommendation for you. Ideally, two of these letters should be from individuals familiar with your clinical work.
a.    Please ask your references to upload a letter using this link: https://redcap.link/UCMPracRec25
b.    You only need each of your references to be uploaded once, even if you are applying to multiple externship programs.
c.    You are waiving your right to review your letters of recommendation.
d.    Letters MUST BE UPLOADED BY YOUR REFERENCES. Students who upload letters on behalf of their letter writers will be disqualified from further consideration. 
Applications should be submitted by 5 pm CST on Friday, January 24th, 2025. 
Click on the links to learn more about each externship program. If you have questions about particular training experiences, feel free to reach out to the Director(s) of the specific externship programs for clarification. If you have broader questions about externship training at UCM or the application system in general, please contact the Director of Clinical Psychology Training, Shona Vas, Ph.D., ABPP (svas@bsd.uchicago.edu). 
Please note the following information before applying to our externship programs:
1.    We do not accept applications from students in Master’s programs. 
2.    We do not follow ACEPT guidelines.
 
UCM Externship Reference Portal
https://redcap.link/UCMPracRec25
Letters of recommendation for externships at UCM should be uploaded to this portal your references. Even if you are applying to multiple externships, each letter of recommendation only needs to be uploaded once. Please let your references know that we will not accept letters of recommendation outside the portal. Two letters of recommendation should be from individuals familiar with your clinical work.
Letters MUST BE UPLOADED BY YOUR REFERENCES. Students who upload letters on behalf of their letter writers will be disqualified from further consideration.