Statement about the 2,000-Hour Internship
In addition to the standard expectation of 40 hours of on-site clinical work, Interns are also granted 3.5 hours of after-hours, off-site work for dissertation and scholarly activities, which they can count toward their expected 2,000-hour obligation. After a full year of internship (40 hours per week, 52 weeks), Interns could accrue up to 2,132 total hours. However, subtracted from this figure is approximately 16 days of University holiday observance (128 hours). If Interns choose to take off more than the allotted time for sick leave (40 hours), vaction (80 hours), and professional development, they could possibly fall short of the 2,000 hours that UH&CS promises.
Each Intern is responsible for investigating the minimum number of hours needed for licensure in the jurisdiction(s) where they wish to practice, which might be less than 2,000. Knowing this information can help Interns plan their use of discretionary time. Also, UH&CS provides additional opportunities to accrue hours toward Internship beyond the weekly 40 agency hours; these opportunities will be reviewed at the start of the Internship year. Psychology interns are expected to complete 1,930 hours.
Tracking Hours
Interns begin the internship year prepared to track their hours as encouraged by their doctoral program. In this sense, it is the Intern's responsibilities to keep records of their hours using Time-to-Track or another tracking program, as preferred by their doctoral program.
The Training Director also assumes responsibility for working with Interns to track hours towards a successful internship year. On a weekly or biweekly basis, the training director independently tracks each intern's hours (intervention, supervision, and support). This tracking is compared with the Intern's own tracking, and discrepancies are mutually reviewed to achieve agreement. As the year progresses, the Training Director collaborates with Interns to insure that they are making adequate progress toward their minimum expectation of 500 intervention hours. In particular, if Interns are not achieving as many intervention hours as might be expected, the Training Director and Interns will investigate the cause (for example: Intern out of office due to medical leave or rate of no-shows higher than usual). The Training Director will work with the Interns to adjust their clinical schedule to allow for more initial clinical visits or to address any possible clinical issue that might reflect in direct intervention hours.
At the end of the internship year, the Training Director and each Intern together review the Intern's summary hours. The Training Director maintains a spreadsheet in which hours are documented. This file is kept on record for each Intern. Final hours must meet internship expectations in order for an Intern to receive a Certificate of Completion for the internship year.