Clinical psychology offer: research fit, practica locations and other questions

[Aminoacidalanine]

I received an offer from a clinical psychology PhD program in the US and I have concerns regarding the program and mentor. Any advice you might have is greatly appreciated! Please also feel free to ask me for clarifications. This is a separate school from my previous post. 

1) My potential supervisor used to conduct research I am interested in but will now focus on another line of research that I am less interested in. How heavily should I weigh this factor in making my decision?

2) The program has no in house clinic and most community locations are a couple of hours drive, and practicum starts in second year, when students still have course work. How big is this of an issue? How many clinical hours do most programs expect on a weekly basis?

3) The clinical psychology program is 5 years old, so there are no students that have graduated from the clinical program yet. I was thinking I can call and ask about how current 5th years are doing (in terms of internships, etc.) but I don’t know if this is a good idea and if there is a better way.

 

Edited February 13, 2016 by Aminoacidalanine

[rising_star]

1) If you're not interested in the research now, how are you going to feel about spending 5 years of your life working on it? In other words, yes, it should be a big factor in your decision-making process. 

[Applicant 1746]

15 minutes ago, rising_star said:

1) If you're not interested in the research now, how are you going to feel about spending 5 years of your life working on it? In other words, yes, it should be a big factor in your decision-making process. 

I agree with this on its face, but another question to ask is how flexible/supportive your POI would be in advising projects more in line with your interests than the future directions s/he plans to go in. Would your POI be willing to work with you on projects more closely related to their past line of work? 

Some POIs are quite flexible and are willing to support their grad students in pursuing their own interests, even if they're somewhat divergent from what they themselves are currently interested in. Others either don't feel comfortable bending outside their immediate area of expertise, or else want/expect their grad students to help further their own current research agenda. These are questions that you can discuss with the POI, as well as their current grad students.

[Aminoacidalanine]

2 hours ago, Applicant 1746 said:

I agree with this on its face, but another question to ask is how flexible/supportive your POI would be in advising projects more in line with your interests than the future directions s/he plans to go in. Would your POI be willing to work with you on projects more closely related to their past line of work? 

Some POIs are quite flexible and are willing to support their grad students in pursuing their own interests, even if they're somewhat divergent from what they themselves are currently interested in. Others either don't feel comfortable bending outside their immediate area of expertise, or else want/expect their grad students to help further their own current research agenda. These are questions that you can discuss with the POI, as well as their current grad students.

Thanks for your advice! This is a question that I will definitely go over with my POI. Do you have any thoughts on the lack of in house and local community clinics?

[pink_freud]

I interviewed for a program that also has some logistical "hoops" that I would need to jump through. My best advice would be to ask the DCT for the contact info for students who currently travel to a practicum site you would be interested in. Maybe there is public transportation there and you could get work done on the bus? Maybe they have discovered some tricks that have made the situation better? 

Getting this insider info is crucial, because then you would not have to think of it in the abstract, but would be able to hear about first hand experiences.

[Aminoacidalanine]

2 hours ago, pink_freud said:

I interviewed for a program that also has some logistical "hoops" that I would need to jump through. My best advice would be to ask the DCT for the contact info for students who currently travel to a practicum site you would be interested in. Maybe there is public transportation there and you could get work done on the bus? Maybe they have discovered some tricks that have made the situation better? 

Getting this insider info is crucial, because then you would not have to think of it in the abstract, but would be able to hear about first hand experiences.

Thank you so much for your advice! I will definitely try to get more information on practicum locations and tips from students who practiced at those sites.