The New Mexico VA Psychology Internship (NMVAPDI) is housed primarily at the New Mexico VA Healthcare System in Albuquerque, NM where all of the major rotations take place. We have affiliations with a wide range of departments at the University of New Mexico Hospital, which is an academic affiliate partner of the program. We offer generalist, research-based, culturally-aware training with possible major rotations covering psychological trauma (residential and outpatient), health psychology (including primary care mental health integration, palliative care, spinal cord injury), substance use disorders, serious mental illness, psychosocial rehabilitation, family therapy, assessment, psychotherapy, and neuropsychology. We have seven funded slots in our general track and one funded slots in our neuropsychology track. While applicants may decide to apply to both the general and neuropsychology track, we typically find that applicants are well-suited for one track, but not for both.
Our mission is to train culturally-aware, research-competent professional psychologists who will be well-prepared to function in clinical, academic, research, or administrative settings. Because of our great diversity in training sites and emphasis on quality supervision, interns graduate with high levels of self-confidence in their abilities to tackle anything in the domain of professional psychology. Our graduates have had great success in obtaining postdoctoral residencies and employment in competitive clinical, academic, and medical center positions. Training within the NMVAPDI adheres to the Scientist-Practitioner model and interns have opportunities to train in Evidence-Based Psychotherapies. While interns are encouraged to identify specialty wishes in light of their career goals, we also work closely with interns to identify gaps in basic competencies that will be addressed in the course of the training year. Interns are also granted four hours of research time per week, and have access to research mentors within the faculty. We think our training model is ideal for those whose career goals include a mix of clinical work, research and teaching. The unique cultural and geographic setting here in New Mexico offers a foundation for the sophisticated training we have developed in weaving cultural awareness into every aspect of clinical work. New Mexico is a unique and beautiful place with many recreational and cultural resources.