While our program offers two separate tracks, our unifying training experience involves working with individuals who have serious mental illness in a variety of settings. Most training experiences occur within a large academic hospital setting (Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, NY). Our Psychology Internship Program’s parent organization is the University of Buffalo Department of Psychiatry, which provides us access to diverse training environments and a rich depth of highly experienced faculty. Our program places a strong emphasis on experiential learning and building confidence in clinical practice through an increasing degree of autonomy across the yearlong experience. We place a strong value on preparing interns for independent practice and emphasizing professional development. Interns gain extensive experience working in interdisciplinary teams, which include psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and licensed mental health counselors. Our teaching model values learning from individuals in multiple mental health professions, though we have a large and growing faculty of psychologists. Psychologists in our program and department maintain expertise in many clinical and treatment areas, which include psychosis and schizophrenia, child and adolescent issues, including justice-involved youth, lethality and violence risk assessment, eating disorders, personality assessment and pathology, psychological trauma, addictions, neuroscience, substance use disorders, and OCD.
The program has two separate tracks, one with a focus on the developmental approach to understanding mental illness and the other with a focus on substance use and mental illness. Applicants may only apply to one track. The program offers every intern a standardized core training experience as well as the ability to customize training through the selection of three four-month rotations that focus on a variety of clinical populations in various treatment settings.
Our program has three primary and stable funding sources, including the Patrick Lee Foundation for the Developmental Track (two positions), a HRSA Graduation Education in Psychology (GPE) grant for the Substance Abuse and Serious Mental Illness Track (funded through at least 2028; three positions) and substantial financial support from our parent organization, the UB Department of Psychiatry.
Our Developmental Track interns have year-long responsibilities in an outpatient Child Psychiatry Clinic, the outpatient On Track early psychosis program, and ECMC’s psychiatric adult inpatient program. Interns in this track gain substantial experience working with individuals who have serious mental illness across the lifespan. Interns conduct clinical work in outpatient and inpatient settings, including groups, individual counseling/psychotherapy, and psychological assessment. For the psychiatric adult inpatient settings, interns are responsible for running a psychology consult service, which also involves co-supervising practicum students.
Interns Substance Use Track interns have year-long responsibilities in Inpatient Withdrawal and Stabilization, Outpatient Substance Use Treatment services, and ECMC’s psychiatric adult inpatient program. Interns in this track gain substantial experience working with individuals who struggle with substance use disorders, but there is also substantial emphasis on working with serious mental illness. Broadly, clinical work in this track includes conducting groups in inpatient and outpatient settings, long-term counseling/psychotherapy in an outpatient environment, along with the psychiatric adult inpatient program (individual counseling, groups, and psychological assessment). Interns in this track are also responsible for running a psychology consult service, which also involves co-supervising practicum students.
In addition to the year-long core program, interns in both tracks individualize their training through the selection of three other rotations, which change every four months. Interns may have the opportunity to try new experiences or gain more in-depth training in multiple areas, including forensic work, clinical work with children and adolescents, and/or working in an inpatient hospital setting. Elective rotation options include adult forensic (in a jail setting), youth forensic (a Youth Detention facility), an adolescent inpatient service, a Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), adult or child neuropsychology, psychology rehabilitation (in a hospital setting), or research. Please see the program's website for greater detail regarding these elective rotation opportunities.
Many other optional experiences are available to interns, including participation in research, presenting their own research at local conferences and academic events (both in the larger medical school or Department of Psychiatry), supervising psychology practicum students, gaining experience conducting fitness for duty evaluations for law enforcement, and providing educational presentations to other professionals (e.g., "lunch and learns" at ECMC and grand rounds).
Faculty at our program strongly values a balance between experiential training experiences, along with a strong educational component. Educational experiences are diverse and include attendance at our weekly unified didactic program (please see our website for topics), weekly grand rounds through the UB Department of Psychiatry (see our website for example topics), training in the Rorschach (Exner), training in administering the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANNS), amongst many other opportunities. Our unified didactic program covers diverse advanced topics, broadly concerning serious mental illness and/or substance use concerns. Interns in our Developmental Track receive additional didactic education at the Children's Psychiatry Clinic, and Substance Track interns receive weekly didactics from Dr. Ken Leonard, an internationally recognized expert in addictions. Funding is available for interns to travel and attend professional conferences. HRSA GPE-funded interns each have a “materials” budget, which benefits our entire cohort.
