Policy on Full Member Internship Accreditation Requirement for APPIC Match Eligibility

Policy Adoption - August 3, 2020

Policy Rationale

APPIC’s mission is “to facilitate access, foster development, and support implementation of quality education and training in Health Service Psychology.” APPIC believes that accreditation offers increased assurance of the quality of a psychology training program.

Summary of Policy

All unaccredited APPIC Full Member internship programs are provided with a “pre-accreditation eligibility period” (defined below), during which they may utilize the APPIC Match while preparing for and pursuing accreditation. Upon expiration of a program’s designated pre-accreditation eligibility period, APPIC Full Member internship programs must be accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association (or have an accreditation site visit granted by one of those bodies) to continue to be eligible to participate in the APPIC Match. During the pre-accreditation eligibility period, internship program eligibility for APPIC Match participation remains as per other established Match policies in effect.

Definition of the Pre-Accreditation Eligibility Period

Unaccredited Programs that Were APPIC Full Members as of July 1, 2020

For unaccredited internship programs that were APPIC Full Members as of July 1, 2020, the pre-accreditation eligibility period will expire on July 1, 2023. As such, to participate in the 2024 APPIC Match, such programs will be required to be accredited (or to have been granted an accreditation site visit) by July 1, 2023 to maintain eligibility for Match participation.

Unaccredited Programs that Become APPIC Full Members after July 1, 2020

For unaccredited internship programs that become APPIC Full Members after July 1, 2020, the pre-accreditation eligibility period will commence on the date they attain Full membership. Pre-accreditation eligibility always expires on a July 1 date, and programs will be afforded no less than a three-year eligibility period. For example, a program that becomes an APPIC Full member on December 1, 2020 will have a pre-accreditation eligibility period that expires on July 1, 2024.

Expiration of the Pre-Accreditation Eligibility Period

Upon expiration of the pre-accreditation eligibility period, as defined above, an APPIC Full Member internship program must be accredited by the American Psychological Association or the Canadian Psychological Association, or have been granted an accreditation site visit by one of those bodies, to continue to be eligible to participate in the APPIC Match. Internship programs that have not attained accreditation or been granted an accreditation site visit by the expiration of their pre-accreditation eligibility period will then be ineligible to participate in the APPIC Match and will only be eligible to participate in the APPIC Post-Match Vacancy Service.

Additional Policy Provisions

APPIC Provisional Members are not required to be accredited in order to participate in the APPIC Match and do not begin their pre-accreditation eligibility period until becoming APPIC Full Members.

A program that becomes ineligible to participate in the Match at the expiration of the pre-accreditation eligibility period may resume eligibility subsequent to the granting of an accreditation site visit and contingent upon meeting all other existing Match eligibility requirements.

Unaccredited internship programs that have been granted a site visit must be awarded accreditation by the end of the pre-accreditation eligibility period, or one year following the date of the site visit, whichever comes later, in order to maintain eligibility to participate in the Match.

Petition for a time-limited extension of the pre-accreditation eligibility period may be made to the APPIC Board; granting such extensions would be in exceptional cases rather than routine and would require at minimum a description of progress toward accreditation and intended strategies to address identified barriers.