Internship Admissions, Support, and Initial Placement Data
Program information last updated on August 22, 2024.
Program Disclosures
Does the program or institution require students, trainees, and/or staff (faculty) to comply with specific policies or practices related to the institution’s affiliation or purpose? Such policies or practices may include, but are not limited to, admissions, hiring, retention policies, and/or requirements for completion that express mission and values?
Yes or No: Yes
If yes, provide website link (or content from brochure) where this specific information is presented:
The Clinical Psychology Internship Program at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center (WHASC) is an active-duty Air Force internship, so candidates must apply through a centralized application process and will serve on active duty during and after the internship. Qualified applicants will come from American Psychological Association approved Clinical or Counseling Psychology doctoral programs and be citizens of the United States. Interns will be Active Duty Air Force officers and must therefore meet criteria for Active Duty in the Air Force, to include current physical strength/endurance and moral character requirements. Applicants are selected through the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers match but must also be selected for service in the Air Force through an Air Force Board Selection Process.
Briefly describe in narrative form important information to assist potential applicants in assessing their likely fit with your program. This description must be consistent with the program’s policies on intern selection and practicum and academic preparation requirements:
The Clinical Psychology Internship Program at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center (WHASC) is based on a scientist-practitioner approach to understanding human behavior and providing psychological services. The purpose of the WHASC psychology internship program is to prepare competent psychologists to provide empirically-validated mental health care services to military members and their families and to provide effective consultation to military leaders on issues related to military members’ fitness for duty as well as risks to the public health of the local Air Force base community.
We intend our training activities to produce “generalist” clinicians who use careful, critical thinking skills to apply scientific evidence to the practice of psychology. We expect trainees to base their clinical decision making and treatments on strong empirical evidence when it is available. This critical thinking combined with a reliance on empirical science helps trainees minimize the inherent bias present in all human thinking, promotes the use of the most effective clinical strategies for patient care, and encourages the advancement of psychology as a health care profession.
Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center’s (WHASC) Clinical Psychology training program provides training in all of the profession wide competencies (i.e., research, ethics and legal standards, individual and cultural diversity, professional values and attitudes, communication and interpersonal skills, assessment, intervention, supervision, and consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills) as required by APA standards of accreditation. Additionally, WHASC provides program specific competency training in population health and officer development.
Does the program require that applicants have received a minimum number of hours of the following at time of application? If yes, indicate how many:
- Total Direct Contact Hours: Yes; recommended 500 hours
Describe any other required minimum criteria used to screen applicants:
The United States Air Force offers up to 20 fully funded one-year intern positions in clinical psychology across three training sites (WHASC, Malcolm Grow Medical Center, and Wright Patterson Medical Center). The Air Force welcomes applications from all qualified persons who meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Be a U.S. citizen.
- Meet the health and fitness requirements for commissioning in the United States Air Force as determined by medical history and physical examination.
- Meet the standards for issuance of a secret security clearance as determined by history and background investigation.
- Satisfactorily complete all academic and practica requirements for the Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical, counseling, or combined professional-scientific psychology from an APA-accredited graduate program (Department of Air Force Instruction 44-119, 7.9.2.1). This includes, at a minimum, the completion of preliminary and comprehensive examinations and doctoral dissertation proposal approval.
- Be ready for internship as certified by the Director of Clinical Training at their graduate program.
- Dissertation progress is a factor in the selection process. Completion of the dissertation prior to internship is strongly encouraged to allow for full participation in the wealth of training opportunities available during the internship.
Eligibility for commissioning as a United States Military Officer requires robust health as defined by a health history free of specified impediments, current physical strength/endurance tests, and impeccable moral character as defined by a life history free of impediment (specified list of exclusions related to ethical violations, personal finance/credit management, contacts with governmental authorities and law enforcement agencies, etc.) The main point of contact for questions regarding fitness for duty is a Health Professions recruiter from the Air Force Recruiting Service (AFRS). The Health Professions recruiter is authorized to screen for health, fitness, and legal conditions that may be disqualifying for service. To find your nearest recruiter, visit the Air Force Recruiting website.
Financial and Other Benefit Support for Upcoming Training Year
Note. Programs are not required by the Commission on Accreditation to provide all benefits listed in this table.
Stipend/Salary
- Annual stipend/salary for full-time interns: $90,050 (without dependents), $91,417 (with dependents)
- Annual stipend/salary for half-time interns: N/A
Medical Insurance
- Does the program provide access to medical insurance for the intern? Yes
- Trainee contribution to cost required? No
- Coverage of family member(s) available? Yes
- Coverage of legally married partner available? Yes
- Coverage of domestic partner available? No
Other Benefits
Interns receive salary and military allowances of an Army Captain. Variance in salary may occur dependent on an intern's previous time in service.
- All pay and allowance tables can be found at https://militarypay.defense.gov/Calculators/RMC-Calculator/.
- For housing allowance in San Antonio, Texas please refer to https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/.
Hours of Annual Paid Personal Time Off
30 calendar days. However, students may not miss more than 14 training days during the year.
Hours of Annual Paid Sick Leave
Not Applicable. As an active-duty service member, students receive all necessary paid sick time. They are required to go through the proper medical channels to receive approval for sick time, surgical procedures, and any subsequent convalescent leave.
In the event of medical conditions and/or family needs that require extended leave, does the program allow reasonable unpaid leave to interns in excess of personal time off and sick leave? No – All students/servicemembers are, however, allowed Emergency Leave in the event of an emergency situation. This counts against their annual leave. If they need time in excess of their accrued leave, they may take Advanced Leave which will count against leave they earn in the future. In these situations, pre-approval must be obtained by the students Chain of Command.
Other Benefits
All students receive benefits as active-duty Army service members, to include housing allowance, authorized travel expenses, and other military benefits. The program also offers time for dissertation, attendance at local workshops, and other paid training opportunities as they are available.
Initial Post-Internship Positions
- Total # of interns who were in the three cohorts: 27
- Total # of interns who did not seek employment because they returned to their doctoral program/are completing doctoral degree: 0
| Type of Position | Post-doctoral Residency Position | Employed Position |
|---|---|---|
| Academic teaching | ||
| Community mental health center | ||
| Consortium | ||
| University counseling center | ||
| Hospital/Medical Center: Military Health Care Center | 27 | |
| Veterans Affairs Health Care System | ||
| Psychiatric facility | ||
| Correctional facility | ||
| Health maintenance organization | ||
| School district/system | ||
| Independent practice setting | ||
| Other |
Each individual represented in this table is counted only one time. For former trainees working in more than one setting, the setting selected represents their primary position.
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