An investigation of internship directors' perspectives on the learning objectives required by the commission on accreditation

Internships are accredited by the American Psychological Association's Commission on Accreditation (CoA). For initial and continuing accreditation, programs must meet a number of standards, including specific learning objectives. Currently all phases of clinical education in psychology are being debated, and previous studies have demonstrated that internships view their primary mission as clinical education in assessment and treatment. There are no studies asking internship directors to directly reflect their perspectives regarding the other five mandated learning objectives. This study investigated internship directors' perspectives on all of the current learning objectives. Results indicated that internship directors value and understand Theories and Methods of Assessment/Diagnosis, Theories and Methods of Intervention, and Issues of Cultural and Individual Diversity; that Theories and Methods of Consultation needs operational clarification; and that the Theories and Methods of Supervision, Strategies of Scholarly Inquiry, and Theory and Methods of Evaluation are less valued and not as well understood and perhaps are candidates for elimination.