Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is associated with Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. Children’s and Emory have worked together over the past decade recruiting prominent pediatric clinicians and researchers to Atlanta, resulting in nationally-ranked pediatric clinical and research programs with notable accolades:
- The Emory School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics is ranked No. 1 in National Institutes of Health (NIH) rankings for funding to pediatrics
- Children’s ranks among the nation’s top pediatric hospitals on the U.S. News & World Report list of “Best Children’s Hospitals.
- Marcus Autism Center is one of only five centers nationwide to be designated an Autism Center of Excellence by the NIH
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta provides standards of best practice in diagnostic and clinical evaluation, as well as in treatment and intervention activities; all of these conform to established ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
Guiding Principles
The Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology at Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics aims to transform the field pediatric psychology and developmental disabilities through state-of-the-art, evidenced based assessment, intervention, training and research. In doing so, we are:
- oriented to children
- propelled by our people
- driven by science in every domain
- inspired by innovation and creativity
- connected by dialogue
- guided by compassion for our stakeholders and each other
- empowered by responsibility with our resources.
Diversity as a Core Component
We believe that for our training program to be excellent, we must be attentive to individual and cultural diversity, and to this end, we value, appreciate, encourage and support a working culture that includes diversity. We value competence and commitment to show cultural sensitivity when interacting with peers, colleagues, supervisors, supervisees, and patients, and we strive to incorporate multicultural considerations in all of our scholarly, clinical, and training endeavors. The internship follows the policies of Emory University, the laws of the state of Georgia and the United States, and strives to meet the standards for diversity set by APA.
Program Aims
The overarching aim of our internship is to prepare students to function as psychologists in a variety of settings, including as members of interdisciplinary teams providing health related services to children and their families. Interns completing our internship are well qualified to enter clinical, medical, or academic settings. Together, distinct training tracks maintain the following aims for all interns:
- To train providers with the core skills required to provide clinical services, while prioritizing the needs and interests of children and families.
- To create a learning environment where people affect treatment, research, and teaching while engaged in dialogue that is characterized by respect, openness and compassion.
- To foster skills, values and awareness that promote the use of science in making contributions to the field through scholarly and teaching pursuits that are innovative, excellent and take into account responsible use of resources.
Training Philosophy
The Doctoral Internship provides training within a scientist practitioner model centered on the idea that principles and procedures of science for studying biological, psychological and social elements of the person form the basis not only for effective research, but also for ethical clinical services. Accordingly, the Internship utilizes data-based diagnostic and treatment procedures that are consistent with basic principles of learning and developmental psychopathology as embodied in the research literature, emphasizing special expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy, applied behavior analysis, child development, developmental disabilities, and/or diagnostic assessment.
Full Brochure
Please reference the brochure for more detailed information regarding the training experiences and requirements at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Internship Handbook
Please reference the Internship Handbook for more detailed information regarding program policies and procedures as well as policies for management of performance problems, remediation, due process, discrimination, and grievance procedures. These documents are provided to prospective interns to give a clear sense of the policies and expectations of the internship program, thereby yielding additional information that can be used to arrive at an informed understanding of the internship program environment.