Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology at Emory University School of Medicine

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.

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 of pediatric psychology and developmental disabilities through state-of-the-art, evidence-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.

We believe that for our training program to be excellent, we must be attentive to the individual needs and characteristics of our trainees, faculty, and patients. We value competence and commitment in demonstrating sensitivity when interacting with peers, colleagues, supervisors, supervisees, and patients, and we strive to incorporate all of the complexities of individuals in 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 set by APA.

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 the responsible use of resources.

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.

Please reference the Internship Brochure for more detailed information regarding the training experiences and requirements at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

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.