Internship and Postdoctoral Training in Pediatric and Clinical Child Psychology: A Survey

A survey was designed to obtain data from pediatric psychology, clinical child psychology, and combined training centers. Sixty program directors provided identifying characteristics about the facility, application information for internship and postdoctoral training, information on clientele and case load of trainees, and specific training information. In addition, respondents provided definitions of the two areas and suggested differentiating features. It was concluded that the similarities are more numerous than are the differences in training. Definitions suggest that (a) clinical child psychology has broader application than pediatric psychology despite the latter's broader principles of application, and (b) pediatric psychologists rely heavily on the traditional skills and techniques of clinical child psychology. The only differentiating features identified were in terms of medically related populations of children served, collaboration with health care disciplines, and a specialized focus of viewing psychological difficulties within the medical culture by pediatric psychologists.