Internship’s Done! Now What?
You’ve completed your predoctoral internship and graduated – Mazel Tov! Now what? Here is a step-by-step guide to getting through your first year out in the “wild west” of postdoctoral-ness.
1. Ideally, start this process in March of your internship year
a. Consider sending all paperwork return receipt, so you have evidence of it being sent
b. Keep copies of everything
c. Send multiple copies of originals, they only want originals
d. Also scan so you can email them if needed – I got away with them processing my emailed version because my originals got lost in their mailroom…
2. Submit Form 1
a. Today (or yesterday if possible) complete form 1
b. Do it online – Form 1 – Online
i. You can also do it by hand and send a check for $294
c. This starts your file at the office of professions. Without this form completed you are not able to take any further steps toward licensure
d. The fee for licensure is $294. The fee for a limited permit is $70. These both need to be paid for limited permit application
i. Send your application and fees to the address on the bottom of the form:
ii. New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions
PO Box 22063
Albany, NY 12201
iii. DO NOT SEND CASH. Make check or money order payable to the New York State Education Department.
iv. You can pay online with your application but make sure to send BOTH fees and call to make sure both are received
v. The PO Box is for form 1 and money. Everything else should be sent to:
New York State Education Department
Office of the Professions, Psychology Unit
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234-1000
1. If you accidentally send to PO Box, it will likely get lost there because they don’t know what to do with anything that isn’t money. So either resend or call them and beg them to accept your emailed copy.
3. Submit Form 2
b. Fill out Section I and then mail MULTIPLE original copies (I recommend 4) to your Registrar
i. Your program might have a person who acts as liaison between you and your Registrar for this.
c. Call to ensure received
d. If conferral is September, panic just a little
i. You’ll want your Registrar to send an advanced copy as soon as possible listing your graduation date as pending and then an additional copy after conferral. Send an extra couple just in case. Call them to follow up with them to ensure that they understood this.
ii. You can make a PENDING version which does not include your graduation date but instead says that graduation date is pending on the form or attach a post-it note that explains this to the registrar. To be safe, you can do both. You will then submit a final form 2 once your conferral date has arrived. Some schools’ registrars will not complete the form until the degree is officially granted unless you spell this out for them, so have your DCT or whoever completes this for your program complete a PENDING version of this form and follow up with registrar to ensure they actually do this.
iii. You will also need to request a transcript to be sent. Beg the registrar to send incomplete transcripts to NYSED today with the caveat that you’ll need to send a final transcript to NYSED when available. A limited permit can be issued with the incomplete transcript!
e. If you are applying for NYS licensure or have a postdoc in NYS and you did your studies outside of NYS, this will be a more complicated process
i. Out-of-state applicants are reviewed to see if coursework meets NYS requirements.
ii. Comparative education typically takes a few extra months. Therefore, submit education materials today with a Form 2 listing your graduation date as pending.
1. You can get “conditional approval” for your education in advance of your official graduation date.
iii. comped@nysed.gov OR 518-474-3817 ext. 300
iv. You will need to send your transcript, a letter from your DCT, and your syllabi from classes. If your syllabi don’t obviously support your meeting the criteria, the board will ask for additional information. Supporting materials would include a detailed description of topics covered in the course and PDFs of the readings from the course. The more supporting documentation you include the more likely you are to be approved on your first submission.
4. CALL
a. This could be steps 2, 4, 7, 12, and 16. You will have to call the OP a lot unless you’d like to start your postdoc when it’s over.
i. This IS unfortunately a case of squeaky wheel gets the grease
ii. Some people are nice and some really not, just keep trying over and over with low expectations (then you’ll be so pleasantly surprised when someone is helpful and moves your files through!)
b. Phone numbers:
i. 518-474-3817 x592 (processing)
ii. x150 (board – opunit5@nysed.gov)
iii. x300 (comp education – comped@nysed.gov)
iv. Follow the prompts prior to entering your extensions, even though it’s tedious
c. Reasons to call
i. Ensure your *every single thing you submit* is received
5. Get a postdoctoral position
a. Obtain a job with a qualified supervisor in an “acceptable setting”
i. If you had a clinical internship, then your postdoc can be research or teaching (either internship or postdoc can be non-clinical, but not both)
ii. Your supervisor needs to be employed by or a consultant to your place of employment and all hours clocked must be under that supervisor
iii. Can have multiple part-time positions but each must be between 16-34 hours and you need to be there for at least 6 months for it to count. You would also need to submit a form 5A for each supervisor
c. You are required to obtain 1750 supervised postdoctoral hours
i. Must be at any site for at least 6 months in order for any hours to count
ii. Can be part time or full time
iii. Basically, anything counts as long as it is related to psychology and supervised by the same supervisor who is on your form 5A who is employed by or a consultant to your setting
6. Submit Form 4
a. This form is about your professional hours that the state is counting for licensure
c. You’ll need to complete this for predoctoral internship and postdoctoral position separately
d. Complete Section I. Get a pre-addressed envelope and complete as much of the form as possible to give to your internship training director. You don’t need an expedited envelope because this form doesn’t really matter other than registering for the EPPP and for applying for licensure. Still, better get it in while you can still easily knock on your training director’s door.
e. This form also matters in terms of being ALLOWED to take the licensure exam…more on that below
7. Submit Form 5A
a. Complete Section I and send original to your postdoc
c. Legally you cannot do any clinical work without a supervisor IN THE ROOM until your limited permit has been issued. This is different from graduate school – as a grad student, you can do clinical work with supervision hours. Once you graduate you can no longer be in a room alone with a client without the limited permit or license
d. Call to ensure received
8. Obsessive Checking
b. Last name First name
c. Once this has been issued you can print this until your certificate arrives in your inbox
d. What if your stuff is sitting in Albany? Or better yet, in Albany’s mailbox?
i. Call. Call again. Then wait 5 minutes and call again. And then call again just to be safe. If it’s still not through, call again. Did I mention calling helps?
9. Postdoctoral hours
a. You can start counting hours the day your permit shows up on The Search Site – yay!
b. Have a conversation with your supervisor about how your hours will be calculated and how you should track this
i. I recommend keeping an excel sheet with columns for all the things you are doing (individual sessions, case management, group therapy, supervision, supervising externs, research, preparing for sessions, etc.).
ii. NY does not require this and you never know when this might be handy in the future
10. Licensure Exam – EPPP
a. Once your Form 1 and Form 4 are received, NYSED will inform Pearson VUE that you are eligible to take the exam, at which point you’ll receive an email from them with further instructions
c. Studying
i. Get old exams from people and take it a bunch of times
ii. It’s a 4-hour exam with some “test” questions that don’t count
iii. *Flashback* to GRE
d. Your limited permit expires one year from receipt, so take the EPPP early so you don’t get stuck. You can apply for an extension.
11. Complete hours and submit Form 4
a. Submit form 4 again for your postdoctoral hours – section I. Supervisor completes sections II and III.
i. You can submit this as soon as you’ve completed your hours, even if you haven’t taken the EPPP yet.
c. Notice this form is quite vague. NY does not care very much about what you did during your postdoctoral year.
12. Obsessive Checking Part II
a. Obsessively check to see if your license has been issued, just like you did for your permit
c. Once your license is posted you can print this until your license arrives in the mail
Tips for Calling:
2. Processing Unit
a. Receives your paperwork and then passes it along. Your paperwork often gets stuck here and you just need to encourage them to pass your forms along. If you are unsure if your paperwork has been received, these are the people to contact. These are also the people to contact to ask about your application status for both permit and license.
b. Contact: 518-474-3817 x592
3. Psychology Board
a. Approves your clinical experiences and then give approval to sit for the EPPP exam.
b. Contact: 518-474-3817 x150
4. Comparative education office
a. Reviews and approves education credentials from non-approved (e.g., out-of-state) programs.
b. Contact: comped@nysed.gov OR 518-474-3817 x300
c. They prefer email contact. There are 15 people in the comparative education department, reviewing for 50 specialties. They only have one email address. Therefore, include specific information about you and your reviewer in your emails.
i. Once you know who your reviewer is (of the 15 possible people), put in your email subject line “Attention: Reviewer Person” or whoever your specific reviewer is. Kate is often but not always the reviewer for psychology.
5. Psychology board office:
a. Contact: OPUNIT5@nysed.gov OR 518-474-3817 x150
b. They prefer email and respond within a few days
c. The psychology board office reviews your clinical experiences for the limited permit, gives approval to sit for the EPPP, and gives final approval for the permit and license.
d. If you get stuck and need to talk with a supervisor, ask for Nancy Wiley.
6. If you get stuck and have already tried calling the supervisors (listed above) then you can ask your supervisor to communicate with the board. In order for your supervisor to be involved you need to give written permission in an email to the board. “I approve Dr. My Supervisor to communicate with the New York State Office of Professions regarding the application of Dr. Me.” (Isn’t it so cool you’re a doctor?)