Combined Externship in Pediatric Medical Psychology and Clinical Child Psychology

The Pediatric Medical Outpatient Program at Children’s National Hospital provides specialized care to children and adolescents with acute and chronic medical conditions whose diagnoses or treatments impact daily functioning, mood or behavior in an outpatient setting. Common concerns include:

• Coping with chronic illness
• Adherence to complex treatment regimens
• Needle- or procedure-related distress
• Pain
• Fatigue
• Adjustment difficulties

Externs will gain hands-on experience in the assessment and treatment of these concerns. Training goals focus on building skills in evidence-based approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) with children, adolescents and their families.

The Anxiety Disorders Program at Children’s National Hospital provides specialized care to children and adolescents with anxiety and related disorders (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, specific phobia, OCD, tics). Externs will gain hands-on experience in the assessment and treatment of anxiety disorders in school-aged children (5-18 years old). This experience offers the opportunity to strengthen clinical skills in evidence-based interventions including CBT, exposure and response prevention (ERP) and Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) with children, adolescents and their families. For externs with a strong interest in other clinical presentations, there may be opportunities during the first half of the externship to take on outpatient cases involving other presenting concerns.

The Inpatient Hospital Medicine Program at Children’s National Hospital provides consultation-liaison services to children and adolescents admitted to the hospital for a wide range of acute and chronic medical conditions. Psychology consultation focuses on concerns such as:

• Adjustment to hospitalization and illness
• Procedure-related distress
• Pain
• Adherence challenges
• Mood and anxiety symptoms
• Somatic symptoms
• Family stress

Externs will gain experience conducting focused inpatient assessments, monitoring psychosocial factors that may influence medical stability and providing brief evidence-based interventions at bedside (e.g., CBT- and ACT-informed coping skills, relaxation strategies, motivational interviewing, psychoeducation). Externs will also collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams (e.g., hospital medicine physicians, nursing, child life, psychiatry, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy).

Additional Experiences

Externs will also have the potential opportunity to:

• Participate in case consultations with interdisciplinary teams and conferences with child psychiatrists
• Provide or observe group therapy
• Attend behavioral health grand rounds and externship didactics
• Participate in group supervision (depending on the day of the externship) 

Applicants must be in at least the third year of a doctoral program in clinical, counseling or school psychology. Formal coursework and prior direct clinical experience in child/adolescent assessment and treatment are required. Experience with pediatric medical populations is desired but not required. Preference will be given to advanced doctoral students with a strong knowledge of psychopathology and evidence-based interventions including CBT. Some experience with adults is helpful but not required. 

One extern will be recruited for this externship.

Please email a letter of interest, a CV/resume and two letters of recommendation (directly from letter writers) wit the subject "Externship application_LastName" to:

Ameena Ahmed, PsyD | Email

and

Irene Zhang, PhD | Email

Interested applicants should also complete this survey one time, regardless of how many externships you are applying for.

• Children's National Hospital - 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC 20010 

Sixteen hours (2 days/week); Tuesdays and Thursdays preferred. Services are provided through a combination of telehealth and in-person sessions. Please note that there is some flexibility for remote telehealth during the first six months of the externship. For the final six months, both days will require in-person attendance. It is anticipated that this will be a 1-year externship from July 2026 to the end of June 2027.