Where Things Stand with Supply and Demand

Greg Keilin, Ph.D.
APPIC Match Coordinator

[Editor’s Note: Reprinted from the March 2000 APPIC Newsletter with permission. The full manuscript is scheduled to be printed in the fall edition of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.]

Now that the second year of the Match is over, it is a good time to review what we know about "Supply and Demand" issues related to psychology internships.

Overall, it appears that the Supply and Demand situation improved slightly this year. Compared to last year, we had an additional 82 internship positions in the Match and an additional 34 registered applicants. While this did not translate into a reduction in the number of applicants who were unmatched (528 unmatched vs. 510 last year), it did mean that a significantly larger number of positions were available to be filled after the Match (284 unfilled positions vs. 218 last year).

If I were to speculate as to why we didn’t see a reduction in the number of unmatched applicants this year, I would guess that it’s related to the fact that both sites’ and applicants’ ranking lists were shorter on average, as well as the fact that no rankings were submitted for a total of 43 positions (vs. 8 last year). In addition, we had about 50% more non-APPIC members participating in the Match this year (a total of 64 sites), and these sites typically have a much harder time filling their positions.

Over the past year, APPIC conducted several research projects in order to better understand Supply and Demand issues. In addition to the satisfaction surveys that were sent to applicants, training directors, and directors of clinic training (DCTs), we surveyed the 510 students who were not matched last year (91.8% return rate) as well as the 212 students who withdrew from the Match (79.7% return rate). While these manuscripts are currently under review for publication, we wanted to share some of our findings (all statistics reflect results from the 1999 Match):

1. One of our most important findings was that, in the 1999 Match, the number of positions available (2,798) was approximately equal to the number of first-time applicants (2,819) in the process. In other words, in 1999, the imbalance between internship supply and demand seems to have been a direct result of the year-to-year carryover of unplaced applicants from previous years. The estimated number of students who were participating in the selection process for the second time (242) was very similar to the number who were ultimately unable to secure a position (263).
   
2. Approximately two-thirds (65%) of unmatched students found an internship placement after Match Day. Of these, approximately 27% were placed at an APA-accredited site.
   
3. Unmatched applicants who were placed after the Match took an average of 28.8 days (median = 16, SD = 31.8 range 0-129) to secure an internship position. However, it should be noted that 40% of unfilled positions were filled within one week of Match Day.
   
4. While the APPIC and the ACCTA Clearinghouse play an important role in placing application, only about 40% of unmatched applicants who were subsequently placed learn about their internship site through these listing. Thus, it appears that many applicants and DCTs are becoming increasingly active in both finding and developing internship opportunities.
   
5. A total of 29.3% of applicants reported that they applied only to sites within a single geographic area (defined as all sites located within 200 miles of each other). These applicants reported applying to significantly fewer positions than did applicants who were not geographically restricted and matched at a significantly lower rate (79.6% vs. 90.0%, p < .01).
   
6. A total of 87.8% of applicants surveyed who were from APA-accredited program was matched, vs. a 77.5% match rate for applicants from non-accredited program. (this did not reach statistical significant, p = .07). However, significant differences (p < .001) were found in match rates based on APA-accreditation status of internship sites, with accredited sites filling 97.3% of available positions and un-accredited sites filing 71.4% of positions.
   
7. No difference was found in the match rates between applicants from university-affiliated doctoral program (87.8% matched) vs. free-standing professional schools (83.8% matched).

This article first appeared in the Summer 2000 Edition of the APAGS Newsletter, Vol. 12(2)