Another Match Day made in heaven for Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s elite cohort of fourth-year psychology doctoral students, 26 of 28 whom matched into highly coveted and competitive internships last month at many of the country’s most prestigious training sites, where they’ll further develop, practice, and integrate new clinical skills during intensive, year-long, supervised internships before earning their doctoral degrees and becoming professional psychologists.
“The one-year countdown to Dr. Fannick is on!” says Emily Fannick, MS, PsyD ’24, who was thrilled to match for her pre-doctoral neuropsychology internship at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in both Nashville and Murfreesboro. “It has always been a dream of mine to move to Nashville.”
Near-perfect match rates have become the standard for PCOM’s PsyD in Clinical Psychology program, which has achieved a 97.3 percent (185 of 190) match rate since 2015 in the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) internship matching program.
Many factors go into PCOM’s exemplary APPIC match rate, most notably the quality of the Clinical Psychology program’s curriculum and the caliber of its students. It’s also a byproduct of the fair advantage PCOM’s Clinical Psychology students enjoy over applicants at other colleges—gaining exposure to an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to patient care by taking classes with other professional graduate and medical students on the one hand; and learning the breadth of clinical psychology and the depth of cognitive behavioral therapy, with an emphasis on service to diverse and underserved populations, on the other.
“Our students are exceptionally well-prepared going into the match—both in mentorship and in education,” says Stephanie H. Felgoise, PhD, ABPP, professor, chair and director of PCOM’s PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology for the last 20 years. “What distinguishes our students is the interprofessional education that they get during the four years of their doctoral program. PCOM emphasizes the utility and practice of integrated healthcare—the idea that the best care is delivered with multiple disciplines working together for the patient.”
PCOM’s Clinical Psychology students commemorated their Match Day with the click of an early-morning email that revealed the name and site of the facility where they’ll intern for the next year. Zach DiPasquale, MS, PsyD ’24, rolled out of bed, checked his email, read the great news that he’d matched his first choice for his internship, fist-bumped the air, and then fell back asleep.
“I got my top choice. It was great. I got where I wanted to go,” says DiPasquale, who come August will intern for one year at the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Neuroscience Institute in Lancaster, PA, one of the many leading medical centers, healthcare systems, children’s hospitals, psychology training consortiums, VA medical centers, and federal correctional complexes that will welcome PCOM’s best and brightest PsyD in Clinical Psychology doctoral candidates this summer.
“We’re going to some amazing places,” says Fannick, one of many students who’ll be relocating nationwide for their internships.
DiPasquale, who is particularly interested in working with Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients, says PCOM is unparalleled in terms of its training and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among providers, a key facet of neuropsychology’s focus on the relationships between the brain and behavior.
“PCOM did a really great job teaching us how to collaborate with other disciplines, including neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, gerontology, sports medicine, and even legal,” says DiPasquale, “and about each discipline’s role in healthcare delivery.”
The PsyD program trains practitioner-scholar psychologists to work in a broad range of clinical settings, with an emphasis on a holistic approach to interdisciplinary care. The program, backed by 13 core faculty members, is designed to be completed in five years, including course work, practicum, internship, and dissertation.
“I knew PCOM was going to set me up for success,” says Fannick. “I’m thankful I picked a doctoral program where more of your focus is on the clinical work.”
Multiple career opportunities are available to PsyD in Clinical Psychology program graduates. Clinical psychologists work with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings, such as hospitals and private practice. Some graduates teach in academic settings. According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis Behavioral Health Workforce Projections, demand for clinical psychologists is projected to exceed supply by 2030.
“I’m very proud of our program, our faculty, and our students,” says Dr. Felgoise. “I love nothing more than to hear from our students over the years about their successes. My wish for our graduates is that they have as fulfilling and as meaningful a career as I have had.”
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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