Internship

There are two types of internships within the Master’s programme in Neuropsychology: a clinical internship and an innovation/research internship. Please note that it is not possible to obtain the BAPD certificate through the innovation internship.    

Clinical internship

During the clinical internship you will become acquainted with the day-to-day work of a neuropsychologist in clinical practice. Under expert supervision, you will work in an institution where people with cognitive disorders are diagnosed, treated and/or nursed. It concerns an external internship which is approved by the internship coordinator. Examples of eligible internship organizations include University clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centres, psychiatric institutions and private practices. During your placement you will be supervised by an external supervisor (healthcare psychologist and/or clinical (neuro)psychologist) within the organization for about one hour per week.

Innovation/research internship

An innovation/research internship is focused on how the latest scientific research findings with respect to cognitive function can be extended and/or translated into innovative assessment or treatment tools in healthcare. Examples are the use of eye movement recordings or virtual reality during neuropsychological assessment. These internships are offered by the university, academic hospitals or private companies. You will apply your knowledge and develop basic skills in non-verbal, verbal and written communications, diagnostic assessments (both research and clinical), the use and evaluation of scientific literature, and reporting.

• The internship covers 25 ECTS; this corresponds to 700 hours. These hours include writing the internship report and studying the literature. An internship preferably takes six months (24-32 hours a week).
• The organization of the placement should have a primary focus on providing care for people with suspected or known acquired brain dysfunction, developmental disorders or other syndromes or medical conditions that cause cognitive disorders (e.g. psychiatric disorders).
• The placement organizations should be relatively large, enabling the student to learn from different qualified academic professionals – mainly psychologists, but other disciplines as well. One-man practices are therefore not advised.
• Supervision from the internship field is provided by an academically trained (neuro)psychologist and amounts to one hour a week on average. Permission after consulting with the internship coordinator is required for exceptions to this rule.
• A substantial part of the activities must consist of activities that a neuropsychologist is expected to perform within the host organization. The activities should have a master’s level and should enable students to make a connection between (academic) knowledge and research practice.
• A clinical internship should contain a minimum of 60% diagnostic work. The remaining 40% of the activities may be of a different nature, provided they are psychological. The intern must be involved in the decisions about the work to be performed and the evaluation thereof.
• At least 40% of the internship activities must consist of activities in which the intern has direct contact with the organization’s target group, such as during diagnostics and interventions.
• Within the activities, attention must also be paid to assessment of needs, psycho-education and treatment. If it is not possible for interns to carry out psychological treatment within the host organization, both the organization and the intern should actively think about alternative options.
• During the internship activities, one actively participates in the realization of the internship objectives as described in this manual. It is therefore the intention that the intern participates in as many aspects of the diagnostic process as possible.
• The supervision will have to address both the more personal and the professional aspects of the learning objectives of the student.
• The internship activities are embedded in the framework of the organization. The intern will be given a place to work in accordance with the nature of the activities.

Only approved internship positions qualify for the Master's programme in Neuropsychology.
 

• The internship covers 25 ECTS; this corresponds to 700 hours. These hours include writing the internship report and studying the literature. An internship preferably takes six months (32 hours a week) or nine months (24 hours a week).
• The internship field must be an institution or organisation where demonstrable innovation and implementation activities take place within the neuropsychology profession and for which scientific research forms the basis.
• Supervision from the internship field is provided by a psychologist/neuroscientist with a PhD and amounts to one hour a week on average. Permission after consulting with the Internship Coordinator is required for exceptions to this rule.
• The internship activities are embedded in the framework of the organisation. The intern will be given a place to work in accordance with the nature of the activities.
• The student must actively participate in these activities and contribute to achieving the objectives of the internship. The idea is for the intern to take part in as many aspects of the research process as possible.
• The intern will carry out work as a ‘junior researcher’ for which their academic programme in neuropsychology is preparing them, using the knowledge (literature) and abilities (practicals) that they have acquired on their university programme.
• A substantial proportion of the work should consist of activities that a neuropsychologist would be expected to perform in the internship organisation in question. Besides performing the work itself, these activities will also involve the generation, analysis, and preparation of a systematic/methodological design of the work. The intern must be involved in the decisions taken on the work to be carried out and its evaluation.
• Supervision at the internship organisation should cover both the more substantive and technical aspects. It is for the Internship Coordinator to decide to what extent the above conditions and criteria are met by the internship organisation.

Clinical Internships in Dutch professional institutions are only available to students who sufficiently master the Dutch language, because the clinical work and reporting has to be performed with Dutch speaking patients. International students lacking this ability, but wanting to do a clinical internship have to seek possibilities in their home countries or English speaking countries. If you have questions or you want to discuss the possibilities of doing a clinical internship in your home county or an English speaking country, please contact the internship coordinator (masterneuropsycholgoie_KLstage@uu.nl).

All (international) clinical internships should be approved by the coordinator of the clinical internship. Note that if you want to apply for an internship abroad this is only possible in semester 2 (period 3 and 4). Innovation internships are available for both Dutch-speaking and non-Dutch speaking students.

To find out, you can ask yourself a few questions: 
 

• Which field of work (e.g. neurology, psychiatry, developmental disorders) within my master do I like? Which kind of challenges would I like to work on? (Think of the courses in your study that you found very interesting, explore your options) 
• In what kind of organization within this workfield would I like to work later? Do you like small teams and a personal approach, or do you want to work in a big organization with all sorts of disciplines?
• What kind of target group would you like to work with? For example would you like to work in a hospital, a rehabilitation center or a nursing home?
• What do I want to do and learn during an internship? (Do you want to learn more about (neuropsychological) treatment methods or how to support nursing staff? Or are you more interested in doing research?)

There are various ways to find an internship post. You can use your own network or look for interesting organizations online. All students are encouraged to contact the Internship Coordinator once they have been conditionally admitted. For information about the clinical internship, please send an email to the Clinical Internship coordinator (masterneuropsychologie_Klstage@uu.nl).

Dutch-speaking students will be provided with a list of possible host institutions in the Netherlands once they’ve contacted the Clinical Internship Coordinator. Furthermore, there’s an internship database for students enrolled in the Neuropsychology Master’s programme. Use your student number and solis password to log in. Note that you can apply for an internship only after you completed your application.

You can also take a look at the general internship bank of the university. 

If you are student member you can use the database of SPS-NIP. 

See also the general page of the UU about internships for some extra tips.

You can apply for an internship with your curriculum vitae (CV) and motivation letter. Remember that an internship institution will respond based on your letter and CV, so pay a lot of attention to that. If you want to use LinkedIn, make sure your personal page is up to date.  

Do you not have a CV yet, and have you never written an application/motivation letter? Take a look at the (online) workshops of Career Services.

Dream big. Send letters to different organizations. Email again if you don't get a response. Or call the organization and try to organize a personal meeting. Finding an internship takes time and a bit of guts. But you can do this!

You can come for an interview, that’s good news! Prepare yourself well. Make sure you can tell why you are interested in this internship in this specific organization and what your added value is. For extra tips, take a look at the (online) workshops of Career Services about this subject.

If you found an internship (great!), approval of the Internship Coordinator is required. Send an e-mail to masterneuropsychologie_KLstage@uu.nl. 

If you are rejected after the job interview, ask for feedback and incorporate this in your preparation for the next interview. You may be more successful next time!