COVID-19 and Clinical Training: Diverse Interns’ Perspectives and Collaborative Recommendations

ABSTRACT

This reflexive thematic qualitative study explored the meaningful experiences of 24 masters’ level clinical interns from diverse intersecting social locations about their experiences being trained during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus two (COVID-19) pandemic. Although there is a robust body of literature on the pivot many interns made to using telehealth, less is known about educating and supporting therapists-in-training holistically during a global pandemic. Researchers used an open-ended survey to ask current students and recent graduates who were enrolled in accredited clinical training programs during the COVID-19 pandemic about their experiences and recommendations regarding future training. Four themes delineated the crosscurrents of participants’ experiences. Participants articulated the benefits and hardships of being trained during a pandemic. They were lonely and longed for connection from the professional community and peers. Interns wrote about the importance of establishing and maintaining boundaries and attending to self-care. Using a feminist hermeneutic of participants’ voices, we offer collaborative recommendations for training programs and their governing bodies to prepare for future regional, national, or global crises (e.g., codifying self-care and supervision requirements for interns who work from home).

KEYWORDS:

• Clinical training
• internships
• reflexive thematic analysis

Declarations

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. 

The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.  Seattle University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) determined this study was exempt from review. 

Participants agreed to an informed consent before starting the survey. 

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Seattle University Summer Faculty Fellowship.