APPIC and Pregnancy During the Match season, APPIC frequently receives questions regarding the impact of pregnancy on interviews and internship/fellowship training. This is a good time to remind folks that APPIC has a very helpful document providing guidance for pregnancy and family care issues. It provides a comprehensive review of the principles that APPIC recommends to its member programs regarding how best to accommodate pregnancy and leave requests that arise during the training year. It can be found at the following link (be sure to copy the entire link into your browser): http://www.appic.org/downloads/APPIC_GUIDANCE_FOR_PREGNANCY_AND_FAMILY_C ARE_ISSUES.pdf APPIC is always available to consult on specific issues or situations involving pregnancy accommodations. Questions can be directed to me at Stephen.McCutcheon@va.gov. I'll forward them to one of our Board member consultants who will provide follow-up. Steve Steve McCutcheon, PhD Chair, APPIC Board of Directors Director, Psychology Training VA Puget Sound, Seattle # 10/25/07; 6:08:41 AM - News - Attn: So. Cal. APPIC Applicants I'm sure all of you have seen news of the terrible fires in Southern California. As a consequence of the danger and the evacuations, APPIC has learned that some Universities and internship sites have closed in the seven counties designated as disaster areas. It goes without saying that these events have also caused huge disruption to students who are submitting internship applications. Many applicants and internship programs in the disaster area are having significant difficulties in submitting and receiving internship applications. Please review the following information if you are a student or program in the affected area or are applying to a program in that area: IF YOU ARE A STUDENT LIVING IN THE AFFECTED AREA: APPIC has contacted all APPIC-member Training Directors to request that they extend their application deadlines for applicants in the seven California counties designated as disaster areas. While we cannot guarantee that all sites will extend their deadlines, we have strongly encouraged them to do so. It was almost two years ago to this very day that we had to make a similar request in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Our APPIC member programs responded with great support and I expect they'll do the same now. In addition, we recommend that you (and, if necessary, your academic Director of Training) contact sites directly to request an extension if you are unable to meet their deadlines. If you think it would be helpful, APPIC has drafted a message that requests sites to extend their deadlines -- for a copy of this message, please contact me at Stephen.McCutcheon@va.gov . You may also contact me at this address if you would like to speak to an APPIC Board consultant about your specific situation. IF YOU ARE AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN THE AFFECTED AREA: Please contact the APPIC Match Coordinator, Dr. Greg Keilin (gkeilin@mail.utexas.edu or 512-475-6949) if you would like APPIC to make an announcement about the status of your program and/or your program's application process. IF YOU ARE APPLYING TO AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM IN THE AFFECTED AREA: Please understand that some sites are experiencing significant disruption at the present time, and may not yet be able to receive or acknowledge receipt of your application. Selection timelines and mail service may be disrupted, and it may be a while before you can reach some programs to verify the receipt of your application. So, some patience and anxiety management strategies will undoubtedly be necessary over the next few weeks. Be sure to review the "Program Updates" e-mails that are distributed regularly via MATCH-NEWS for possible updates about the status of these programs or possible changes to application deadlines. All best wishes, Steve Steve McCutcheon, PhD Chair, APPIC Board of Directors Director, Psychology Training VA Puget Sound, Seattle # 10/25/07; 6:01:48 AM - Internship Opportunities -