Externship Procedures 

EXTERNSHIPS PROCEDURES AND POLICIES 

You will have the opportunity to complete 2 full time off-campus externships. The clinical faculty coordinate the process for placing students in their externships. It is important to treat all externships as you would a full-time paid position or as an extended job interview. Although not all externships lead to a full-time position, some do, and you may have the opportunity to obtain a positive letter of recommendation from your externship site supervisor to use for future job prospects. 

Graduate students in Speech and Hearing Department at PSU receive the opportunity to complete 2 full time externships. As required by ASHA, you must register for credit hours for externships in order to receive clock hours.  You will register for a total of 18 clinical practicum credits over the 8 terms of the graduate program. Externships may be in medical, clinical, or educational settings.  Planning for externships begins in the fall term of the first year. Before starting an externship you must successfully complete a minimum of 3 PSU clinics and be approved by the faculty. You typically complete externships in your 6th-8th terms of your graduate program. Some students participate in their first externship in the 5th term (summer) and others begin in the 6th term (fall). 

Additional opportunities and part-time externships may be available to students in their first or second year of the graduate program. The registration process for additional experiences or a third part-time externship will be arranged with the PSU site coordinator to the site. Additional externships require students to register for additional 509 credits (beyond the core 18 credits).  

All externship placements are organized and facilitated by the PSU Externship Committee. The Externship Committee consists of the faculty listed below. Each of these faculty serve as a "site coordinator" for specific sites. The role of the site coordinator is to set up externship placements according to the required procedures of each site and to serve as a support for both you and your site supervisor.  To communicate with us, please email us directly.

• • Teresa Roberts: Site coordinator for educational placements

  • Brandon Eddy: Site coordinator for pediatric medical placements

  • Cassie Quinn: Site coordinator for adult medical placements

EXPECTATIONS

EXTERNSHIP GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES WITH EVEN THE BEST-LAID PLANS

• WE DO OUR BEST TO ENSURE THAT YOU GET WHAT YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL

• YOU ARE PART OF A COHORT AND IT IS OUR JOB TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OF YOU AS EQUITABLY AS POSSIBLE. THIS SOMETIMES MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR TOP PICKS OR MAY HAVE TO TOLERATE UNEXPECTED CHANGES

• THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO PUT INTO PRACTICE THE PROFESSIONALISM AND FLEXIBILITY THAT ARE REQUIRED IN THIS FIELD. IF YOU DEMONSTRATE FLEXIBILITY, YOU CAN DISCUSS THIS AS A STRENGTH IN AN INTERVIEW! 

• COMMUNICATE WITH THE EXTERNSHIP COMMITTEE VIA DIRECT EMAIL TO TERESA ROBERTS (EDUCATIONAL) OR BRANDON EDDY (MEDICAL)

ATTENDANCE 

Students are expected to maintain consistent attendance in their courses, clinics, and externships throughout the program. During the externship application process, if you have an opportunity to interview, observe, etc. with a potential externship site, you will be expected to arrange these around your classes and clinics.  

*A common misperception about externships are that they are for "completing hours".  Externships are not about getting certain numbers of hours and students should exceed the 400 hours required for certification while at PSU. Rather, externships are courses that require participation from beginning to end in order to get a grade and subsequently count the clock hours.*

Students are responsible for attending all externship informational meetings, reading all externship informational emails and following instructions for all application processes. There will be due dates and these are expected to be met. Not meeting deadlines may result in not being eligible for a particular placement. 

The policies below apply except in cases of emergency, illness or other exceptions considered on a case by case basis. 

●     Students on part-time placements may miss no more than 3 days of an externship. Students on full-time placements may miss no more than 5 days of an externship. Any additional absences must also be communicated to the Externship Coordinator. 

●      Planned absences (e.g., planned events) should be a maximum of 1 to 2 days per term unless prior approval has been provided by the Externship Coordinator and Externship Supervisor.

●      All planned absences must be communicated to the externship site and/or supervisor prior to the externship beginning. Whenever possible, sites and supervisors should be made aware of planned absences during the application and/or interview process.

●      Any unplanned absences (e.g., illness, medical/family leave) must be communicated to the Externship Supervisor via phone call or an agreed upon communication method with the Externship Supervisor and via email with the PSU site coordinator.  The Externship Supervisor must be notified prior to their workday beginning.

●      If students exceed the permitted number of absences, and/or the overall goals set forth by the Externship Supervisor are unable to be met, then the student and/or Externship Supervisor should notify the Externship Coordinator. 

●      If a site celebrates a holiday and their facility is closed, then this does not count towards the total number of absences allowed. If a holiday falls on a day when the student is not generally at the site, students are not permitted to take a day off on an alternative day of the week.  

APPEARANCE, DRESS, and HYGIENE 

Company norms and policies typically have rules regarding appearance, dress, and hygiene. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are meeting expectations of your externship sites in these areas. 

EXTERNSHIP SETTINGS AND POPULATIONS

SCHOOL AND EARLY INTERVENTION PLACEMENTS

Educational Settings Overview

Site Coordinator: Teresa Roberts, Ed.D., CCC-SLP

Settings and Populations:

• Early Intervention (EI): Families with children from birth to three-years-old receive assessment, intervention, and coaching services across early developmental areas (cognition, communication, fine/gross motor, social, behavior, and more). Services are typically provided in the home and in community childcare facilities. Clinicians may coordinate scheduling and implementation of inter-professional services.

• Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE): Children ages three to five-years-old receive assessment and intervention services across developmental areas. Services are typically provided in the home, community childcare facilities, preschool classrooms, and clinical settings. Clinicians partner with families and childcare providers.

• School-Age: Children ages five to 18-years-old receive assessment and intervention services for communication disorders (articulation, language, fluency, hearing, and more) within the school day. Services are typically provided individually, in small groups, general education classrooms, and specialized classrooms. Multicultural and bilingual services are highly valued, and clinicians work collaboratively with school staff and related professionals. Special population services may include augmentative and alternative communication, autism and pragmatics, behavioral disorders, language and literacy, medically fragile, and other focused settings.

• Adult Community Transition: Adolescents and young adults ages 18-21, with significant disabilities, receive vocational, recreational, and social skills training and supports in an inter-professional setting with OT, school psychology, related professionals, and special education staff.

ADULT MEDICAL PLACEMENTS

Site Coordinator: Cassie Quinn, MS, CCC-SLP

Settings and Populations: 

• Inpatient Acute Care: Patients newly admitted to the hospital for an acute medical condition, including but not limited to: stroke, TBI, trauma, cardiac, post surgical, H&N cancer care. 

• Inpatient Rehab: Patients transferred from acute care to an intensive rehab program. They remain in the facility 24/7 and must be able to participate in therapy for a minimum of 3 hours/day and have a need for a minimum of two therapy disciplines: PT/OT, PT/ST, OT/ST, etc. Treatment of medical conditions including but no limited to: Aphasia, executive functioning, dysarthria, memory, cognitive communication, dysphagia. 

• Skilled Rehab Facility: Patients transferred from acute care to a rehab program. They remain in the facility 24/7 and must be able to participate in therapy and have a need for a minimum of two therapy disciplines: PT/OT, PT/ST, OT/ST, etc. Patients that go to Skilled Rehab typically do not qualify for Inpatient Rehab due to the intensity of the program. Treatment of medical conditions including but not limited to: Aphasia, executive functioning, dysarthria, memory, cognitive communication, dysphagia. 

• Outpatient Rehab: Patients transferred from acute care, inpatient rehab or skilled rehab post discharge to home for continued therapy. Typically 2-3 days a week. They must be able to provide transport to their sessions. Treatment of medical conditions including but not limited to: Aphasia, executive functioning, dysarthria, memory, cognitive communication, dysphagia. 

• Home Health: Patients transferred from acute care, inpatient rehab or skilled rehab post discharge to home for continued therapy. Typically 1-2 days a week. They must be deemed "home bound" by their physician. This means they can not leave their home for any medical services and qualifies them for home health therapy. The ST goes to their home for treatment. Treatment of medical conditions including but not limited to: Aphasia, executive functioning, dysarthria, memory, cognitive communication, dysphagia. 

Adult Medical Settings Overview

PEDIACTRIC MEDICAL PLACEMENTS

Site Coordinator: Brandon Eddy, M.A., CCC-SLP

Settings and Populations:

These placements occur in two main types of facilities: hospital-based and clinic-based.

• Hospital-Based Sites

  • Hospital-based services for pediatrics are mostly outpatient services. Typically, clinicians will conduct some evaluations each week, with the bulk of services being ongoing treatment sessions. These usually involve individual sessions of 30-60 minutes each, with clients who come for treatment 1-2 times per week. Some clinicians also run small treatment groups. Most clinicians in these sites are generalists who see clients of all types. Some facilities encourage more specialization within their clinical staff, so some individual clinicians might work with specific diagnoses, or specific age ranges, or perhaps specialize in evaluations over treatment.

  • Most hospitals maintain a staff of several full-time SLPs dedicated to pediatric practice. Smaller regional hospitals may have only 1-2 SLPs overall, who will cover both adult and pediatric caseloads. The larger a hospital is, the more likely it is that they will employ SLPs specifically dedicated to pediatric practice, with the largest hospitals in the Portland Metropolitan Area having a staff of up to 15-20 pediatric SLPs. In addition, larger hospitals will usually have robust OT and PT services, and many offer the opportunity for significant inter-professional practice.

  • Nearly all hospitals also provide inpatient services for pediatric patients. These services may include work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and/or the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). In addition, inpatient clinicians are often the specialists who perform Modified Barium Swallow Studies (MBSS) with pediatric patients, and provide ongoing feeding and swallowing services. Please note that these are considered to be highly specialized services, and very few clinicians practicing in this type of setting are able to accept students for training. Instead, training for these types of jobs is more commonly part of a certified SLP’s professional development, typically begun after having completed several years of clinical practice in other settings.

• Clinic-Based Sites

  • Clinic-based services are usually delivered in facilities that are free-standing clinical service businesses. These are often private practices or non-profit clinical agencies. As with most hospital-based services, most clinicians in clinic facilities see some clients for evaluation, with the majority of their time spent in ongoing treatment. As with outpatient hospital services, the range of specialization varies substantially from clinician to clinician, with most professionals maintaining at least some level of generalist practice.

  • Clinics vary widely in size and scope, with the smallest being sole proprietorships, in which the owner is the only clinician. Some clinics specialize in inter-professional practice, with collaboration between Occupational Therapists and SLPs being the most common.

Overall, student experiences in pediatric medical and clinical sites are fairly similar, with most of the variability depending on the level of specialization that an individual supervisor has as a part of their specific position. Most pediatric medical/clinical practices are highly interactive, with SLPs collaborating among themselves, and to the degree that professionals from other disciplines are available, engaging in substantial inter-professional practice.

Pediatric Medical Settings Overview

EXTERNSHIP OVERVIEW

2025 Externship Preparation Meetings

1/9/2025 - Externships Overview

4/16/2025 - Externship Interviews Preparation (Slides)

4/16/2025 - Externship Interviews Preparation (Recording)

5/15/2025 - Summer Clinics Overview (Slides)

5/15/2025 - Tips for a Successful Externship Experience (Slides)

5/15/2025 - Summer Clinics and Externship Tips (Recording) - Access Password: PK@uu@

The field of Speech Language-Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Teaching etc all depend on volunteers to train students in the field. This is a system that has its pros and cons. It is wonderful in that it is in line with the fact that we are choosing a field that serves people so it is a natural fit for SLPs to want to give back and work with students. With the current system, we are certain that the supervisors who volunteer to work with students are genuinely interested in giving back to graduate students. They are not doing it for financial gain or to make their lives easier. The issues are that with changes in our culture around university education, and changes in the workplace, it can be challenging to provide students with a predictable and reliable externship experience.

Different university models for externships:

1. Students invited and assigned - no choice

2. Students obtain their own externships - on your own

3. Students are given input in the process and externships are applied for - this is what we do at PSU and we strive to make the process as equitable as possible

PSU Program

Students will typically do 2 full-time externships:

• 5 days per week

• Some of you will do 2 medical and some 2 education, some will do one of each - this will depend on some factors within your control and some outside your control

• A few of you will do a 3rd externship 

  • This can happen when we have only 1-2 applicants for a site and those students already have 2 externships

  • By request and there is a “supply” of the type of externship they are requesting 

  • If a student is short on hours for reasons outside the student’s control

• Some of you will start your externships summer term

  • The approximate dates of summer externships are the 3rd week in June until mid September

Clock hours

• You will all need 400 hours

• You already have 25 from observation

• Some of you did undergrad clinics and can get up to 50 hours for those experiences 

• Medical sites tend to have fewer clock hours

  • If you are hoping for 2 medical sites - plan for this by doing clinics that provide more hours. Usually doing two summer clinics can help

• Clock hours add up slowly in your first year

  • The focus of this year is to meet your competencies and complete your coursework

• What counts as a clock hour?

  • Any time you are part of an interaction with a client or family member in a therapeutic or diagnostic way

  • This includes the beginning of the externship where your supervisor is typically in the driver’s seat and you are watching as long as you actively are part of the interaction

Location versus experience?

• We try to get you placements that are no further than one hour by car or accessible by public transportation. Students may be placed in a radius of up to 50 miles from their residence. This is standard for university programs that require externships. 

• If you turn down a placement due to location (or other factors) it is important to understand that you may be sacrificing the opportunity to be placed that term and this could slow down your clinical program (worst case scenario, you would have to do an extra term).

• We want to know if location is the MOST important factor or if EXPERIENCE is the most important factor

Process

• All placements (medical and educational) are processed by the Externship Committee 

• The Committee conducts a thoughtful, purposeful review of applications based on the following criteria:

  • The site’s priorities regarding skill set and experience

    • This includes the number of applicants they want to review

  • Your availability

  • Your initiative 

  • Your interests and priorities

  • The quality of your application and letter of intent

  • Your professionalism as demonstrated in the clinical and academic program

  • What sites are a good match for your skills

  • Your transportation options and overall flexibility

• ALWAYS work with the Externship Committee in setting up placements. Do not set up your own placements as this can create issues with contracts and procedure. This does not mean that you cannot talk to supervisors or make connections, just make sure to include the PSU site coordinator ASAP. If you know someone or meet someone you want to work with your first step is to ALWAYS communicate with the PSU site coordinator for that type of site. 

• We track your clinical program on a master list that includes PSU clinics and externships.

• You will track your clock hours in CALIPSO. 

• Be prepared

  • Get your resume done now and seek input on your resume from outside sources

  • Get feedback on your application

  • Faculty are unable to give individual feedback on applications - so be sure to take advantage of resume workshops and other resources shared

• Be detail oriented

  • Make sure your applications and letters of intent do not have typos or grammatical errors

• Be excited

  • Sites want to work with students who want to work with them

• Be communicative

  • Keep in touch with the Externship Committee about your interests and concerns

  • Ask yourself, is there anything that the Committee should know about me to help them make an appropriate placement?

• Be flexible

  • Sometimes the “best” placement turns out to be not what you want and the “worst” placement turns out to be what you wanted all along

• Remember that your goal is to become an SLP - you will have the rest of your life to gain experiences!

Concerns from Past Cohorts

Multiple deadlines for applications to sites

• Solution: There is now one deadline for applications

Equity in the process:

• We make all decisions as a Committee with faculty input

• We value fairness

• You will not always get what you want, but you will get what you need

• We welcome feedback and hope that you will participate in a survey at the end of the year to help us improve the process

Competition:

• We make sure to keep all application information confidential

• If your application is not sent forward, we tell only you

• Our supervisors and sites all do this voluntarily because they value giving back. The profession does not adequately support externships and all university programs struggle with this. 

• Getting what you want may feel good. Not getting what you want may feel bad, but there can be hidden rewards!

Preparation:

• In the past students did not always get an adult focused clinic prior to going off campus, but now all students get Cog Rehab, Adult Language Clinic, Adult Medical, Dysphagia, or Gender Communication Lab. 

How do students rate their experiences?

Survey results: 

70% very satisfied

30% satisfied

0% Unsatisfied

Advice from previous cohorts (this was all collected via an anonymous, online survey)

Communicate:

• Be vocal and share what you want both on paper and verbally with the faculty site coordinator

• Advocate for yourself and what your interests are. Keeping that in mind, also realize that there is no such thing as a "perfect" placement. Try to make the most out of any placement. 

• Find the faculty member who is in charge of the sites you would like to be placed at and talk to them about how you can improve your chances of being selected.

• Talk to the PSU site coordinators in person to let them know what type of externships you want.

• Do not be afraid to ask questions!

• Take the time to meet with your supervisor to express what you are interested in and want from your externships. I think this is what really made the difference.

Prepare:

• Know that your resume may not get sent on to every site you apply for

• Start your resume and cover letter during the first term 

• Bring your application materials to the writing center before you submit them

• Have someone else read your cover letter (more than once).

• Start thinking about what kind of placements you want early

• Be respectful and courteous to everyone because you never know if you will end up wanting to apply there! 

• Read all your books and be prepared to ask your externship supervisor lots of questions!

• I think it is important for students to remember that their actions in classes, in the graduate lab, in clinic, and with faculty may affect your placement, so always remember to be a professional student.

• Find out what assessments your site uses and learn them!

• Get your resume and cover letter ready early if you're applying for medical placements. 

• Your externship supervisors will be the best people to eventually ask for a job reference. Start cultivating that relationship immediately!

Keep calm:

• Be patient and be glad that your friends got the externship, since everyone is qualified to get it.

• Don't freak out, externships won't determine your entire future

• Don't stress about it too much, whatever your placement ends up being it will be useful experience.

• It will all work out! You may not get the exact experiences you want, but there are so many valuable externship experiences that you will not be missing out. 

• Don't be afraid to branch out.

• It's all about the process ;)

• It will all work out in the end. Relax!

Be flexible:

• Be flexible! Leave your schedule open. Don't freak out if you don't know what your placement is. Even if you don't get the placement you want, there are still opportunities to shadow other settings and get that experience.

• You will learn something valuable at any site you end up in.  If you don't get the placement you want, try and glean all of the information you can out of the one you got in order to better your chances at getting a solid CF position

CF Preparation: 

• Wherever you are placed, you'll get great experience, but getting a prestigious medical CF is so competitive now that being placed in a site that you can see yourself in for a CF would be the best type of placement a student should have for an externship. 

• The externships you get play a major role in the CF you'll even be considered for

Postive outcomes:

• You will get your clock hours. We know this because in the history of this department we have never had a student not be able to graduate because they could not get enough clock hours. 

• You will learn so much and find your experience valuable.

• You will become the SLP that you want to become.

• Your efforts to be prepared, communicative, excited, and flexible will make a difference in how much you get out of your graduate program.

Flexibility with changes:

• When will I find out what my externship is?

  • This will vary depending completely on the sites and also on your interests - sometimes we have to hold out for just the right thing!

  • The range is from 12 months prior to weeks prior

• What will my future job be and how will the externships I do now impact those opportunities?

• Your externship can make every difference in the world or no difference

• Sites go through changes

  • Personnel and organizational shifts

• Site Supervisors go through changes

  • Divorce, health, job changes, family moves etc etc

• Sites may get applicants from around the country

• Students (you!) change their minds

• Student circumstances change

• There are no guarantees

• You may have to drive long distances

EXTERNSHIP AND PROGRAM TIMELINE

SUMMER 1st year

• Complete your observation hours and upload to CALIPSO

• Complete your compliance requirements and upload to CALIPSO

• Upload and submit all undergraduate clinic clock hours

FALL 1st year

• Begin thinking about populations that you are interested in for the following year. Talk to professors, 2nd year mentors etc to start exploring where you would like to focus your externship experiences

• Complete any remaining observation hours and upload or submit hours in CALIPSO

WINTER 1st year

• Externship preparation begins: Prepare your resume and cover letters for applications that will be due to the Externship Committee in March. 

• Summer clinic planning: Summer clinic options will be reviewed in a meeting this term and preference forms will be filled out and submitted to the Clinic Director by early March

• Will you do a Masters project or comps? Be sure to check in with the Graduate Advisor and make a plan

• Externship applications open: Externship applications will be due by the end of Spring break. Plan ahead!

SPRING 1st year

• Interviews: Throughout April and May, you will be interviewing and hearing about medical externship placements. Placements will be confirmed between May and December. Do not schedule interviews during class or clinic times. 

• Electives: Start thinking early about what electives you might be interested in taking. Electives are offered Summer through Spring of your second year. Registration for Summer and Fall opens soon

• Educational externship confirmations: Between April and December you will hear back confirmations on educational placements depending on which term/s you are doing an educational externship/s

• Masters Project: Your Masters Project will be finalized with your supervisor’s signature by June. Remember to consider your project timeline in conjunction with when you have externships

• Hearing Screenings completed - usually 1-2 Friday mornings

SUMMER 2nd year

• Summer Clinics: Plan to complete your summer clinics as well as some of your electives. Tip: Balance your electives with your externships and take more electives when you do not have an externship. Try not to exceed 4 credits of coursework when you have a full time externship.

Note that all fall term educational externships and many medical externships start at the end of August or early September

FALL 2nd year

• Start date: Externship placements start earlier than the University calendar!

ALL EXTERNSHIPS START LATE AUGUST/EARLY SEPTEMBER. BE PREPARED TO START UP AGAIN THE 3RD WEEK IN AUGUST

WINTER 2nd year

• Applying for Clinical Fellowships: Begin researching and applying for CF positions between January and June.  There will be grad meetings dedicated to resumes, cover letters and interview skills specific to the CF process.

SPRING 2nd year

• Masters Project Complete: Completion timelines for Projects are determined with the director of your project. Tip: Plan your timeline for SP completion by early May.

POST GRADUATION June-July

• Degree Conferred: Degrees will be conferred by June-July. The Graduate Advisor will work with each of you on this process. 

• CF Positions Begin: It is recommended that you request a start date of July or later due to licensing  requirements

• Apply for a Conditional SLP License 

• ASHA Certification: Begin ASHA certification process

EXTERNSHIP PREPARATION

All students will receive guidance with externship preparation, including resume, CV, and cover letter development, during scheduled workshops. Please refer to the graduate google calendar for dates and times of graduate student check in meetings.

Externship preparation includes creating a resume and a CV. Educational settings use the term "resume". Medical settings may use either "CV" or "resume".  Although these terms may be used interchangeably, it is important to create customized versions of a resume/CV to meet the expectations of the setting. There is not consensus within the professional community about the parameters of resumes/CVs and students are advised to research the setting and  seek advice from different sources with this process. 

• Resume: A resume is traditionally a one-two page document that focuses on clinical and work experiences to highlight skills. Resumes include clinical experiences, work experiences, volunteerism, training, and more. Resumes are the typical form used for most work environments (even if they say they want a CV).

• CV: A CV is lengthy document that comprehensively and chronologically outlines accomplishments. CVs include everything that is featured in a resume and also coursework, research experience, publications, community engagement, service, and more. CVs are typically used only for academic institutions. 

Cover Letter and Resume slides (2025)

Cover Letter and Resume presentation (2025)

Example CV-Resume

Example Externship Cover Letter

Example Externship Cover Letter

Resources for Writing Resumes and Cover Letters for externships and jobs:

ASHA Careers page 

PSU Career Center

OWL Purdue Resume Workshop

PSU Writing Center

Archived Externship Preparation Meetings (2024)

EXTERNSHIP SURVEY AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND DUE DATES 2025-26

Please see here for the graduate meeting where externship matching was discussed (2/20/2025): https://media.pdx.edu/media/t/1_zst2xxgu  

This application is submitted to the Externship Committee and will be reviewed in your individual advising sessions with the Clinic Director. 

Please complete the following Matching Survey and Educational Application. Everyone must do both. 

1. Externship Matching Survey

Due Date: Sunday 3/9/2025 at 11:59 pm

This is the survey that will be used to match you to externships. ALL STUDENTS NEED TO COMPLETE THIS FORM.

2. Educational Site Application

Due Date: 3/9/2025 at 11:59 pm

Submit to: Teresa Roberts via email as a PDF or Word attachment. Your resume will be shared with Andi Pearson, Field Placement Coordinator in the College of Education to provide to district administration.

• Resume (approximately 2 pages): Please use the following format for the file (Last name, first name, educational externship)

• No cover letter needed

• No transcripts needed

Description: Your application is submitted to the Field Placement Coordinator at PSU. The PSU Field Placement Coordinator works closely with SPHR to comply with district policies and serves as the main liaison between school district administrators and PSU regarding all placements. 

Purpose of the resume: To provide information to district administrators about your experiences and qualifications to serve as a practicum student in their schools. All students will submit a resume regardless of whether they plan to do an educational externship.  

3. Letters of Recommendation

Due Date to request letters of recommendation: 3/21/2025 (only if needed by site)

On 3/20/2025,  you will receive emails from Externship Committee members informing you of your matches. If the site requires letters of recommendation, email faculty members IMMEDIATELY requesting a letter.  Faculty will need 2 weeks notice if you want a letter from them. Letters are currently only required for 2 sites. Only ask for a letter once you know you will need one (e.g. you have been invited to apply to a site that requires a letter by the Externship Committee). 

Who should write my letter? Anyone on faculty who can speak to your work ethic, professionalism, and interest in the population and setting is a good choice. Faculty on the Externship Committee can write letters as well as any other faculty member. 

Letters will be sent directly to Brandon by the faculty member. Due Date: 4/6/2025

Questions or concerns about this process? Submit them here. We review these every week and will get right back to you! 

4. Medical Site Externship Applications (after you have been matched; resume, cover letter, etc.)

Due Date: 4/6/2025 at 11:59 pm

Adult and Pediatric Medical Applications - Submit to: Brandon Eddy via email according to the instructions on the application

*Letters of Recommendation will be sent directly to Brandon Eddy from the faculty who write them*

Based on these matches, the majority of students applying to medical placements will be asked to apply directly to certain sites. In most cases, these applications will consist of a cover letter, a 1-2 page resume, and some may require unofficial academic transcripts or a site-specific application form. If a site you are applying to requires any of these materials, your PSU site coordinator will provide you with these site-specific forms when they invite you to apply to this site. 

Mark these dates in your calendar and PLAN AHEAD to make sure you put aside time to deal with the steps required. If you are matched to a site that requires applications, be sure to block out time in your schedule to develop/refine your resume and cover letters

5. Interviews

Based on your matches, many students applying to medical placements will be asked to interview with their sites. Expectations for interviews will vary widely, and you are encouraged to research the site and supervisor you are interviewing with (e.g., Google search, social media) as well as to seek advice from 2nd year graduate students who had an externship at that site (your Externship Coordinators will try to let you know who had an externship at that site before).

Be prepared to be available for interviews. DO NOT SCHEDULE INTERVIEWS DURING CLASS OR CLINIC TIME. 

EXTERNSHIP SURVEY
How Do I Know What Setting Is Best For Me?