The internship match: Understanding the problem-seeking solutions.

When 25% (842) of the 3,430 students participating in the 2007 APPIC Match were not placed, the Editorial Team of Training and Education in Professional Psychology (TEPP) expressed considerable concern about the significant barrier that exists for a sizable number of students seeking internships. The numbers of unplaced applicants has increased significantly during the last few APPIC Matches (Keilin et al., this issue). Unfortunately, the TEPP Board does not anticipate that this anxiety-provoking trend will reverse or end. We believe that the profession of psychology should be more than concerned. We believe that they should take action. This internship "supply and demand" problem has existed for at least 10 years and is increasing in severity. The profession must come to an agreement about the components of the problem and then address each one. There are no easy solutions but the TEPP editorial staff believes that there are many creative, thoughtful, collaborative solutions proposed in this special issue. We hope that this special issue will help the profession understand the varied views of this problem. We believe that the profession must come to a consensus about the problem and develop creative, pragmatic steps to provide a streamlined, effective sequence of training and education in professional psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)