Program Mission

The mission of the Sanford Health-Psychology Internship Consortium (SH-PIC) is to train and prepare future psychologists to provide outstanding, culturally competent, and compassionate clinical health care in rural and frontier communities across the Midwest.

Internship Aim

The aim of the Sanford Health-Psychology Internship Consortium is to increase patient access to quality behavioral health services in rural America by creating a pathway within our organization to take pre-doctoral interns through to fully licensed and independently functioning psychologists, recognizing the critical role that psychologists play in the overall delivery of healthcare.

General Information

The Sanford Health-Psychology Internship Consortium is comprised three behavioral health training sites in the Greater Fargo/Moorhead region. The consortium represents the collaborative effort across Sanford Health clinics in the region to share resources and faculty for the purpose of providing a quality educational program for psychology doctoral interns focusing on culturally relevant and responsive treatment to residents of the region of all ages. The SH-PIC training program is a year-long, full-time, 2,000-hour doctoral training experience with four positions for the upcoming 2025 training year.

Please note that SH-PIC is a psychology doctoral internship program and not a practicum training site.

Land Acknowledgement Statement

The Sanford Health Pre-doctoral Internship Program spans multiple communities and regions across several states. We respectfully acknowledge that the lands on which we live, learn, and serve are the traditional territories of the Dakota (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute) and Nakota (Yankton, Yanktonai) peoples.

We honor their enduring presence and deep connection to this land, recognizing them as the original stewards who have cared for these places for generations. SH-PIP is committed to fostering awareness, respect, and continued learning in partnership with Indigenous communities.

Accreditation and Membership

Questions specifically related to the program’s APA accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation (CoA):

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
American Psychological Association
750 1^st Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 336-5979

Questions about SH-PIC’s APPIC membership status or the APA accreditation process can be directed to Program Consultant, Dr. Ashley Fortier (afortier@wiche.edu).

Contacting Sanford Health-PIC

Questions regarding our internship program or the application and interview processes may be directed to our Program Administrator, Shelly McCann (Shelly.McCann@sanfordhealth.org) or Program Directors, Dr. Jeffrey Leichter (Jeffrey.Leichter@sanfordhealth.org) and Dr. Jon Ulven (Jon.Ulven@sanfordhealth.org).