Didactic Seminars

The Sanford Health-Psychology Internship Consortium is designed to meet the increasing skill level of interns, approaching training and supervision from a developmental model focused on incrementally improving autonomy and professional development as the intern transitions from student to entry-level practitioner. Training faculty strive to embody the spirit of life-long learners and view professional development as a continuous process with no fixed endpoint. The didactic seminars are one way in which interns will be exposed to clinically-relevant topics, empirical research, and evidence-based practices.

Interns are exposed to a variety of speakers through a comprehensive didactic seminar series throughout the training year. Didactics focus on a range of relevant topics, designed to build upon and enhance prior knowledge and experiences, as well as complement the direct service/experiential training provided during internship. All didactic seminars are expected to be professional grade presentations with evidence-based citations and references as indicated. Seminars are also expected to attend to individual and cultural diversity factors.

Didactic seminars are held once per week for two (2) hours virtually on a secure telecommunication platform. However, there may be instances where didactic seminars are held in person, depending on the topic and presenter, at the Sanford Health main campus in Moorhead. If interns are expected to meet in-person for any didactic seminars, they will be notified in advance, by email from the Training Director(s) or Program Administrator. For virtual didactic meetings, interns may not be driving or in a public location during Friday training activities. Calling into a didactic presentation by phone is discouraged. Interns are allowed to call into a didactic presentation by phone a maximum of two times during the training year and they must let the speaker (or faculty member in charge if an outside speaker is scheduled), and the Program Director(s) know at least one week in advance. If an intern calls into a didactic presentation by phone more than two times during the training year, the Program Director may initiate SH-PIC Due Process Procedures.

Attendance at didactics and all other scheduled group training activities is mandatory for all interns and is required for successful completion of the internship. Attendance at these scheduled activities take priority over other site obligations each week. Site supervisors are aware of these activities and their requirement for interns. A didactic calendar is distributed during orientation and may be updated throughout the year. For all didactic absences, interns must review a research article related to the didactic topic that week and submit a 1-2 page summary of the main concepts and relevance of the topic to their professional role.

An intern is permitted no more than three absences during the calendar year. After the second absence, interns will receive a reminder from the Program Director(s). After the third absence, the Program Director(s) will initiate SH-PIC Due Process Procedures. Interns may use only three of their allotted vacation and/or professional development days on didactic training days. The Program Director(s) must be notified in advance of planned absences. Interns who miss a meeting of the didactic seminar or other group because of a serious emergency or for a serious illness should alert their Site Supervisor and the Program Director(s) as soon as possible.