Central Region
Missouri
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Indiana
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Cy-Hawk Region
Iowa
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Washington
Match # coming soon
Internship positions available: 1
Our Mission
About Our Site
UnityPoint Health is an integrated health system providing care throughout Iowa, western Illinois, and southern Wisconsin in not-for-profit hospitals, clinics, and home health settings. Blank Children’s Hospital is an entity of UnityPoint Health. Blank Children’s Hospital has the distinction of being the only civilian hospital built during World War II. At that time, Iowa had the highest rate of polio among children of any state, but was one of only a few states that did not have a children’s hospital to care for them. The A.H. and Anna Blank family built the original hospital in 1944, in honor of their son Raymond who died at a young age, to address the health care needs of Iowa’s ill and injured children – and that legacy has continued for 80 years and counting.
The Blank Children’s Developmental Center is located in West Des Moines, a short drive from the Blank Children’s Hospital main campus. We are co-located with the STAR Center, which provides child advocacy and support for children who are drug-endangered, in foster care, and/or require support in growth and nutrition. Our Developmental Center was built in 2020 and has an array of services available, including Psychology (assessment/diagnostics, behavioral parent training, consultation, upcoming expansion of intensive behavioral services), Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, medication management in the context of autism and developmental disabilities, and NICU follow-up.
We are a multidisciplinary center consisting of two licensed psychologists, two board certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians, two doctoral-level nurse practitioners, and nursing. We also will have a social worker employed in the near future. We have a robust administrative team to help support scheduling, billing, referrals/triaging, and prior authorizations. We also have access to our wonderful STAR center therapists and staff in the building, such as social workers, therapists, and medical professionals.
About this Rotation
At the Blank Children’s Developmental Center, the intern would focus on pediatric (ages 2-16) diagnostic evaluations for autism spectrum disorder and intellectual/developmental disabilities (i.e., intellectual disability, ADHD). Opportunities for interdisciplinary work with developmental/behavioral pediatricians, with whom we share our clinic, are available. We also provide brief behavioral parent training, and we are working toward expanding those services using an applied behavior analytic lens (i.e., functional analysis and treatment of challenging behavior within ASD and I/DD populations). Proposed training director is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the Doctoral Level (BCBA-D) and can provide supervision for this certification as well. We are co-located with the STAR center, which provides services for child victims of abuse (alleged and founded), children in foster care, and primary care. There may be opportunities for the intern to rotate at the STAR center as well, if desired.
The intern may choose from a variety of activities based on their experience and preferences.
The intern will receive training from our Psychology team on gold standard autism measures (e.g., ADOS-2, CARS-2), cognitive assessments (e.g., Wechsler batteries), behavioral and socioemotional assessments (e.g., BASC-3), and adaptive assessments and interviews (e.g., ABAS-3, Vineland-3), as well as have opportunities to work with our two wonderful psychometrists. The intern will receive training and supervision in case conceptualization, interview/preliminary assessment, and report writing. They will also receive training in interpersonal skills related to working with families and children with developmental disabilities and providing diagnostic feedback to families (e.g., communicating results, supporting families throughout the diagnostic process, reviewing recommendations). The intern will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary clinic with our developmental-behavioral providers (board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatricians and nurse practitioners).
Our center is growing every year. We plan to pilot intensive outpatient services for the assessment and treatment of severe challenging behavior in children with ASD and I/DD. The interested intern can gain experience in conducting experimental functional analyses, function-based treatments, complex behavior management, and parent training/generalization. Interns with interest in this area can gain supervision for both psychology licensure and board certification as a behavior analyst (BCBA).
Opportunities to engage in behavioral parent training, clinic or hospital-based consultation, program development and evaluation, and meta-supervision (the intern providing supervision to psychometrists under a licensed psychologist’s supervision) are available.
Training Opportunities
We conduct diagnostic evaluations for autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and secondary/rule-out concerns such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and/or disruptive behavior disorders. We conduct these as comprehensive evaluations, as well as an interdisciplinary clinic with one of our developmental-behavioral pediatricians. We also provide behavioral consultation to parents and providers. Dr. Jeglum is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the Doctoral Level (BCBA-D) and can provide BCBA supervision. Program development opportunities for complex behavior outpatient programming (e.g., assessment and treatment of self-injury, aggression, disruption) within neurodevelopmental disabilities is available.
Rotation Schedule
To be determined, but likely 20-25 hours per week of patient-facing time, including a mix of assessment and intervention (e.g., parent training, assessment and treatment of challenging behavior in these populations, social skills support, whatever the intern is interested in), plenty of admin time for report writing, case conceptualization, and supervision; ability to discuss dedicated research time if the intern is interested and feasibly able to manage. This is a clinical internship, and the focus would therefore be clinical work.
Placement Location
Everything will take place at 4055 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines, IA 50266; NPTC group supervision activities as available may be in other locations or not available virtually, to be determined.
Des Moines Life
As Iowa’s capital city, Des Moines is a hub of government action, business activity and cultural affairs. With a Metro population of 709,466, Des Moines is a bustling metropolis. But though we have big city bustle, we’re extremely proud of our small town atmosphere. Our community offers quality schools, superb public services, and friendly neighborhoods. We have many cultural events/festivals (Iowa State Fair!), restaurants, craft breweries, recreational facilities, bike trails/hiking, and even lakes nearby (Saylorville Lake, Big Creek Lake, Red Rock). Affordable housing, one of the nation’s shortest commute times, and an increasingly diverse population, make Des Moines a wonderful place to live, work and visit. Truly the best of both worlds!
Des Moines is a very safe place to live. Many areas are desirable, including East Village, Ingersoll, Drake neighborhood, Windsor Heights, and the downtown area. The suburbs are growing tremendously, and are also wonderful places to live. West Des Moines, where our center is located, has wonderful amenities, restaurants, parks, and very close to downtown (~10-15 minutes). The schools are excellent in all areas of the metro.
Unfortunately public transit is somewhat limited – we have the DART bus which operates largely in the city. We do have Uber, Lyft, and taxis.
APPIC Training Experiences
Treatment Modalities
Example treatment modalities (as listed by APPIC):
|
Assessment
|
Major Area (50%+) |
|
Individual Intervention
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
|
Couples Intervention
|
N/A |
|
Family Intervention
|
N/A |
|
Group Intervention
|
N/A |
|
Community Intervention
|
N/A |
|
Consultation/Liaison
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Crisis Intervention
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
|
Brief Intervention
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
|
Long-Term Intervention
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Cognitive Rehabilitation
|
N/A |
|
Primary Care
|
N/A |
|
Supervision of Prac. Students
|
N/A |
|
Evidence-Based Practice
|
Major Area (50%+) |
|
Evidence-Based Research
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Other (Supervision of Psychometrists)
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
Supervised Experiences
Diagnostic assessment for autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, secondary concerns such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, disruptive behavior disorders; applied behavior analysis (ABA) procedures such as functional assessment/analysis and function-based interventions; parent training; program development; meta-supervision (gaining supervision on supervising our psychometrists), research opportunities if the intern is interested (while we do not have a formal research program, there is ample opportunity with the populations we serve).
Example supervised experiences (as listed by APPIC):
| Health Psychology | N/A |
Forensics / Corrections
|
N/A |
| Women’s Health | N/A |
Sexual Offenders
|
N/A |
|
HIV / AIDS
|
N/A | Geropsychology | N/A |
| Eating Disorders | N/A | Pediatrics | Major Area (50%+) |
| Sexual Disorders | N/A | School | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Sports Psychology | N/A | Counseling | N/A |
| Rehabilitation Psychology | N/A |
Vocational / Career Development
|
N/A |
| Physical Disabilities | N/A |
Multicultural Therapy
|
N/A |
| Learning Disabilities |
Exposure (1% to 20%)
|
Feminist Therapy
|
N/A |
| Developmental Disabilities | Major Area (50%+) |
Religion / Spirituality
|
N/A |
| Assessment | Major Area (50%+) |
Empirically-Supported Treatment
|
Emphasis (31% to 49%) |
| Neuropsychology – Adult | N/A |
Public Policy / Advocacy
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Neuropsychology – Child
|
Exposure (1% to 20%) |
Program Development/Evaluation
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
| Serious Mental Illness | N/A | Supervision | Experience (21% to 30%) |
| Anxiety Disorders | Exposure (1% to 20%) | Research | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
| Trauma/PTSD | Exposure (1% to 20%) | Administration | Exposure (1% to 20%) |
|
Sexual Abuse
|
N/A |
Integrated Health Care–Primary
|
N/A |
| Substance Use Disorders | N/A |
Integrated Health Care–Specialty
|
Major Area (50%+) |
|
Other (Applied Behavior Analysis)
|
Experience (21% to 30%) |
Patient Population
Our Supervisors
Site Training Director
Sara Jeglum
Site Supervisors
Martha Early, Ph.D., L.P.
Martha Early, Ph.D., L.P., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Blank Children’s Hospital. She specializes in pediatric psychology and neurodevelopmental disorders. She enjoys working with children diagnosed with developmentally complex conditions and their families, especially collaborative work involving other disciplines. She primarily provides diagnostic and cognitive evaluations with for youth (e.g., evaluations for Intellectual Disability waivers, neurodevelopmental disabilities such as Autism, and other complex developmental conditions such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders). She also provides one-time consultation and intervention with pediatric populations including youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, youth experiencing emotional and behavioral problems, and youth with chronic medical conditions.
Dr. Early graduated with a Ph.D. in Child Clinical and Developmental Psychology from the University of Missouri and completed her pre-doctoral internship from the University of Missouri Health Sciences Consortium. During her time in Missouri she completed training through the LEND program at the Thompson Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Columbia, Missouri. She furthered her training as a post-doctoral fellow in pediatric and child clinical psychology at the Mayo Clinic-Department of Psychiatry and Psychology where she was able to work on many interdisciplinary teams collaborating with families to find solutions for children with complex medical and behavioral conditions.
Annual Pay, Benefits, and Support
Annual Pay for the 2025-2026 Training Year: $35,000
This site observes the following holidays:
- New Years Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Friday after Thanksgiving
- Christmas Eve
- Christmas Day
Employment Requirements
Applicants need to be able to pass all UPH pre-employment requirements, including background check, sex offender registry, OIG check, and more. Vaccine requirements include MMR, Hepatitis B, varicella, Tdap, and flu. COVID-19 vaccine is strongly encouraged. Documentation is required for vaccination refusal.
Intern Selection Process
Dr. Jeglum, Dr. Early, and our psychometrists, Jessica Eagan and Kristen Bircher, are involved in the process. We are looking for a dedicated, hardworking, flexible, and professional individual who is ready to tackle hard problems, adapt to change, give families unexpected or difficult news, and eager to learn. A good intern would be one with at least some experience in assessment and/or behavioral interventions. Ideally, the intern would be a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA), or seeking to become one. The intern with autism assessment experience is preferred. An intern that is psychodynamic in orientation may not be a good fit. Intern applicants must be a U.S. citizen.
Interview Process
We plan to have a half day of events, including lunch. It would include 45-minute meetings with Dr. Jeglum and Dr. Early individually, and one 30-minute meeting with our psychometrists, Jessica Eagan and Kristen Bircher. Questions would be on the applicant’s interests, our services, and goodness of fit. We would then have lunch with the applicant, Dr. Jeglum, and Dr. Early. We will schedule as needed with the applicants as the time comes.
COVID-19 Response
Services are hybrid currently, we offer in person and telehealth. In person is required for autism evaluations. Masks are not currently required, but policies change depending on current levels of COVID-19 and other illnesses. We have masks available on site. Employees may choose to wear a mask if they desire. Currently, we engage in extra cleaning, virtual meetings as needed. No temperature checks currently. Our group is small and it is typically not a problem to have reduced group sizes. No testing requirements currently. Policies are reviewed frequently in conjunction with current COVID-19 trends.