Intern Critical Analysis #
For this internship requirement, interns select a patient case or a research based presentation on a topic on which to conduct a Critical Analysis to present during the year to an agency meeting such as a BHC meeting, didactics, or staff meeting. Individual sites will notify the NPTC Administrative Office of the presentation dates and/or any changes to those dates. Interns will be responsible for having all research completed and materials prepared in time for their selected date.
General Expectations #
The Critical Analysis is an exercise linked to evaluating the Research and Assessment Profession-Wide Competencies, and as such, the conceptualization should focus on either the evaluation and treatment of a patient or research and presentation of a general topic. Generally, interns should be evaluated on their ability to:
- Demonstrate ability to critically evaluate research or other scholarly activities,
- Disseminate research or other scholarly activities at the local, regional, or national level,
- Communicate the findings and implications of assessments in an accurate and effective manner sensitive to a range of audiences.
Interns are expected to read and digest information and present that information in a way that is clear and understandable. This could be a case presentation, community presentation, staff inservice, etc. When presented at the site level, sites may have additional performance needs and/or direction for the presentation based on the group and goal of the presentation. Regardless of approach, the Critical Analysis presentation should include the following areas of consideration and discussion of research based on their topic:
- Relevant research on cultural and diversity issues
- Available research and evidence-based practices
- Rationale for assessment instrument (evaluation/screening tool) and/or conceptualization and approach (include any other tests that could have been used that would have also been helpful) as applicable
For Case Presentations, interns should also include:
- Strengths and limitations of intervention/treatment plan
- Rationale for intervention choice/discussion of evidence-based alternatives
- Use of supervision/consultation
- Discussion of case/topics application to internship setting (e.g. primary care)
Each presentation should be at least 25-minutes with an additional five minutes for questions and discussion. Presentations given at site agencies may be longer, but in these instances, interns should be given additional time in their schedule to complete the training materials. At minimum, presentations must include a PowerPoint, a reference list including at least three relevant journal articles discussed within the presentation and one additional journal article specific to cultural and diversity issues, and handouts (as needed). The reference list can be included as a slide in the PowerPoint presentation. An important part of this requirement is time management and interns need to be conscientious when putting the presentation together to be able to stay within the time period.
Evaluation #
The Critical Analysis presentation will be evaluated as a part of the Research and Assessment competency areas in the Quarterly Evaluation. When the intern evaluator is not the individual observing the presentation, additional feedback will be collected from the observer to provide more context for their evaluation of the Research and Assessment competencies that quarter.
Journal Review #
All member sites should allow interns two hours in their weekly schedule for self-directed journal review to support knowledge of current, relevant research as well as the development of skills associated with lifelong learning. It is expected that the self-directed journal review time is also used to research for the Critical Analysis presentation. The intern should review topics related both to areas applicable to present training and to areas of professional interest such as dissertation-related topics. It is required that 10% of these journal articles are topics related to diversity. It will be a standing item in the weekly intern supervision to discuss what the intern learned from their journal readings during the previous week. Although not generally required, interns may be asked to provide written summaries of the articles reviewed if the primary supervisor feels a need for specific guidance or remediation to complete this task. These two hours per week should be protected/scheduled time and not to be used for any other activities other than what is listed above. These two hours also do not have to be a consecutive two hours during the week, but can be split up during the course of the week.