DSH - Metropolitan: Internships

Each employee attends an initial orientation program within 30 days of employment which consists of a minimum of 32 hours of instruction. This orientation includes general hospital information, 16 hours of MAB instruction, 8 hours of CPR instruction and a facility orientation. Nursing staff receive an additional 40 hours of training in nursing policies and procedures prior to working in patient care. Program/Unit specific training is provided for specialized programs.

DSH - Metropolitan offers a broad range of professional development and mandated training activities, building on existing educational and experiential bases for the enhancement of practice, education, administration and research to maintain and improve the health of the patients, employees and public.

DSH - Metropolitan has an affiliation with the University of California School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Los Angles/ Harbor to provide clinical & didactic training to Psychiatric Fellows on rotation at Metropolitan Psychiatric Residents. Under this agreement Metropolitan has a contract with the University to support a public service psychiatric fellowship training program. Administrative and financial status are determined by a contract which is renewed annually, reflecting changes whenever indicated. The fellows receive supervision from both hospital and University staff and joint appointments are encouraged. The fellowship affiliation at DSH - Metropolitan is under the joint monitoring of the UCLA/Harbor Child Psychiatry Director of Training and the Metropolitan Chief of Professional Education.

DSH - Metropolitan has an agreement with Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific and Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine. Under these agreements, MSH provides four to eight weeks clerkship in psychiatry to medical students approved by the university for said clerkship. In addition to the weeks of core training, the medical students may be granted additional elective clerkship in psychiatry not exceeding the total duration of 6 months. The medical students are on voluntary status during their temporary internship at DSH - Metropolitan. The program is overseen by the Director of Psychiatry Clerkship Program and the students receive supervision from a designated unit attending physician. Participation in this program requires recommendation from the students' medical school and approval from the Psychiatry Clerkship Program at MSH.

The Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internship Program at DSH - Metropolitan has trained psychology interns since 1948. The Program became a full member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) in 2015. Applications for the Internship Program are accepted through the APPIC Match service. For further information about the internship program see the Psychology Doctoral Internship Program web page or visit the APPIC website  application requirements.

Metropolitan State Hospital's Social Work Department accepts second year graduate students for field placements. DSH-M has contracts with MSW programs at the following schools: Azusa Pacific University, USC, UCLA, and California State University at Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, and Los Angeles. Only students from these affiliated schools are placed at DSH-M. Students have the unique opportunity of gaining a breadth of experience in group and individual psychotherapy, case management, biopsychosocial assessments, and working with patients' family members. Social work interns integrate into multidisciplinary treatment teams as a provider of patient care. Individual and group supervision is provided by trained and experience clinical social workers. Training on a number of topics is offered to students throughout the year.

Each discipline has the opportunity to develop and implement an internship program at DSH - Metropolitan. There are currently approved internship programs for:

All interns are accepted from Universities with accredited programs throughout the country. All programs have clinical coordinators who direct the intern application, placement and training process. The internship process is overseen by the Chief of Rehabilitation services, who reports internship status to the Clinical Administrator and the Chief of Professional Education.

For more information about applying for an internship please contact:
Art Therapy Internship Coordinator: Erengo Suto at Erengo.Suto@dsh.ca.gov
Music Therapy Internship Coordinator: Miyuki Ogata at miyuki.ogata@dsh.ca.gov
Recreation Therapy Internship Coordinator: Jaclyn Loo at jaclyn.loo@dsh.ca.gov

is a Continuing Education Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. DSH - Metropolitan is affiliated with Nursing Programs from Cerritos, Cypress, East Los Angeles, Long Beach, Mt. San Antonio, Rio Hondo and Saddleback Community Colleges, Azusa Pacific University and California State University, Los Angeles to provide clinical affiliations for Psychiatric Technician and Registered Nursing Students in Psychiatric Nursing. Approximately 400-500 P.T., R.N, B.S.N. and M.S.N. affiliate with DSH - Metropolitan on an annual basis. Planning is in process for students from Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and California State University-Long Beach.

affiliates with California State Universities at Long Beach and Los Angeles by providing internship training for baccalaureate students in nutrition and food systems management. These students will become registered dietitians upon completion of this program and successful completion of the national board examination. DSH - Metropolitan also provides clinical and administrative affiliation training to Dietetic Technician students from Long Beach City College. All of these programs are accredited by the American Dietetic Association.

serves as a teaching site for fourth level pharmacy students from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. During their 6 week inpatient psychopharmacy clerkship, students observe and participate in the care of patients with various types and stages of psychiatric illness. The goal of the rotation is to make the student a contributory member of the interdisciplinary team that cares for the patient. Heavy emphasis is placed on the development of clinical skills including interviewing techniques, medication groups, written allergy assessments, interpretation of laboratory data and drug monitoring.

in affiliation with East Los Angeles College, provides internship training for Accredited Record Technician students in health information management. The students develop professional practice experiences performing technical tasks-record analysis, abstracting, coding, releasing information. Health Information Management Department has been involved with this program for several years.