MATCH NEWS: DRUG TESTING AND PRE-EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS (September 9, 2026)

What follows is essential reading for all students, doctoral program DCTs, and internship program Training Directors about drug testing and other pre-employment requirements.  If you think you already know the issues, you could be mistaken, as things have changed significantly just in the past few years (e.g., over-the-counter availability of certain products which, if consumed, could lead to failure of a drug test and termination from an internship).  We ask that all DCTs discuss these issues with their students who are seeking internship this year.

 

DRUG TESTING

 

Some internship programs perform drug testing prior to and/or during the internship year.  One of the most misunderstood issues in this area is with regard to the recreational and medical use of marijuana (cannabis) as well as products containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) or CBD (Cannabidiol).  Some students assume that having a prescription for marijuana/cannabis, being matched to an internship program that is located in a jurisdiction that allows the recreational use of marijuana/cannabis, or obtaining a medicine over-the-counter (e.g., CBD oils) means that their use of these substances will be acceptable to internship programs.  However, this is a very risky and potentially incorrect assumption, as some internship programs prohibit the use of marijuana/cannabis, THC, and/or CBD in SOME or ALL circumstances, and will not hire a student who tests positive regardless of medical need, the presence of a prescription, the fact that it was obtained over-the-counter, or its legal status.

 

STUDENTS:  If you use any of these substances, regardless of its purpose or legal status, you should carefully review sites' materials to ensure that you apply to sites that will allow you to use such substances.  If a site's materials are unclear, you should consult with sites' HR departments to get clarification of their policies.  We strongly encourage you to get such clarification in writing.  While we appreciate that asking for clarification can feel difficult or risky to do, the consequences of not being clear result in the loss of your matched internship placement and a serious delay in your career progression.

 

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS:  We recommend that you consult regularly with your Human Resources department in order to stay aware of any changes that have occurred to relevant policies.  Please ensure that your public materials are as clear and accurate as possible in terms of any drug testing that is performed and the expectations for employees and interns as far as drug use is concerned.  In particular, please be aware that the medical use of marijuana/cannabis has become increasingly common among the general population, and thus clearly articulating your policies regarding the medical and recreational use of marijuana/cannabis, THC, and CBD would be helpful to applicants.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENINGS

 

APPIC Match Policy # 8b states, "Appointments of applicants to internship positions may be contingent upon the applicants satisfying certain eligibility requirements. Such eligibility requirements must be clearly specified in the internship programs' written materials and provided to applicants in advance of the deadline for submitting rankings for the APPIC Match."  

 

STUDENTS:  It is important to understand that most sites consider interns to be employees, which means that they have the same expectations of interns as they do of any other employee.  Many sites now conduct background checks, drug testing, or other pre-employment screenings that a student must pass in order to be employed as an intern.  Remember that the APPIC Match Policies allow you to be denied appointment or dismissed if you fail any pre-employment screenings.  Thus, careful attention to sites' pre-employment requirements is essential as you decide where to apply and which programs to rank.  If in doubt, don’t make assumptions — ask the site for clarification (you can ask to speak to the Training Director or to an HR representative).  

 

Disclosure of Background Information.  As part of the onboarding process, some sites will require you to fill out a questionnaire that asks about various aspects of your background.  Failure to fully and accurately disclose background information may result in denied employment.  We have seen situations where students have not disclosed certain convictions, and their failure to disclose (rather than the specific convictions themselves) resulted in denied employment.

 

Sealed or Expunged Records.  You should keep in mind that, in some cases, criminal records that have been sealed or expunged may still be uncovered by a background check.  Some sites, especially those with high security requirements, may require you to disclose criminal records that have been sealed or expunged.

 

In order to be employed as an intern, you will be required to provide documentation of your identity as well as your authorization to work in the U.S. (for U.S. internships) or Canada (for Canadian internships).

 

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS:  Match Policy #8b requires the advance disclosure of your site's eligibility requirements so that students can understand these requirements and make informed decisions about whether or not to apply to or rank your site.  Most importantly, it minimizes the possibility of your program being matched to an applicant who is ineligible for hire.   Thus, if your site has such pre-employment requirements, please ensure that your public materials (web site, brochure, APPIC Directory listing, etc.) are as clear and detailed as possible.  Specifically:

 

a.  Please be clear about your eligibility requirements and, as much as possible, what constitutes a "pass" and a "fail."  For example, it is generally not enough to simply say that you conduct a "background check," since that doesn't tell the applicant what past behavior is and is not acceptable (e.g., will a misdemeanor constitute a pass or a fail?). Similarly, saying that you conduct "drug testing" doesn't clearly specify what your expectations are of the applicant in terms of their drug use (e.g., is marijuana/cannabis/THC/CBD use acceptable?  If so, under what circumstances?).  The goal here is to be as disclosive as possible in order to minimize the possibility that an ineligible student will apply (or, worse, get matched) to your site.

 

b.  We recognize that, in some circumstances, HR policies are vague and it can be challenging to meet what is outlined in the previous paragraph.  Thus, it is essential that you work closely with your Human Resources department in order to craft wording that is clear and covers all of your institution's policies and eligibility requirements for employees.  We have seen a number of situations where HR determines that the student has failed a requirement that wasn't disclosed in advance, often because the Training Director wasn't aware of the requirement or how it would be administered, interpreted, or enforced.

 

 

U.S. SELECTIVE SERVICE

Most (if not all) Federal internship positions in the U.S., including those sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), require males (based on sex assigned at birth) to register with the Selective Service System by the age of 26.  Applicants can confirm registration at https://www.sss.gov; FAQs are at https://www.sss.gov/faq/.  Applicants should check directly with each site for details about their Selective Service registration requirements prior to submitting their internship applications.
 
With regard to the VA requirement for Selective Service registration, past experience with this issue suggests that exceptions to this policy are extremely rare.  Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and it can take many months to obtain a decision.

VACCINATIONS

Many sites have vaccination requirements of employees, including interns.  These requirements may include both COVID and non-COVID (e.g., measles, rubella, tuberculosis) vaccinations.  Training Directors are reminded to please keep their public materials updated to reflect policy developments in this area.  Applicants who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated may need to make some difficult choices with regard to their participation in the upcoming Match process, and we would like to provide the following guidelines for these students:

1.  Most importantly, don't make assumptions about any site.  If a site's published materials are silent on its vaccination policies, you should not assume that you will be allowed to work at the site without being vaccinated.  Nor should you assume that a policy won't be established in the coming weeks and months. 

2.  For sites that require vaccination of its employees, you should not assume that you will be granted an exemption, nor should you assume that certain accommodations will be provided.  This includes individuals who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons.

3.  It is imperative that you talk directly with the site to understand their current policies as well as the possibility of policies changing in the future.

4.  Students seeking internship should only rank sites for which they have confirmed that their vaccination status will be acceptable to those sites.  Individuals seeking postdoctoral positions should only accept a position if they have confirmed the acceptability of their vaccination status with that site.

5.  If a site's vaccination polices change after you have been placed at that site, you will likely be required to conform to the site's new policy.  Failure to do so may result in being terminated from the training program.  While APPIC can assist in attempting to negotiate solutions in such situations, vaccination policies are often established at the Federal, State, or Provincial level and thus there may be little to no flexibility.

PEACEFUL PROTESTS AND CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

At this unique period in history, some individuals have exercised their constitutional right to engage in peaceful protests, an activity that occasionally results in arrest and conviction.  Given that criminal convictions must be disclosed on the AAPI, we have heard from a number of students who have expressed concern about how recent convictions for peaceful protests might affect their ability to secure an internship.

 

APPIC strongly encourages training programs to be thoughtful in reviewing any conviction information within an application and to consider the circumstances as well as the relevancy to the position.  The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) notes that the arrest and incarceration records are much higher for certain groups of people and that “national data supports a finding that criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin” (EEOC Enforcement Guidance, 2012).  Thus, automatically eliminating an applicant from consideration based solely on the existence of a criminal conviction, without considering relevancy to the position, is potentially discriminatory and should be avoided.

 

 

MATCH NEWS: 2024-2026 AAPI PHASE I STATISTICS NOW AVAILABLE (September 3, 2026)

MESSAGE FROM THE AAPI COORDINATOR – Kimberly Hill, PhD (aapicoordinator@appic.org)

 

Greetings, Training Community!

 

For the first time, APPIC is providing a report with descriptive statistics based on the complete pool of submitted internship applications (AAPI Data Report). These data are tabulated from AAPI submissions by applicants who applied to at least one internship site during Phase I of the APPIC Match in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

 

Of critical importance, readers should not interpret the reported statistics (e.g., median number of publications, intervention hours, assessment hours, or integrated reports) as benchmarks or thresholds associated with a successful Match outcome. These data are intended only to describe the characteristics of the AAPI submissions included in these application cycles. According to APPIC Training Director Surveys, most internship programs use a holistic review process that considers multiple applicant characteristics, with the relative importance of specific evaluation criteria varying across internship programs and even among tracks within the same program.

 

For additional information about the internship Match and applicants’ experiences, each year, APPIC publishes Match Statistics on its website summarizing outcomes for all applicants who participated in the APPIC Match. Immediately following the Match, APPIC also administers a Student Survey that collects self-reported information about applicants' internship application and Match experiences. The most recent Student Survey results on the APPIC website were published in 2023.

 

Wishing everyone a smooth application and selection cycle!

 

Kimberly

 

Kimberly Hill, PhD

AAPI Coordinator, APPIC

Director of Clinical Training, PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium

Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Stanford University School of Medicine

 

 

 

MATCH NEWS: 2026-27 AAPI INFORMATION (August 23, 2026)

Message from the AAPI Coordinator, Dr. Kimberly Hill (aapicoordinator@appic.org)

 

This message contains important information related to the APPIC Application for Psychology Internships (AAPI):

 

1.  Internship Application Process: Step-by-Step Guide

2.  Accessing the AAPI and the APPIC Directory
3.  Important AAPI Enhancements for 2026-2027

4.  AAPI Q&A Zoom Sessions

5.  AAPI Resources

6.  Accessing AAPI Help

 

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[1]  INTERNSHIP APPLICATION PROCESS:  STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

 

Don't get lost in the moving parts of the internship application process!  In this step-by-step guide, you will find a general timeline of the major application tasks along with the corresponding links for each step.

 

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[2]  ACCESSING THE AAPI AND THE APPIC DIRECTORY 

The APPIC Application for Psychology Internships (AAPI) must be used by students to apply to internship programs that participate in the APPIC Match.  Applications must be submitted online, and no site may request a printed copy of students' application materials. The Applicant AAPI portal can be accessed here.

If you participated in the application process last year, you will find that most of the data you entered last year still exists in the AAPI portal. Details about what information is retained for re-applicants can be found in the Reapplication Process page in the Help Center.

 

Each internship program establishes its own eligibility requirements and application deadline for the Match. Students should reference the APPIC Directory and each internship program’s public materials for this information. Internship programs are in the process of updating their brochures. If you notice any outdated information in the APPIC Directory or in a program’s public information (e.g., website or brochure), please contact the Training Director directly to request the most current information. Participating internship programs will become visible to students within the AAPI portal on September 15. 

 

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[3]  IMPORTANT AAPI ENHANCEMENTS FOR 2026-2027

 

Several enhancements were made to the AAPI including:

 

FOR APPLICANTS (AAPI Portal)

·       The Selective Service registration item has been revised for clarity

·       New Artificial Intelligence (AI) item as part of the application certification process.  Applicants must affirm the following statement:

I certify that all components of my application are my own original work. I confirm that my responses reflect my independent critical thinking and accurately represent my experiences. I further certify that I have not used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate application content and that my final submission is a true representation of my own work.

FOR REFERENCE LETTER WRITERS (LettersbyLiaison Portal)

·       Recommenders can designate assistants (delegates) to help submit recommendations

·       Reference writers can update SRFs after Phase I through the end of Phase II or PMVS

FOR DIRECTORS OF CLINICAL TRAINING (DCT Verification Portal)

·       Conditional text boxes prompt DCTs to clarify “No” responses for Student Readiness items, reducing accidental selections.

·       Removed the regional accreditation item as it is no longer relevant.

·       New bulk entry option for DCTs: Reduces DCT burden and errors by allowing universal program information to be entered only once across applications for all students from their program (designated subfield, training model, accreditation status, contact name/address/phone/email, additional contract needed, and additional evaluation needed).

FOR INTERNSHIP TRAINING DIRECTORS (Outcomes Portal)

·       Applications will continue to be automatically archived, but will now be organized by phase in a dropdown menu rather than simply labeled “Current” or “Past” (e.g., 2025–26 Phase I, 2025–26 Phase II, 2025–26 PMVS, 2026–27 Phase I).

·       Program Track now updates automatically on the dashboard.

·       Goodbye, Lost Progress. Autosave is here: Evaluations now save automatically, while the Save Draft button remains available for manual saves.

·       Match Certification items will be restored to the AAPI PDF in the upcoming cycle based on TD feedback requesting a hardcopy for record keeping.

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[4]  AAPI Q&A ZOOM SESSIONS

 

Throughout the 2026-27 application cycle, we will be offering AAPI Q&A sessions targeted for each user group (students, academic DCTs, and internship TDs) to answer questions about each respective portal and internship application process.

 

AAPI Q&A for Students (DCTs welcome): 

•  Fri, Aug 28  (1PM PST/4PM EST) 

•  Thur, Sept 10 (9AM PST/12PM EST)

•  Tues, Oct 6 (9AM PST/12PM EST)

 

AAPI Q&A for DCTs:

•  Wed, Sept 23 (12PM PST/3PM EST) 

•  Thur, Oct 15 (9AM PST/12PM EST) 

 

Internship Training Director Webinar: 

•  Tues, Oct 27 (12PM PST/3PM EST) 

 

Zoom links for the above sessions are posted in the APPIC training calendar.  

 

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[5]  AAPI RESOURCES

 

Here are several helpful AAPI resources including recordings from prior applicant webinar sessions along with corresponding FAQs.

•  AAPI Resources for Applicants (including overview video, sample AAPIs, essay prompts, FAQs, supplemental materials policy, etc)

•  AAPI Resources for DCTs (Doctoral Program Directors)

•  AAPI Resources for Internship Training Directors

•  AAPI Resources for Recommendation Letter Writers

 

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[6]  ACCESSING AAPI HELP

 

Detailed AAPI instructions for applicants can be found at the AAPI Help Center. The relevant help center information is also embedded on each page of the AAPI, accessible using the "Click here for more information" button. These instructions address the majority of applicant questions; applicants are strongly advised to carefully review this information prior to reaching out to AAPI support.

 

Couldn't find your answer in the AAPI Help Center?

 

• For AAPI technical questions or difficulties (e.g., transcript issues, log in difficulties, username/password issues, uploading, submitting applications, etc.), contact the AAPI technical support team via the chat icon at the bottom right of your AAPI screen, email at support@aapi.myliaison.com, or by phone (617) 612-2899 (phone hours: Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm EST), 

 
• For technical questions or difficulties with the AAPI Tab in Time2Track, contact email time2trackinfo@liaisonedu.com or call 800-940-5095 ext. 0. 

• For content-related questions about the AAPI, contact Dr. Kimberly Hill, AAPI Coordinator, at aapicoordinator@appic.org. 

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Wishing you all a smooth application process!

Kimberly Hill, PhD

AAPI Coordinator

aapicoordinator@appic.org

 

 

 

 

MATCH NEWS: 2027 APPIC MATCH REGISTRATION (July 30, 2026)

Registration for the 2027 APPIC Match is now open.  The following provides Match registration information for applicants, internship programs, and doctoral programs:

 

APPLICANTS

 

Applicants who are applying to APPIC-member internship programs must register for the APPIC Match.  Before you register:

 

•  Review the information provided on the applicant registration page on the Match web site.

 

•  Verify with your DCT that you have permission from your doctoral program to apply for and attend an internship for the 2027-28 training year and to register for the APPIC Match.  DO NOT REGISTER until you have received such permission.

 

MATCH REGISTRATION TIPS:

•  Only students who are from eligible doctoral programs listed on the National Matching Services' (NMS) web site may register to participate in the Match.  If your school or doctoral program does not appear in the NMS list, please follow the instructions provided on that page on the Match web site under the link “What if a school or doctoral program does not appear in this list?”  More information about applicant eligibility may be found on the APPIC web site. 

•  You must accurately identify your doctoral program during the Match registration process.  If you are not certain whether the program type, degree sought, and Director of Clinical Training (DCT) as shown in the Match registration system accurate identify your academic program, please check with your DCT before completing the Match registration.

•  Please note that APPIC Match registration is a completely separate process from the AAPI ("APPIC Application for Psychology Internships") registration -- in other words, applicants must register separately for both the AAPI AND the APPIC Match.

•  When you register for the Match, you should use the same email address that you use for your AAPI.

•  Upon registering for the Match, you will be assigned a unique 5-digit Match Code Number to use during the process.

•  Your 5-digit Match Code number is a required field in your AAPI.  You must register for the Match and enter your 5-digit Match Code Number on your AAPI before your application is considered to be complete and can be submitted to your DCT for verification.

 

•  The Match registration fee is NON-REFUNDABLE and is not transferable to future Matches or other applicants.

 

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS

 

Only APPIC-member internship programs (including Provisional and Full members) may participate in the 2027 APPIC Match.  To be eligible to participate in the Match, internship programs must satisfy the membership status and accreditation criteria established by APPIC.

 

Match registration instructions have already been sent by e-mail to Training Directors of all active APPIC-member internship programs that are eligible to participate.  The e-mail sent to each site contains a unique link for the training site that must be used to launch the online registration process for that site. 

 

If you are an internship Training Director (i.e., the person who oversees all training activities, programs and/or tracks at the internship site) and have not received the registration e-mail for your site, please check your e-mail program's "spam" or "junk mail" folder to see if the e-mail was directed there.  If you did not receive the registration e-mail, contact NMS directly at psychint@natmatch.com to arrange for NMS to send you the registration instructions.

Internship programs should complete the online registration process by August 28, 2026.

DOCTORAL PROGRAMS

 

Academic programs do NOT register directly with NMS for the Match.  NMS has previously sent e-mails to all active APPIC Doctoral Program Associates (DPAs) to acknowledge their DPA status and confirm their contact information for the 2027 Match.  Access credentials for the NMS Match System will be sent soon by e-mail to all DPA programs eligible to send students into the Match.  DCTs will be able to view updated lists of their students who are registered for the Match as well as reports of their students' results for both Phase I and Phase II of the Match.

 

 

MATCH NEWS: New Artificial Intelligence (AI) Application Certification Requirement (June 27, 2026)

Important Announcement:  New Artificial Intelligence (AI) Certification Required for APPIC Applications

Dear Psychology Training Community,

As we prepare for the 2026–27 internship and postdoctoral application and selection cycles, we would like to provide an important update to applicants who use the APPIC internship application (AAPI) or postdoctoral application (APPA).

Beginning with this application cycle, all applicants will be required to complete a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) item as part of the application certification process.  Applicants must affirm the following statement:

I certify that all components of my application are my own original work. I confirm that my responses reflect my independent critical thinking and accurately represent my experiences. I further certify that I have not used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate application content and that my final submission is a true representation of my own work.

 By checking this box, I acknowledge that I have read and understand the above certification.

This AI certification requirement represents APPIC’s initial approach to address the use of AI in the application process, and we recognize that it is being implemented during a period of rapid technological advancement. As AI tools continue to evolve, APPIC expects to review and potentially refine this language in future application cycles to ensure it remains relevant and aligned with expectations for applicant authenticity, integrity, and professional conduct.

APPIC aims to share additional information and considerations regarding the use of AI throughout the internship and postdoctoral application, interviewing, and selection processes in the future. 

Thank you for your attention to this important update.

 

Kimberly Hill, PhD                     Madeleine Goodkind, PhD, ABPP

AAPI Coordinator                      APPA Coordinator (incoming August 2026)

 

MATCH NEWS: Pass the Word (June 24, 2026)

PLEASE HELP US NOTIFY STUDENTS ABOUT THE MATCH-NEWS E-MAIL LIST

We would like your assistance in notifying students who will be applying for internship this coming Fall about the existence of APPIC's MATCH-NEWS e-mail list.  An easy way to notify future internship applicants is to forward them a copy of this e-mail message.  Thanks for your help.

TO STUDENTS WHO PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2027 APPIC MATCH:

 

NOTE:  If you previously signed up for MATCH-NEWS and are receiving messages, there is no need to sign up again.

 

MATCH-NEWS is an e-mail list provided by APPIC as a service to Match participants.  It is an essential source of information about the APPIC Match, and it is very strongly recommended that all internship applicants (as well as academic and internship Training Directors) subscribe to this list as early as possible in the process.  We further recommend that all students subscribe to MATCH-NEWS themselves rather than rely on others to forward announcements to them.  Students who plan to participate in a future year are also welcome to subscribe.

 

MATCH-NEWS is an "announce-only" list, which means that only APPIC can post messages to the list.  The volume of e-mail messages will generally be very small, usually ranging from zero to five messages per month.  As the Match approaches, MATCH-NEWS will be the primary method of communicating important late-breaking news and information about the Match, as well as tips and suggestions about how to make the most of the process.  Many applicants from previous years have told us that the messages posted to MATCH-NEWS were extremely helpful to them in navigating the selection process. 

 

To subscribe to the MATCH-NEWS e-mail list:

 

STEP 1:  Send a blank e-mail message to:

 

subscribe-match-news@lyris.appic.org

 

STEP 2:  You will subsequently receive an e-mail message (with the subject line, "Your confirmation needed") that contains instructions for you to follow in order to confirm your subscription. NOTE: It is possible that this confirmation message will be redirected to your "Junk Mail" folder.  If you do not receive a confirmation message in your "Inbox," you should check your "Spam" or "Junk Mail" folder to see if the message is there.

 

STEP 3:  Follow the instructions in the confirmation message, and you will soon receive a "Welcome" e-mail in response. This "Welcome" e-mail confirms that you are successfully subscribed to the list (please note that you are NOT subscribed to the list until you have received the "Welcome" message).

 

 

HAVING DIFFICULTIES GETTING SUBSCRIBED TO MATCH-NEWS?  If you don't receive a confirmation or welcome message and you've checked your Junk Mail folder, please contact the APPIC List Manager, Dr. Nicole Dorsey at listmanager@appic.org.