Examining the balance of internship supply and demand: 1999 Association ofPsychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' match implications

Over the past several years, students, academic program faculty, and intern ship training directors have become increasingly concerned about the inequi ty between the demand for predoctoral internship slots and the limited supp ly of those placements. This article presents data from the 1999 Associatio n of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers' (APPIC) Match, along w ith the results of 2 studies conducted by the authors. Results indicate tha t the number of internship positions available in the U.S. and Canada may b e nearly balanced with the number of first-time internship applicants and t hat the current imbalance may result, in large part, from a carryover of un placed applicants from previous selection processes. Furthermore, approxima tely 2/3 of unmatched applicants are able to find internship positions subs equent to the conclusion of the matching process, although many of these po sitions are in non-American Psychological Association-accredited and non-AP PIC-member programs. Implications of these findings for the profession and for student applicants are discussed.