Child and Adolescent Services Multicultural Clinical Training Program

Handbook

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The UCSF Child and Adolescent Services Multicultural Clinical Training Program (MCTP) at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center offers an American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited, one-year child clinical psychology internship based on the scholar-practitioner model. Thus, our program is grounded in serving the needs of the local community with a commitment to research that is taught and valued, particularly, though not exclusively, in the service of clinical practice.

We hold an ideal of professional excellence grounded in theory and empirical research, informed by experiential knowledge, and motivated by a commitment to just and ethical conduct. At Zuckerberg San Francisco General, we encourage students to become not just consumers of knowledge, but also agents of change who contribute to the advancement of individuals, communities, organizations, and society. The MCTP provides specialized leadership and advocacy training as crucial aspects of the field of psychology both for the advancement of the profession and for removing barriers that children, youth and families encounter in their attempts to access high-quality, evidence-based care.

The internship program is embedded in the Division of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in UCSF’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center and public service hospital committed to serving the city’s most economically vulnerable. Clinical services are linked to the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Community Behavioral Health System, which serves Medi-Cal beneficiaries. In California, eligibility criteria for Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid program) are based on several factors, including income, household size, age, and disability status.

The MCTP also includes a robust training experience for doctoral students and social work and marriage and family therapy student learners from local graduate programs. Instructions for how to apply for a practicum experience/field placement can be obtained from those respective programs.

The MCTP is designed to train psychologists and other health service professionals who are committed to serving children, youth, and families with the greatest need. Over the last several years, 90% of our graduates have obtained positions in academic health centers or hospital centers providing care to underserved children and families.

Training is intended to provide experience across the entire developmental spectrum of 0-24 years of age and provides specialized training in:

  • Behavioral and emotional dysregulation
  • Best practices for addressing health disparities
  • Child-parent psychotherapy
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Community responsive, empirically supported treatments
  • Dialectical behavior therapy
  • Early childhood developmental evaluations
  • Eating disorders
  • Evidence-based assessment
  • Family therapy
  • Immigrant and newcomer youth health
  • Juvenile justice and behavioral health
  • Parent-child interaction therapy
  • Policy
  • Positive parenting and trauma-informed parenting
  • Posttraumatic stress disorder
  • Pre-adoptive evaluations
  • Primary care behavioral health
  • Services delivered in community settings
  • Structural competency
  • Substance abuse prevention, assessment, and treatment
  • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Trauma-informed systems
     

How to apply

Our deadline for receipt of applications is November 1, 2025. Tentative interview dates for this application cycle are:

  • Thursday, December 11, 2025
  • Friday, December 12, 2025
  • Monday, December 15, 2025
  • Thursday, December 18, 2025
  • Thursday, January 8, 2026
  • Friday, January 9, 2026
    (dates subject to change)
     

The UCSF Child and Adolescent Services Multicultural Clinical Training Program follows the APPIC match policies. As part of the APPIC Match, applicants must submit the APPIC Application for Psychology Internship (which requires official transcripts as part of the application process).

Please be aware that the MCTP offers several specialty tracks, each corresponding to the specific populations served. Each track has its own unique APPIC program code and applicants may apply to more than one track:

  • 190211 - Early Childhood Mental Health
  • 190212 - Adolescent Mental Health - Eating Disorders
  • 190213 - Immigrant Mental Health
  • 190214 - Integrative Behavioral Health
  • 190215 - Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health
     

The UCSF MCTP employs a holistic review strategy in our recruitment and selection practices. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), holistic review is defined as “admissions or selection processes that consider applicants’ experiences, attributes, and academic metrics, as well as the value they contribute to learning, practice, and teaching.” This approach enables our admissions committee to assess the "whole" applicant instead of focusing on a single factor (AAMC, 2021). As a public institution, we take pride in having a learner population that increasingly reflects the range of backgrounds represented by our patients.

The department strongly encourages applicants from all backgrounds to apply, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for placement without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law. Learners with the ability to conduct services in another language other than English are also strongly encouraged to apply.

Each applicant is evaluated in the following areas:

  • Clinical training, including experience in assessment and psychotherapy with children, youth, and families
  • Overall excellence as a developing psychologist as shown by breadth and depth of experiences and letters of recommendation
  • Demonstrated interest and experience working with communities who are economically/educationally/environmentally disadvantaged
  • Demonstrated interest and experience in public mental health
  • Demonstrated interest and experience with children, youth, and families impacted by acute, complex, or chronic trauma
  • Essays that reflect clear theoretical foundations, strong evidence-based practices, and strong case conceptualization skills
  • Progress toward dissertation completion
  • Research interest as documented by training obtained and activities completed (presentations, publications, or grants)
     

Application requirements

  • Doctoral degree program must be accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) or Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) in clinical psychology or combined clinical psychology and school/counseling or counseling psychology programs
  • Comprehensive exams passed
  • Submission of official graduate degree(s) transcripts
  • Letter of interest
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Three letters of recommendation
     

Preferred criteria

  • Dissertation proposal approved and data collection completed prior to the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) Rank Order List submission deadline
  • Experience in evidence-based treatment and assessment
  • Experience in treatment of trauma in youth
  • Learners interested in working with medically/economically/educationally disadvantaged populations
  • Significant psychological testing experience
  • Experience in conducting research in public health settings
     

Internship accreditation

The APA Commission on Accreditation accredited and re-accredited the MCTP in 2007 and 2013, respectively. The Commission on Accreditation completed a site visit in August 2019 and the MCTP received the maximum 10-year reaccreditation. Our next site visit is scheduled for 2029. Questions related to the program’s accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242

(800) 374-2721; (202) 336-5979

[email protected]
https://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/

Internship admissions, support and initial placement data

Contact

Barbara Krishna Stuart, PhD, ABPP, Director of Training

Child & Adolescent Services
Department of Psychiatry
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
1001 Potrero Avenue, Building 5, 6B, Box 0852
San Francisco, CA 94110
Telephone: (628) 206-4444

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