09-17-048

WSR 09-17-048

INTERPRETIVE OR POLICY STATEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

[ Filed August 12, 2009, 11:57 a.m. ]

NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF A POLICY STATEMENT OR INTERPRETIVE STATEMENT

     Title of Policy/Interpretive Statement: Examining Board of Psychology - Doctoral internship supervised experience hours above 1,500 hours may be counted toward the required two years of supervised experience totaling 3,000 hours.

     Issuing Entity: Examining board of psychology (board).

     Subject Matter: This interpretive statement clarifies the board's interpretation of WAC 246-924-043 that allows an application to apply hours of qualifying supervised doctoral program internship experience above fifteen hundred hours to the total three thousand hours of required supervised experience.

     Rule: WAC 246-924-043 is effective September 1, 2009. An applicant must have at least two years of supervised experience for a total of three thousand hours. The three thousand hours of supervised experience includes:

?	At least fifteen hundred hours of supervised experience that must be completed as internship experience under WAC 246-924-056.
?	The remaining fifteen hundred supervised hours (WAC 246-924-043 [(1)](c)(ii) may be obtained through:

A.	A preinternship experience as described in WAC 246-924-053;
B.	A postdoctoral experience described in WAC 246-924-059; or
C.	A combination of preinternship and postdoctoral experience.

     Interpretation: The board finds the term "remaining" may be confusing and that internship hours above the minimum do not count toward the total supervised hours the rule requires.

     The board interprets the rule to mean that:

?	An applicant may count qualifying supervised experience hours that exceed the minimum fifteen hundred hours toward the total three thousand required hours.
?	The applicant must provide documentation that these hours were obtained under the conditions required for supervised internship experience under WAC 246-924-056.
?	Additional internship experience hours may equal the hours an applicant acquires in qualifying preinternship or postdoctoral experience under WAC 246-924-043.

     Effective Date: September 1, 2009.

     Contact Person: Betty Moe, Program Manager, Health Professions Quality Assurance, Department of Health, P.O. Box 47852, Olympia, WA 98504-7852, [phone].