The Ordem dos Psicólogos has received several requests to clarify the matter of professional internships and which changes are to be made. The legitimate concerns of potential candidates require some clarifications:
1. Within the scope of the powers granted by the Minister of Health, the Foundation Committee has prepared a proposal for the regulation of internships which it submitted for approval on the 16th November 2008, which is still awaited. Following the proposal's approval, we shall widely disseminate the regulation.
2. The main concern of the proposal submitted is the recognition of professional practices within the scope of psychology, performed after the academic level has been achieved. We wished to include the professional experience obtained during the course of study as much as possible in the requirements for the performance of the internship. However, the recognition process is expected to be slow, due to each situation having to be assessed individually.
3. We are aware of the challenges the law and the creation of the Order places before us with regard to the performance of internships, as well as current labour market conditions.
We must emphasise that the creation of the Ordem dos Psicólogos was a major achievement and that the requirement to undertake a mandatory internship distinguishes the practice of Psychology and places us on the same level as many other countries and the procedures they have.