Taking A Risk - I'm Going to Do It!

I have an idea, and I think I'm just about ready to make it go. No, I'm ready to go. Yipes! I'm going to put this on my blog so that it is out in the universe, and I can't back out. Here it is (and I'm cringing as I write this because it is a level of commitment that I'm uncomfortable with, but here it goes)...

Internship Handbook

Here's the idea.

 Over the past two years, I've been offering internship webinars to interns from around the country. In those years, I've noticed that many interns (and, by extension, Internship Directors and faculty members) don't know some of the things that they are expected to know about being an intern. Also, there are lots of implied skills, techniques, and expectations that just simply don't get taught during coursework or in an internship. These are things that do not necessarily have direct links to the AMTA Professional Competencies, but that do affect job performance and satisfaction. Many of these skills are just common sense type things, but there is no place in the current curriculum to teach them (apparently).

So, I've started to write an internship handbook.

 There. It's out in the universe. I've written most of an internship handbook. It is directed towards music therapy students and interns, and takes them through looking for an internship and developing job skills. I wonder if it is something that AMTA would be interested in publishing.

 Now, this handbook has gone through several iterations and continues to evolve even as I am writing this down. I'm thinking that I will just have to stop writing at some point to let people look at it and start to make comments. Any takers?

 So, here are the topics that I've developed so far...
  1. Welcome to Your Internship
  2. First Contact
  3. Getting Ready
  4. The First Day!
  5. The Stages of Internship
  6. Administrative Tasks
  7. The Personal Aspects of Internship
  8. Ethical Considerations for the Music Therapy Intern
  9. Learning to Lead
  10. Leaving Your Internship for the Professional World
Are there others that I'm missing?

 It is time to get the opinions of others. Who out there wants to read and review this document? Please let me know!! You can email me here.

 Thanks, all!!


Comments

  1. Kirsten Meyer10:17 AM

    This is fantastic! I wish something like this had been available when I was doing my internship. Despite not currently being an intern or training any interns, I would still love to read this, either now or in its final form.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MJ6:19 AM

      Thanks for volunteering, Kirsten! Contact me through the website with your information, and I'll send you a link to the document!! Be warned, though, it is in a VERY rough form!!

      Delete

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