Being Internship Supervisor: Review Internship and Revise As Needed
So, it is time to sit down and make some revisions to all of my internship documents. I will start with the Internship Handbook - this is facility-specifc, though I guess I could make a more general version to share with others...hmm. Tangent - need to focus. The first part that I look at is the assignment list. These assignments have changed pretty significantly over the years that I have been an internship director, but I feel that the changes reflect things that I need to know about in my professional role. I am sure that there are other things I could include in my assignments - for example, I do not have any required readings separate from the readings required for several of the writing/marketing projects that are part of my program. I have a long list of suggested readings, but none of my interns have asked me for these readings in many, MANY years, so I may get rid of it. Instead, I could do a list of resources available for interns to use in their projects. Hmmm. That might be more practical and relevant to what I ask interns to do as part of the internship. That project would require that I take an inventory of the resources that I have on hand, but I want to do that anyway, so two birds, right?
One thing that I am going to do that I took away a bit ago was returning to the use of my competency-based evaluation as a starting evaluation. Interns do not really seem to know what they need to work on, and I think that using the operational definitions that I have established will help future interns identify skills that they can already do and focus on what they want to work on during their time with me. I am hoping that this opportunity for self-examination through a music therapy lens will improve critical self awareness for my incoming interns.
The next thing that I am going to review is my TME assignment. I put in some telehealth and file folder assignments as part of this post-COVID world. I did this because I felt that both of these things are part of what we now do as music therapists. I am going to tweak how those particular experiences work within the Therapeutic Music Experience compendium that I require. I am not sure how to work it yet, but I have 10 more days to figure it out.
The rest of the assignments will probably remain the same. I may think about a digital format for the marketing portfolio, but I'm not sure that will happen for #35. It may have to wait until #36. That's the nice thing about always looking forward to more and more interns - there will always be another one.
I try to make sure that my interns have one big assignment every month. These assignments are in addition to clinical duties and paperwork, but only one big additional thing that is other than clinical documentation. Of course, I also strive to have all the assignments relate to future tasks or things that they may do in their lives as music therapists. The first two assignments are parts of the last assignment. Here's what my interns do while they are with me: Diagnosis Information Sheet; Therapeutic Approach Information Sheet; Special Project Proposal; TME File; Special Project; Marketing Portfolio. They are all linked directly to the Competency-Based Evaluation and to the competencies so there are reasons to do them all beyond just a whim that I had one day...
In the next 10 days, I will review the things that I have already set up and revise things as needed. I am also going to do some papercrafting, some unpacking, and lots of resting as I get ready for the 2022-2023 school year.
Ugh. The 2022-2023 school year.
My word for the 2022-2023 school year is "Transform." It will happen whether I am happy about it or not, so why not embrace the fact that things are changing around me. I will be very flexible during the year...
Happy Monday.
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