I officially graduated from my grad program in May 2021. I finished a postdoc at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children in June 2022, and started my first clinical faculty position at Children's National Medical Center in July 2022.
Children's National is located in Washington D.C. In many ways, this was the perfect place for me! It's close to my family, my fiancé, my fiancé's family, and many of our friends. Unfortunately, one tricky thing about the district is that it is really tiny relative to some states and it sits comfortably in the middle of Maryland and Virginia. This means instead of pursuing licensure in clinical psychology in only one state like many folks are able to do, I needed to become licensed in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. This was a complicated process. This post is focused on what I learned and how I handled Washington DC Licensure! I was licensed in VA first, so even though I did have to start my DC application from scratch, I had already taken and passed the EPPP, so I don't have the details on that step for folks who are going to take the EPPP for the first time as part of their licensure process.
I am going to place a disclaimer that the DC licensure process was BY FAR the worst, and most stressful of all the licensure processes I went through.
The Online Application (The Easy Part)
This was actually very simple. The DC online application was very user-friendly:
They also provide an application checklist for applying by endorsement (like I did): https://dchealth.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/service_content/attachments/Coversheet%20Checklist%20-%20Psychology%20New%20License%20by%20Endorsement%20%28Website%29.pdf
The materials you should have when you sit down to complete this application are as follows:
Verification of Supervised Employment Form - Pre-Doctoral Experience
Verification of Supervised Employment Form
Criminal Background Check
Character Reference Form
DC Board of Psychology Attestation Statement
EPPP Exam
Supervised Practice Form
Authorization to Release Information
You can find them all here: https://dchealth.dc.gov/node/160242
SO, if this system is so straightforward, why was this the worst application?
Washington DC requires 2,000 hours of postdoctoral fellowship and they're weirdly strict about the timeline for these hours.
You cannot take longer than two years to amass these hours BUT you must take at least one year.
That's right ladies, gents, and gender-diverse- folks if you work your butt off during postdoc and amass 2,000 hours in 9-months, doesn't matter. According to the DC Board of Psych, you cannot count "overtime" hours (no idea why) and so it's theoretically impossible to get 2,000 hours in less than a 1-year period.
This ended up being a HUGE issue for me because of some academic rigmarole having to do with degree conferment. My timeline for finishing up my graduation requirements was as follows:
May 2020 Dissertation Defended
May 2021 Walk in graduation
June 2021 Internship Complete
July 2021 Begin Postdoctoral Fellowship
August 2021 Degree officially conferred (Even though I walked in May 2021, my internship was not done until June, so I missed the degree conferral date for the Spring 2021 Graduation and had to wait for the Summer 2021 degree conferral date).
July 2022 Finish Postdoctoral fellowship
Even though my degree wasn't conferred until August, I began my postdoctoral fellowship in July 2021 so I wouldn't have a gap in employment, income, and healthcare. This was not okay with the DC board of psychology. They stated that since my degree was technically conferred in August, my postdoctoral fellowship only went from August 2021 to July 2022, therefore wasn't a full year, and therefore I couldn't possibly have the required 2,000 postdoctoral hours for DC licensure. Chaos.
How did I get around this? I have absolutely NO idea what worked, but because it was technically an incomplete application it couldn't be reviewed through usual channels and had to be reviewed by the full board at their monthly meeting. This caused significant delays in my DC licensure which was a total pain. Thankfully it didn't adversely effect my ability to begin my new position because there was a Maryland office I could work at until my DC license was approved but this won't be the case for everyone. This rigid licensing protocol represents a significant barrier to providing psychological care in Washington DC, in my opinion.
When being considered at the full board meeting I submitted the following to the board to assist in my application and it was eventually approved at the full board meeting:
Ashley Muskett
ADDRESS
May 19, 2022
Washington DC Board of Psychology
899 North Capitol Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Dear members of the board:
I am writing to request consideration of this application for psychology licensure in Washington DC. By way of introduction my name is Ashley Muskett and I recently completed the doctoral program in Psychology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a specialization in Clinical Psychology. I am writing to request special consideration of this request for licensure by explaining the date of my official degree conferral as it relates to the defending of my dissertation and completion of all program requirements. I successfully defended my dissertation on 05/13/2020 and uploaded my completed dissertation to the Virginia Tech ETD system on 06/24/2020 (documentation of this is provided below). I then completed my clinical internship at VCU Health/The Virginia Treatment Center for Children on 06/30/2021 (documentation of this is provided below as well). All my program requirements were completed at this time however, because the summer semester had begun at the time of my internship completion, Virginia Tech did not confer my degree until 08/13/2021 (the summer graduation date).
I begun my postdoctoral fellowship at VCU Health/The Virginia Treatment Center for Children on 07/01/2021, prior to the conferral of my degree, for several reasons. This postdoctoral fellowship was the best fit for my training needs and did not offer a later start date. Additionally, even if a fellowship beginning after my degree was conferred had been available, it was not feasible for me to have a gap between my internship and fellowship. This was due to a need for consistent income as well as continuous healthcare, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have been informed that the board will not consider my application for licensure until 08/13/2022 as my postdoctoral fellowship will not be considered to have begun until the date of my 08/13/2021 degree conferral, thus will not meet the 12-month requirement for fellowship until that time. Given the provided context I would like to request that the board consider this application prior to that date. I have already obtained licensure in clinical psychology in the state of Virginia, have excellent references, as well as a consistent record of strong clinical work. Additionally, during the months of my fellowship that were post-degree conferral, I have met the requirement for supervised clinical hours typically expected during a 12-month period which I am happy to provide documentation of if requested.
Given these considerations, especially the financial, and being mindful of the APAs stated commitment to “changing our culture… and [ensuring that people from all backgrounds feel] that they are heard, welcomed and have the same opportunities as everyone else to achieve success at every level” (Davis, 2019), I would request that my application receive consideration for licensure at this time. I recognize that one month may not feel long to wait for licensure, but I can assure you that in the context of one month containing two pay periods, it is a significant amount of time. Receiving DC licensure promptly will allow me to begin my job as soon as possible, thus ensuring consistent income as well as continued healthcare (again, in the context of the ongoing pandemic). Please feel free to reach out if there are any questions about my application and please see the documentation provided below.
Sincerely,
Ashley Muskett, Ph.D., LCP
I also had my graduate program send a letter explaining the situation and verifying all the dates listed above.
After submitting all this, the DC board decided to just...not meet...in July and my application was finally approved at their full board meeting in September.
That's all. Licensure overall as been constant chaos but I'm finally done now and licensed in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. As always feel free to reach out to me if you think I might be able to answer questions about the licensing process!
Until next time,
Ashley
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