The Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation offers clinical and research externships for doctoral students enrolled in APA-accredited clinical or counseling psychology programs.

We will begin accepting externship applications for the 2025 - 2026 training year (training start date: September 1, 2025) on January 1, 2025 via our online portal. Please see below for Program Overview, Required and Preferred Qualifications and Instructions for How to Apply. Click on the specific externships below to learn more about each training opportunity.

Program Overview

• Number of positions:  2 - 3 inpatient, 1 outpatient, 2 research
• Program duration: nine months (September through May)
• Application deadline: February 3, 2025 11:59 p.m. E.S.T. 
• Interviews: TBD
• Offer/Acceptance: Rolling/Early March
• Start date: September 1, 2025
• Format: part-time (two days/week)

How to Apply

All application materials must be submitted through the online portal. Materials include:

• Statement of interest (no longer than 500 words, ~1 single-spaced page) that includes:
  • A description of your relevant clinical and/or research experience
  • How our externship position(s) would meet your current training and future career goals
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Two professional reference forms (submitted by your referees through the online portal)

More instructions will be provided through the online portal.

Contact Us

For general inquiries, email [email protected]. For program-specific questions, contact the program director below.

Clinical Externships

Inpatient Assessment and Intervention in a Rehabilitation Hospital

Location: The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Weekly commitment: 2 days (~16 hours) with the flexibility to choose between Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Training focuses on assessment, treatment and consultation regarding adult rehabilitation populations with a wide range of injuries, illnesses, disabilities and acute and chronic health conditions. The mission of the training program is to provide experiential education and training in the areas of rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology, as well as exposure to didactic training in these areas, in order to develop skills that will prepare them for predoctoral internships and postdoctoral fellowships in the specialty areas of Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology.

Externs will provide direct assessment and treatment to rehabilitation inpatients and outpatients, working closely with rehabilitation teams and will engage in consultation with other health care providers. Externs receive supervision from licensed psychology faculty and postdoctoral fellows. Externs are encouraged to attend weekly didactics and monthly seminars within the Division for Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology and the Department of PM&R, to the extent that schedules allow.

Outpatient Neuropsychological Testing in a Rehabilitation Clinic

Location: The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Greenspring Station outpatient clinic and Johns Hopkins Howard County outpatient clinic
Weekly commitment: 2 days (~16 hours) with the flexibility to choose between Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Training focuses on conducting neuropsychological assessment of adult rehabilitation populations with a wide range of injuries, illnesses, disabilities and acute and chronic health conditions. The mission of the training program is to provide experiential education and training in the administration and scoring of a wide variety of neuropsychological assessments, as well as exposure to didactic training in this area, in order to develop skills that will prepare them for predoctoral internships and postdoctoral fellowships in the specialty area of Neuropsychology.

Externs will provide direct neuropsychological assessment of rehabilitation outpatients, including test administration and scoring. Externs receive supervision from licensed psychology faculty and postdoctoral fellows and will be involved in case interpretation. Externs are encouraged to attend weekly didactics and monthly seminars within the Division for Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology and the Department of PM&R, to the extent that schedules allow.

Research Externships

Multiple Chronic Conditions Research

Location: The Johns Hopkins Hospital and virtual
Weekly commitment: 1 - 2 days (~8 to 16 hours) with the flexibility to choose the days of the week that work best with the applicant’s schedule.

This research externship focuses on advancing knowledge and clinical practice related to multiple chronic conditions (MCC) in immigrant populations. The ideal candidate will have an interest in community-engaged research and implementation science and a commitment to improving health for diverse populations.

During this externship experience, the extern will be actively involved in the execution of research studies focused on multiple chronic conditions framed within a health equity context. This hands-on experience will include quantitative and qualitative data collection and data analysis, as well as conducting literature reviews to inform research projects and identify gaps in existing research. Opportunities to contribute to presentations and manuscripts are available for dedicated externs. The ideal candidate for this position is an advanced graduate student with prior research experience.

Pain Psychology Research

Location: The Johns Hopkins Hospital and virtual
Weekly commitment: 4-12 hours per week; days and hours adjustable to fit your schedule

Join a vibrant research team at Johns Hopkins focused on understanding psychological factors in pain recovery following major orthopedic injuries and developing innovative treatments for chronic pain. This externship offers psychology graduate students the chance to gain hands-on research experience tailored to their interests and availability.

1. Single Arm Clinical Trial. This project tests the feasibility of Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) for persistent pain after trauma. Externs will collaborate with pain psychologists to adapt a treatment manual for this population and gain valuable experience in clinical trial methodology and a novel pain psychology treatment.
2. Acute to Chronic Pain Longitudinal Study. This study examines how pain sensitivity and emotion regulation at 6 weeks post-trauma predict chronic pain and mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD) at 6 months. Externs will receive training in state-of-the-art pain sensory testing, assist with participant recruitment and assessments in a clinical setting and gain experience with project management. (Note: requires availability on Tuesdays or Wednesdays)
3. Chronic Pain and Mental Health Comorbidities. This project involves conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses on chronic pain co-occurring with mental health disorders (e.g., PTSD, severe mental illness). Externs will engage in all stages of the review process and develop expertise in a specialized topic area.

Across all projects, externs have opportunities to participate in scientific writing, presentations and potentially co-author publications, depending on their commitment and investment. This externship is ideal for psychology graduate students seeking to gain experience in pain psychology research, novel therapeutic approaches and/or advanced research methods in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Interested applicants are encouraged to reach out to the PI, Rachel Aaron ([email protected]) to discuss opportunities in greater depth.