Portfolio Review and Qualifying Examination

The Portfolio Review is a 100-point metric, based upon six areas of competency essential for advancement to candidacy including academic performance, field placement performance, professional performance, the two qualifying examinations and assessment performance.

The Wright Institute has two Qualifying Examinations. The first, referred to as the Case-based Clinical Competency Examination, is an in-depth assessment of clinical competence taken at the end of the second year. The Case-based Examination is based on a conceptually challenging case, which the student has written up, followed by an oral examination based on the written case. The write-up explores diagnosis, treatment planning, and legal and ethical issues as they apply to that case. During the oral examination in-depth questioning helps assess whether a student has successfully synthesized the elements that must be balanced in the clinical endeavor.

The second Qualifying Examination is a 100-item, multiple-choice Knowledge-based Competency Exam. The exam helps students to prepare for the national licensing exam, the Examination for Practice in Professional Psychology (EPPP). During the summer following the second year of academic residence, students receive three months of online access to review five 100-question practice exams. After each practice exam, students review the correct answers and the rationales. The practice exams were constructed from a pool of 2000 questions selected by Wright Institute faculty. After the study period, there is a two-week open period during October to complete the Knowledge-based Competency Exam. Items for the exam are selected from among the 500 questions used on the study exams.

Students must successfully complete both the Case-based and the Knowledge-based examinations to receive an internship letter of readiness needed to apply for an internship. Letters of readiness, prepared by the Director of Clinical Training, are required as part of the internship application process and will not be written for students who have not taken their Qualifying Examinations.

"I was ready to work locally, one-on-one with people in need. I knew I was a 'people person,' but I also knew I needed the breadth and depth of clinical and didactic training and theory offered at the Wright Institute. I have received excellent supervision and support in my case conference and professional development seminar to complement my clinical work in a behavioral health hospital, adult outpatient clinic, and elementary school with at-risk children. I couldn't have asked for a better experience rounded out by learning from insightful, experienced professors and supervisors, as well as collaborative, enthusiastic, intellectual classmates from a wide range of backgrounds." Dr. Shannon Dubach, Class of '10