Practicum (Professional Training Placement)

The subject Work Placement ("Practicum") includes the external practices, and it is programmed in the last semester of the Psychology Degree. Its purpose is that, once they have acquired sufficient academic training, students come into contact with psychological practice and, guided by professional experts, have a first approach to professional practice in one of the areas of Psychology.
As general objectives of the subject, the following should be pointed out:
- To put the student in contact with the work reality, enabling him/her for professional performance.
- To know the functions of the psychologist in the professional context from the perspective of Psychology as a Health Sciences discipline.

Among the specific objectives, to be developed in some of the areas of the Practicum, the following should be highlighted:
- To train students in psychological assessment and psychodiagnosis.
- To provide knowledge of intervention planning.
- To train students in the application of certain therapeutic techniques.
- To become familiar with the dynamics of professional relationships.
- To acquire direct knowledge of the functioning and management of human behavior in organizations.
- To provide knowledge of the phases of research development.
- To provide technical/applied knowledge of the instruments and tools used in research.
- To collaborate in one of the Psychology Service Units of the Faculty.

The Practicum offers, through agreements with different public and private entities, the possibility of carrying out internships in facilities where psychologists can carry out their professional work. In these facilities, psychologists deal with the health and welfare of people, the search for healthy development and interpersonal relationships from different fields: sports activities, penitentiaries, addictive behaviors, psychological development and educational process, mental disorders, elderly, mediation, family orientation, human resources and market research, social services and community plans. Given this diversity, specific contents will be developed depending on the device where the internship will be carried out. In addition to supervised pre-professional practice, a mandatory course on ethics and professional ethics must be taken.

There is no specific common bibliography for the Practicum. Students are referred to the programs of the subjects of the syllabus that are related to the activities to be carried out in the internship center.
The academic and/or professional tutors will provide the student with specific bibliography according to the activities to be developed in the internship center.

Specific competences of the degree to which the subject contributes:
1. Know the functions, characteristics, contributions and limitations of the different theoretical models of Psychology.
2. To know the basic laws of the different psychological processes.
3. To know the main processes and stages of psychological development throughout the life cycle and its aspects of normality and abnormality.
4. To know the biological foundations of human behavior and psychological functions.
5. To know the psychosocial principles that intervene in the behavior of individuals and in the functioning of groups and organizations.
6. To know the methods and designs of research and the techniques of data analysis specific to Psychology.
7. To know the different methods of evaluation, diagnosis and psychological treatment in different applied fields of Psychology -clinical and health, social, educational-.
8. To know how to identify the needs and demands of the addressees in the different fields of application and to establish the goals of the psychological action.
9. To know how to identify the relevant characteristics of the behavior of individuals, groups, organizations and contexts by means of the methods, techniques and instruments of psychological evaluation.
10. Know how to promote health and quality of life, through the methods of the profession, in individuals, groups, communities and organizations in different areas and contexts: educational, clinical and health, work and organizations, group and community.
11. To know how to select and administer techniques and instruments specific to Psychology.
12. To know how to define the objectives, to elaborate the plan and the techniques of intervention according to the needs and demands of the addressees, and to evaluate its results.
13. To know how to transmit the results of the evaluation to the addressees in a suitable and precise way.
14. To know how to elaborate psychological reports in different fields of action, addressed to the addressees and other professionals.
15. To comply with the deontological duties of Psychology.


The specific competences of the degree are specified, for the Practicum, in the following specific competences of the subject:

- To be the one to develop the behaviors of the basic professional role: attendance, punctuality, respect for the rules and uses of the Center, respect for the deontological rules, fulfillment of the assigned tasks, ....
- To be able to develop and put into practice transversal competences of the professional practice: teamwork, communication, empathy, analysis and problem solving, ...
- To be able to develop and put into practice the specific competences of the psychologist, applying the acquired knowledge: identification of needs and problems, psychological assessment, identification of relevant variables; interpretation of assessments; elaboration of psychological reports, basic skills of psychological intervention...

For the fulfillment of the objectives and the achievement of the competencies outlined above, the Practicum will be developed according to the following procedure:

For the fulfillment of the objectives and the achievement of the competencies outlined above, the Practicum will be developed according to the following procedure:

1. The standard training action will consist of the realization of an "external internship" (in a center outside the university), under the supervision and technical support of two tutors: an academic and a professional, psychologist, from the internship center. These will be responsible for indicating at each moment, and according to a previous program, the type of activities that the student will have to carry out during the internship.

2. The internship offer also contemplates research internships, linked to the research groups of the Faculty.
3. As a complement to the practical activities, students will receive training on the Psychologist's Code of Ethics, through a 20-hour course, to be taken before the beginning of the internship, which will be a requirement to be able to join the internship center.

4. The student will join the internship center following the indications of the academic tutor, from whom he/she will receive the authorization to contact the assigned center and the following information/documentation:
- Internship student's credential
- Contact information with the internship center and conditions of incorporation.
- Commitment to supervision
Likewise, the student must present, together with the previously mentioned documentation, the confidentiality commitment and the negative certificate of sexual offenses.

Once the internships have begun, students will not be able to stop attending due to attendance at classes or exams at the Faculty. Students with pending subjects should take this into account to choose the appropriate device for their situation.

5. At the end of the internship, the student must submit a report of the internship to his/her academic tutor. As a general guideline, it will contain a description of the internship center and the activities carried out for the development of professional competencies, as well as a personal evaluation of the student. Each academic tutor may provide specific guidelines for the report, depending on the characteristics of the internship center the student attends, although it is recommended that its format follows the Europsy report model.

NOTICE: Students who intend to defend their TFG in July must make sure to submit the Practicum report coinciding with the June qualification period.

The evaluation will be carried out jointly by the academic and professional tutors, taking into account the degree of acquisition of the specific and transversal competencies related to the professional role, both those developed during the stay at the destination center and in the report that the student is required to submit. Each tutor will propose a qualification for the student. The final qualification will be the result of the following weighting: that of the professional tutor will represent 60% (performance evaluation in the work environment) and that of the academic tutor 40% (memory assessment). In order to pass the subject it is necessary to complete the course on the Code of Ethics and obtain, at least, a passing grade in both the evaluation carried out by the professional tutor and the academic tutor.

The 12 ECTS credits assigned to the Practicum imply that the student must dedicate a total of 300 hours to it, including the following tasks:
- Completion of the Ethics and Deontology Course (20 hours).
- Internship in the centers and devices (270 h.). Of these, if there had been a part of personal work of the student (e.g., readings, training in the application of questionnaires), it may not exceed 20% (54 h.).
- Elaboration of the Internship report (10 h.)

To enroll in the Practicum it is required to have passed at least 150 mandatory credits, including all the credits of the 1st and 2nd year of the Degree.

Students who are in the situation of fulfilling the requirements in the second semester of the course and those who wish to do the Prácticum in an extraordinary way in the 1st semester in order to present the TFG in February, must fill out an online form to indicate their situation.

Students who are in the situation of fulfilling the requirements in the second semester of the course, must enroll in the second common enrollment period.

NOTICE. Students who are in the situation of fulfilling the requirements in the second semester of the course, must also attend the course on the Code of Ethics.
The Internship Management Unit will assign places taking into account the preferences of the applicants and using the student's academic record as a selection criterion. In addition, for the incorporation in some internship centers, it may be required to have passed some specific subject(s) of the study plan, especially related to the type of professional activity to be developed in them. If this is the case, this condition will be specified in the offer.

For more detailed information on the development of the Practicum, please refer to the Faculty's website.