Students will do internships in a digital clinic

In addition to the above, consulting rooms will be built at their Facatativá campus. “The regulations require this. This way, students can alternate between in-person sessions and their virtual clinical practice, or only the latter, thus complying with the regulations of the Ministry of Education regarding internships and the mental health and telemedicine law,” says Glenda Karina Reinoso, coordinator of the Psychology Program.

Regarding how students will participate virtually, it's important to highlight that there will be a series of requirements. “We will provide an orientation where we will explain how to prepare the space with a white background or a picture of a library behind them, and ensure it is isolated from any noise or interruptions. They will not be allowed to participate with their cameras off, and everything will be duly recorded as evidence.”.

The initiative has already received approval from the Planning Department and the Rector's Office. “We are awaiting the corresponding disbursement for the space renovations and the purchase of the software. With this, we hope it will be operational in the second half of 2022.”

With the implementation of this technology, the program's various internship agreements will be streamlined. “We have approximately eighty agreements with different entities, such as the city councils of Madrid, Funza, and El Rosal, among others. We will offer this psychology service to all of them, providing support to children and adults. With this, we hope that the program will eventually become an independent entity, separate from its current university affiliation.”.

Individuals will also be able to access this service. “We will provide an email address where those who wish to make an inquiry can write to us, and we will escalate it to a practices committee for its respective approval.”.

Finally, the coordinator commented that the pandemic has allowed for the exploration of new ways to conduct interventions within the context of clinical psychology. “We couldn't be the exception. Hence the implementation of this system, which we have been working on for six months.”.

In this way, UCundinamarca is once again betting on information and communication technologies as a series of pedagogical tools that help in the formation of well-rounded professionals.

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