Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 20(2), May 2026, 102-109; doi:10.1037/tep0000552
Health care systems face persistent challenges in hiring and retaining direct care staff, particularly in pediatric mental health settings, where turnover is often linked to insufficient supervision and limited support. In response, our hospital developed a 2-year, salaried postbaccalaureate clinical fellowship to provide structured training, mentorship, and career development for recent college graduates. This article describes the program’s design, implementation, and outcomes, with the goal of informing similar workforce development efforts. The full-time fellowship emphasizes four core values: community and connection, supervision and mentorship, professional growth, and continuous learning. Fellows are selected through a competitive process involving written applications and structured interviews. They are embedded in multidisciplinary teams and engage in direct care, therapeutic interventions, scholarly projects, and community outreach. The program offers comprehensive supervision (group, individual, cross-program), a tiered mentorship model (peer and professional), and academic development via monthly seminars. The structure has evolved based on participant feedback to better support fellows’ clinical and academic growth. Since 2019, the fellowship has received over 250 applications annually and enrolled 25–30 fellows per cohort. Graduate school acceptance rates have steadily risen (52%–61%), while attrition rates have declined (from 30% to 11%). Fellows report high satisfaction with supervision, mentorship, and clinical exposure and describe the experience as foundational to their career development. Program adaptations include eliminating rotating placements and enhancing support for scholarly and identity-based groups. A structured postbaccalaureate fellowship is a promising model for strengthening the pediatric mental health workforce through intentional training, mentorship, and professional development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)