Health Psychology Residency Doctoral Internship Program

The psychology resident is conceptualized as an emerging health psychologist who will be working as an integral member of the medical team, much as a medical resident does, under the supervision of a faculty psychologist. Over the year, experiences will increase in responsibility and independence. Health psychology residents must demonstrate competence for entry-level health service psychologists including: research, ethical and legal standards, individual and cultural diversity, professional values, attitudes, and behaviors, communication and interpersonal skills, assessment, intervention, supervision, and consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills. The program is experiential in nature, but does include a Scholarly Project, where residents will use empirical methods and empirical literature to address a clinical concern. By the end of the training year, the resident will disseminate the work, in either written or verbal form (e.g., poster presentation, Grand Rounds presentation, creation of work product). Residents who leave this program will have the scientist-practitioner model integrated into their professional identity.

Clinical supervision will be the core training modality used, with the residents having the opportunity to directly observe and receive feedback from experienced health psychologists, engage in direct one-on-one teaching that is bi-directional and conversational in nature, and receive direct feedback about written and psychotherapeutic work from an experienced practicing academic health psychologist. Residents will have training on providing supervision through didactic seminar training on supervision and acting as a clinical supervisor to an advanced practicum students in the Behavioral Medicine and Primary Care (BMPC) clinic.

In line with the philosophy of training scientist-practitioner health psychologists, residents will be expected to hone skills integrating research into clinical practice, through use of empirically validated treatment modalities, integration of psychological science into clinical practice, and engagement in clinically-based research and process improvement. Cultural diversity, broadly defined, is also a core philosophical pillar and goal of the health psychology residency. Understanding a patient from his/her cultural background and context, is essential. Multicultural awareness will be infused from assessment to case conceptualization and tailoring of health psychology interventions.

In addition to experiential training in assessment, intervention, and supervision, residents will engage in a health psychology didactic educational series. Residents will also have cross-professional training, attending didactics with a range of other health discipline trainees including but not limited to medical residents (psychiatrists and other specialties) and medical fellows.

Aims

Aim 1. The Health Psychology Residency (Internship) program aims to train entry level health service psychologists who will be well prepared to pursue a health psychology post-doctoral fellowship and eventually a career in a hospital, healthcare setting, or academic medical center.

Aim 2. The Health Psychology Residency (Internship) program aims to train entry level psychologists in a scientist-practitioner model, with intent to produce health psychologists who integrate science into practice across roles as a psychologist.

Aim 3. The Health Psychology Residency (Internship) program aims to train entry level psychologists to be integral members of a multidisciplinary health care team.