Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Graduates of our program develop the following:

• Advanced skills in neuropsychological assessment sufficient for independent practice and board certification in neuropsychology
• Advanced skills in treatment recommendations and interventions for neuropsychological disorders sufficient for independent practice
• Advanced skills in consultation with patients, families, and treatment teams sufficient for independent practice
• Advanced knowledge of neuropsychology (e.g., etiologic mechanisms and processes)
• Advanced knowledge of research issues and methodological issues in neuropsychology
• Preparation for licensure for independent practice of psychology and board certification in neuropsychology

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For a complete description of our program, refer to our training manual.

Didactics are explicitly created to prepare students for ABPP/ABCN board certification. Consistent with APPCN guidelines, at least 50 percent of time is devoted to clinical work (generally closer to 80 percent), 10 percent to research and 10 percent to educational experiences.

In addition to the neuropsychology didactics, fellows are given the opportunity to attend interdisciplinary meetings when schedules allow such as the neuroradiology conference, brain tumor board, neurology residents’ didactics, brain cuttings with the pathology department and neurosurgery grand rounds.

Psychiatry grand rounds and psychology intern/fellowship trainings through the behavioral health clinic are also available depending on the fellows’ schedules and interest as well as availability within that separate clinic. Occasionally, interns, externs and residents rotate through the clinic. When possible, fellows assist in supervision/training of these students.

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Neuropsychology seminar

Senior staff members take the lead presenting an integrated series of lectures on the phenomenology of neuropsychological disorders, clinical conditions and neuroanatomy of each domain of cognition through a combination of guided readings, formal didactics, outside lecturers and journal discussions.

Fellows present once per each topic domain as well (five presentations per year) under the supervision of the staff member leading the presentation.

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Professional development

This series rotates each week among journal club, interesting or challenging case presentations, ABPP exam style fact finding exercises and professional development conversations from topics generated by the fellows.

Fellows are scheduled for three outpatients per week at the neuropsychology clinic their first year and four per week their second year. Fellows are responsible for testing one patient each week when insurance restrictions permit. In addition, fellows work with senior staff performing inpatient consults (when they come up, usually less than one per month but this varies; this is not a primary emphasis of this site).

Fellows’ clinical work will be supervised by one supervisor at a time for three-month rotations. On an as needed/as available basis, minor rotations may be arranged to allow exposure to a particular patient group or clinical services as needed and this structure is flexible to meet the unique training needs of an individual fellow or allow for other more specialized experiences.

Patients are referred from a broad range of referral sources within the medical center and the surrounding community. The population’s demographics are diverse in regards to age, education, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, although most patients are adults.

Patients reflect the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition of the central Texas region. They are primarily Caucasian individuals from all socioeconomic levels. Hispanic individuals represent a significant proportion of the regional population while other racial/ethnic groups have lesser representation. Opportunities are available to assist in bilingual assessments with our bilingual staff members as well as working with translators on an as needed basis and as appropriate.

Clients present with a wide range of neurological and neurocognitive issues, such as:

• Dementia
• Stroke
• Spinal cord injuries
• Tumors
• Learning disorders
• Psychiatric disorders
• Traumatic brain injury

The neuropsychology division also provides specialized care for patients with brain tumors, movement disorders, and epilepsy, which allows the fellow to obtain exposure to these disorders.

Beginning the second year of fellowship, fellows are given the opportunity to shadow various other professionals in the medical center. At a minimum, fellows must spend a total of two weeks shadowing the inpatient neurology service, inpatient psychiatry service and various outpatient neurology specialty rotations.

More focused or prolonged shadowing experiences in a particular neurological or interventionist clinic are arranged on an as needed or as available basis with the approval of the training lead.

Fellows are required to complete one research project of publishable quality each year. Typically, these projects are in line with the active research programs of the faculty, though every effort is made to accommodate a fellow’s individual research goals and experiences.

The research requirement can be accomplished through various means, including:

• Literature reviews
• Archival studies
• Involvement within current research protocols