Curriculum

Curriculum
You will be admitted to one of following three Specialty Practice Programs in the fellowship. In each specialty, you will receive advanced, focused, and in-depth training opportunities encompassing  assessment, psychodiagnostics, research and evidenced-based clinical practice.

Clinical Child Psychology
The primary purpose of training in this Specialty Program is to provide you with a depth and breadth of assessment, intervention, educational, consultative and research experiences in clinical child psychology and pediatric psychology that results in advanced professional practice competency.

Training takes place primarily in three clinical areas:

• Clinical Child Psychology
  Assessment, individual and family-based treatment, and group therapy for children and adolescents with anxiety and mood disorders; eating disorders; autism spectrum disorders; and externalizing behavior disorders in inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Pediatric Psychology
  Consultation with and treatment of children and adolescents referred from General Pediatrics and a wide variety of pediatric subspecialties (e.g. Hematology/Oncology, Neurology, GI, Surgery, Critical Care, Endocrine, Pain, Palliative Care) in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Psychological Assessment
  Assessment of learning disorders, development delay, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and emotional functioning/personality in children and adolescents. There also is an opportunity to assess children and adolescents with acute and chronic neurologic conditions under the supervision of two pediatric neuropsychologists.

• Blood and Marrow Transplantation
  Participation in both inpatient and outpatient multidisciplinary care and participation in NIH- funded research is possible.  A significant focus is on the evaluation of blood and marrow transplantation candidates and psychological/behavioral intervention for those needing intervention.
• Behavioral Medicine Program (BMP)
  This is an interdisciplinary program that focuses upon consultation and intervention for patients who are at the interface between medical and psychological conditions.  BMP evaluates patients referred from medical and neurological specialties.  Major focuses for the program include management of unexplained physical symptoms, somatization disorders, depression and health anxiety/panic in medically ill, and psychological/behavioral factors contributing to gastrointestinal and neurological conditions. There is a weekly Psychosomatic Research meeting involving consultants, fellows in clinical health psychology and psychosomatic medicine fellows.
• Psycho-Oncology Service
  Primary sources of referral include breast clinic and radiation oncology.  Research examining tobacco use among underserved populations and quality of life interventions for cancer patients
• Pain Rehabilitation Center A multidisciplinary three-week intensive outpatient treatment program for patients with intractable pain.  There is also a two-day program and a family program.  Postdocs with all aspects of this nationally recognized multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation program.
• Primary Care Psychology
  Integrated/collaborative primary care in primary care clinics.  Evaluation and treatment of anxiety, depression, somatization in close collaboration with primary care physicians.  The emphasis is on short-term evidence-based intervention, co-management with primary care, and disease self-management. Major focus on depression management and treatment of anxiety disorders.
• Obesity Program
  Evaluation and treatment of patients with medically complicated obesity in a multidisciplinary bariatric surgery program, services include assessment of bariatric surgery candidates, individual cognitive-behavioral therapy, weight management groups, and maintenance groups; participation in several NIH-funded obesity clinical trials is possible.

Clinical health psychology training is based upon education and training guidelines as endorsed by the Council of Health Psychology Training Directors and adopted by the APA Council of Representatives as the “Archival Description of Clinical Health Psychology.”

Clinical Neuropsychology
The primary purpose of this specialty program is to provide you with a depth and breadth of assessment, educational, consultative, intervention and research experiences in adult clinical neuropsychology, which results in advanced professional practice competency.

The principal training site during the first year is the Psychometric Assessment Laboratory which evaluates both inpatients and outpatients referred by Mayo physicians for neurocognitive evaluations.

You also will spend a minimum of three months during the first year on the inpatient Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit.
During your second year, you can choose elective rotations in:

• Traumatic Brain Injury Outpatient Program
• Pain Rehabilitation Program
• Dementia Behavior and Response Team
• Epilepsy service
• Behavioral Medicine Program
• Behavioral neurology
• Inpatient general neurology/stroke services
• Neuropathology
• Neuroradiology
• Speech pathology
• Inpatient geriatric psychiatry
• Sleep Medicine
• Pediatric Neuropsychology

The Neuropsychology Specialty Program is based on educational guidelines of APA Divisions 22 and 40 and the Houston Conference; Member, Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN). Rehabilitation psychology training is based on the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Training Guidelines.

Clinical Training in the Medical Psychology Fellowship Program
You will gain the skills and experience necessary to independently evaluate and treat complex psychological problems. This fellowship program offers you a unique opportunity to participate in several multidisciplinary teams, and to participate in their approach to psychological problems. Fellows also work in close collaboration with physicians providing consultative recommendations and intervention.

Mayo Clinic offers a unique inter-professional practice environment, in which you will be intimately involved in clinical decision-making with many opportunities to develop your assessment and intervention skills. There is an emphasis on the integration of science and practice with training in empirically supported interventions.

Rotations
You may rotate through inpatient and outpatient experiences. The duration of rotations and other educational experiences will depend on how central a rotation is to your specialty program and your previous background and experience.

A number of primary clinical rotations and supplementary educational experiences are available. Each specialty program has rotations that are specific to the program. Fellows often elect to have clinical experiences that are in another specialty program to broaden or enhance their skills. In each of the specialty tracks, you will devote at least 50% of your time to clinical and consultative activities and at least 30% of your time to educational and research activities.

There also are opportunities for experience in other clinical settings based upon your educational and training needs. You can complete rotations with other departments when consistent with your training goals (e.g., Neurology, Women’ s Health Clinic , Medical Oncology). External rotations are arranged at Mayo Clinic Arizona or Florida consistent with an individual fellow’s training goals and plan.

Teaching Opportunities
You may have the opportunity to teach medical school students in discussion groups as part of the Human Growth and Development Course, or to teach motivational interviewing skills in the Introduction to Patient Course.

You may also be able to teach psychiatry residents through clinical instruction or the psychiatry residency didactics (e.g., cognitive-behavior seminar). Fellows often provide seminars or lectures to other departments.

Committee Assignments
You will be assigned to a range of committees to promote administrative training. Options include the Departmental Research Committee, Quality Management Committee, Fellowship Training Committee, Division Meetings and Work Group Meetings. Fellows also have opportunity for a 3-month rotation as a member of the Department Clinical Practice Committee.

Evaluation
To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge, training, and supervision to develop your skills, your performance will be monitored carefully during the course of this fellowship. You will be evaluated formally by your supervising faculty members after each rotation. The Medical Psychology Fellowship Training Committee meets monthly and progress of fellows is discussed. In addition, you will evaluate the fellowship program and the faculty.

This fellowship has six core training objectives which apply to all fellows: Clinical skills, consultation skills, scholarly activities, administrative and organizational skills, professional conduct and individual diversity skills. In addition, fellows in each track are expected to possess knowledge and demonstrate specific skills in areas of assessment, treatment/therapy, consultation, scholarship/research, and administration that are specified by the specialty tracks. 
 
Career Development
You will meet periodically with various faculty members, your Specialty Program Coordinator and the program director to discuss your career goals.

Didactic Seminars and Conferences
Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, and one-on-one supervision are all an integral part of the Medical Psychology Fellowship Program. Grand Rounds in Psychiatry and Psychology is held on a weekly basis.  The Medical Psychology Seminar Series for fellows across the three specialty track is held monthly, with a focus on professional development, diversity, and research issues.  Additionally, each specialty track also has a  didactic series, case conference, and/or journal club.

During your second year of training, you will prepare and make a presentation about your research interests or a pertinent clinical topic at our department's grand rounds.

Grand Rounds
Topics during Tuesday's weekly Grand Rounds at noon have included: PTSD, brain stimulation, suicide, child and adolescent disorders, geriatrics, women’s health, addiction, mood disorders, sleep disorders, somatoform disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, psychopharmacology, psycho-oncology, genetics, neuro-imaging, and cross-cultural issues. Speakers are selected from within Mayo Clinic and from psychiatry and psychology departments nationally and internationally.

Research Training
Your research opportunities at Mayo Clinic are outstanding. Due to the wealth of patient data, prospective or retrospective investigations in either basic science or clinical studies are possible.

You will have the opportunity to work with established clinical researchers on ongoing projects, as well as develop independent research projects. Several faculty members are involved in externally funded research projects. You are expected to generate at least one national presentation and at least two publications by the end of the fellowship. Workshops focusing on grant writing skills and publishing articles are offered on a regular basis.

You will be assigned a research mentor and encouraged to participate in the development of at least two research projects suitable for presentation and two manuscripts for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Several fellows in the Medical Psychology Fellowship Program have received external grant funding for their research applications.
If you desire a more intensive research experience following your postdoctoral training, a Clinician-Investigator Training Program is available.

Also see:

• Clinician-Investigator Training Program