The Clinical Psychology Residency is a 12-month full time program that is designed to provide clinical training experiences in one of the emphasis areas of interest, and a minimum of 2 hours of regularly scheduled individual supervision. Residents have the opportunity to choose clinical and research activities to fit with their goals and interests through their proposed training plan, which each resident develops in their first month of residency. Additionally, Residents work closely with one or more faculty members to develop and execute at least one research project or scholarly project during year. In addition to formal supervision, they are also provided with mentorship on professional development throughout the training year.
Our residents are required to complete a 1000 clinical hours; a minimum of 500 hours must be direct service face-to-face hours. The other 50% of the time or 1000 hours may be devoted to professional development; completing the research project, attending didactics regarding Professional development, Professional Ethics and/or Cultural Diversity. This non-clinical time also accounts for other training and didactics within the emphasis areas. Finally, the Residents have their own Director’s meeting and Resident Seminar for professional issues related specifically to trainees completing their postdoctoral year.
Training Settings
A Resident's primary training setting is based on either the Adult or Child/Pediatric area of emphasis. The adult emphasis area is the Psycho-Oncology Emphasis and is located at the Stephenson Cancer Center and at the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Clinic located at Children’s Hospital. Likewise, Child psychology emphasis areas including Pediatric Psychology and Child Clinical are located at the Children's Hospital of Oklahoma and the Child Study Center, respectively. Each resident has an Emphasis Coordinator all year as well as designated clinical supervisor(s) within each training setting. The specific activities, the time spent with each supervisor, and the portion of a year spent in each setting and activity (clinical service, didactics, research) are identified at the beginning of a year in the Resident's Training Plan (RTP), which is jointly composed by the Resident and a faculty supervisor and approved by the Training Director.
Training Plan and Evaluation Procedures
The Clinical Psychology Residency provides common didactic series for all Residents. Focused didactics are provided within each emphasis area as well. The Resident, working with a faculty supervisor, develops a Resident Training Plan (RTP) within the first month of the Residency. This plan is reviewed and approved by the Emphasis Coordinator, designated Clinical Supervisor(s), research supervisor and the for the emphasis area and by the Postdoctoral Residency Training Director. The sections of the RTP correspond to the list of advanced competencies. The RTP specifies clinical activities for the year, the sites where these will take place, and the duration of training at each site. General and emphasis track-specific didactics, including trainings, seminars, conferences, and directed readings, are also listed.
The advanced competencies identified in the RTP are the basis for evaluation. Formal evaluations of progress take place two times per year. The Resident's progress in each of the activities specified in the training plan is evaluated and feedback is given to the Resident that includes areas of needed improvement or additional experience. Likewise, the residents provide formal evaluations to their supervisors.
Psychology Training Faculty
The Psychology Training Faculty (PTF) are a diverse group of licensed psychologists employed by the OUHSC Department of Psychiatry and/or the OUHSC Department of Pediatrics. All of the PTF from the affiliate agencies are appointed as Volunteer Clinical faculty and work in multiple training programs. Approximately 31 full-time psychologists belong to the PTF. The residents work closely with other medical and allied health professionals in each setting.
This training committee is composed of the entire psychology faculty who have direct contact and indirect (lecturers) with the trainees in the Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology Residencies and the Clinical Psychology Internship Programs. The Chairman of the PTF is the Executive Director of the Psychology Training Programs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. It is also led by each the Clinical Psychology Resident Director. The training committee oversees the training programs, discusses policies related to the programs, and makes recommendations. Each emphasis area has a faculty committee that addresses the specifics of training within that area.