V. General Requirements for Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology

The doctoral program in clinical psychology integrates academic, research, and professional training. The program requires 90 credit hours for those entering with the bachelor鈥檚 degree and 56 credit hours for those entering with the master鈥檚 degree. The program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), and program requirements are structured to fulfill the Discipline-Specific Knowledge and Profession-Wide Competency areas specified by the APA accreditation guidelines.

All clinical students complete required coursework and practical training in Discipline-Specific Knowledge and Profession-Wide Competencies, a master鈥檚 thesis for those entering with the bachelor鈥檚 degree (or those students entering with a master鈥檚 degree who did not complete an approved thesis prior to entering the doctoral program), a doctoral comprehensive examination, a dissertation, and an internship.

Competence in Discipline-Specific Knowledge domains and Profession-Wide Competencies is assessed in multiple ways, including: 1) performance in the prescribed courses, 2) completion of the doctoral comprehensive examination, 3) completion of a thesis and dissertation, 4) performance in all practical training settings (courses, practicum and traineeship assignments) as assessed by competency evaluations, and 5) successful completion of an internship appropriate to the student鈥檚 training. Evaluation tools used in assessment of students are reviewed with students in the Clinical Orientation Seminar (PSY 5700) that is taught by the Director of Clinical Training during their first semester on campus. Students will be shown the competency evaluation forms in the Clinical Orientation Seminar, so that they are aware of the competency domains that are being rated by instructors and supervisors throughout the program. Copies of these forms are also be available on the Clinical Student Teams channel.

All students complete training consistent with the specialization of clinical psychology. There is additional coursework and practical /research training that would allow interested students to complete elective major areas of study in either clinical child psychology or clinical neuropsychology. The Department also offers an elective quantitative concentration. Although not a major area of study, students can also gain exposure to clinical health psychology through a couple of elective courses and traineeship opportunities. Students work closely with the Director of Clinical Training to ensure successful completion of the requirements for the clinical psychology specialization as well as any elective areas of study they wish to complete.

Students who enter with a master鈥檚 degree and wish to determine whether their previously completed coursework can be counted as equivalent courses to the course requirements of the doctoral program should submit copies of the course syllabi to the Director of Clinical Training to be reviewed by relevant faculty. If such courses are approved as equivalent to course requirements in the doctoral training program, they will not have to be repeated. Please note that the only courses eligible for potential waivers are those that are not core clinical requirements (i.e., courses in Categories 1, 2, and 4). No core clinical requirements can be waived. This includes the required practica in the Training Clinic; even if students entering with a master鈥檚 degree have completed prior practical training, they are still required to complete four semesters of practica in the Training Clinic. However, it is possible that they can start traineeship early; see the Director of Clinical Training and Section IX.L for details.

All students can also potentially waive the History and Systems requirement if they completed a History and Systems course at the undergraduate level and received at least a B grade in the course. The course content would be reviewed by the current instructor of History and Systems to determine whether it covers enough of the substantive area to be waived.