The Department’s location within the Academic Health Center affords it immediate access to the kinds of resources found only in a setting of this type. The primary resource is a large and active teaching faculty which supports the programs of the center’s six colleges that attract talented students of health care from throughout the United States and beyond. Opportunities are virtually limitless for exposure to faculty and graduate students in other disciplines, including public health, numerous specialties in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, neuroscience, and dentistry.
Since 2003, the Department has been located in the Health Professions, Nursing, and Pharmacy (HPNP) Building, located immediately north of the Health Science Center’s Communicore Building, which houses the Health Science Center Library and many classrooms supporting education within the AHC’s colleges. The HPNP building has integrated classroom facilities, state-of-the-art wireless technology, and access to the HP network, supporting computing needs for the department’s research and clinical missions.
The Department has access to diverse patient populations. Students obtain direct experience with a wide variety of psychological and medical problems in children and adults. The UF Health Shands Hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment tools, and the student frequently has the opportunity to work with a team of health care professionals in pursuing a diagnosis or implementing a treatment program.
Just as important as patient care services are the resources that support the academic and research aspects of the Academic Health Center’s programs. The AHC is equipped with an excellent library that contains a broad collection of books and journals relevant to basic and applied psychological research. Many journals and other materials are available electronically to registered students through the UF Library websites. Just a block to the east, the McKnight Brain Institute’s dedicated 3T research scanner is available. Also within a short walk of the department is the new Clinical and Translational Science Building, which houses the Institute on Aging and the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. The campus contains nine additional specialized libraries and one general resource library. The BioMedical Media Services located within the Health Science Center, contains facilities for photography, graphics, slides, videotape, and other media useful in the preparation of research reports. The Department occupies 23 thousand square feet of teaching, clinical and research space. The Department is particularly strong in instrumentation and methodology for neurocognitive and psychophysiological studies.
The Department of Psychology building is located nearby. The Psychology Department is responsible for the undergraduate teaching curriculum in psychology along with the graduate programs in cognition and perception, experimental analysis of behavior, developmental, social/personality, psychobiology and counseling psychology. Many faculty have ongoing collaborations with faculty in psychology. Many undergraduate Psychology majors work with Departmental faculty on senior theses and directed research projects, and many enroll as research assistants in Departmental projects. A number of faculty hold joint appointments in both departments.