Program Training

Program Training Methods, Content, and Curriculum, Including Rotations Offered, Seminars, Supervision, and Other Training Experiences

Within the framework of the diverse training experiences available, we design individualized training plans for postdoctoral fellows that reflect their clinical, academic and professional development goals and include a number of training activities that are described below.

Within the first month of the program, postdoctoral fellows complete an Individual Development Plan (IDP). The aim of the IDP is to help each postdoctoral fellow identify professional goals and objectives, assess their skillset relative to their career goals, and develop a plan to acquire the skills and competencies needed to achieve short- and long-term career objectives.

Each postdoctoral fellow participates in various clinical service delivery training experiences. An emphasis is placed on building advanced skills and competencies. Postdoctoral fellows participate in supervised rotations either in UF Health Psychology Specialties or within the UF Health Shands Teaching Hospital. Fellows obtain a large majority (80-90%) of their training within specific programs (i.e., Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology, Clinical Health Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology). The postdoctoral fellow rotates with different supervisors in different clinics, thus providing opportunities to work with a variety of faculty and gain a breadth and depth of experience within their program. Finally, many of our postdoctoral fellows also gain supervised training in the delivery of outpatient therapy services through UF Health Psychology Specialties.

Specific activities that postdoctoral fellows participate in include the following:

Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology

  • carry an ongoing caseload of outpatient therapy cases,
  • participate in different rotational experiences, including the adolescent clinic and the behavioral pediatrics clinic; and interdisciplinary clinics addressing cystic fibrosis, hematology and oncology, infectious diseases, sleep, type 1 diabetes, and inpatient consultation, and
  • supervise graduate student and intern trainees in the delivery of clinical services.

Clinical Health Psychology

  • carry an ongoing caseload of outpatient therapy cases,
  • participate in different rotational experiences, including transplant psychology, bariatric surgery, behavioral sleep medicine, psycho-oncology, and chronic pain/gastroenterology, and
  • supervise graduate student and intern trainees in the delivery of clinical services.

Clinical Neuropsychology

  • participate in different rotational experiences, including but not limited to: adult neuropsychology, pediatric neuropsychology, adult brain tumor and cortical mapping, ADRC clinic, the HABIT program, epilepsy and WADA specialty services, movement disorders specialty services, North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center, perioperative cognitive anesthesia network, acute pediatric traumatic brain injury, and pediatric hematology and oncology,
  • supervise graduate students and intern trainees in the delivery of clinical services, and
  • serve as a Teaching Assistant to Higher Brain Function, a graduate course in our APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical psychology.

Each postdoctoral fellow participates in two hours of regularly scheduled, face-to-face, individual supervision per week by a licensed psychologist. Moreover, fellows receive training through didactics, reading materials, and mentorship on how to provide clinical supervision to junior trainees. They are also engaged in supervision of trainees during their postdoctoral experience.

Throughout the training, postdoctoral fellows are required to attend the following:

  • monthly postdoctoral seminar meetings within our department,
  • biweekly departmental colloquia and Education and Advocacy Committee didactic presentations, and
  • area-specific research and clinical seminars, hospital grand rounds, and/or interdisciplinary conferences.

Postdoctoral fellows are evaluated at the end of each training quarter to review their progress towards their goals and the development of advanced competencies. Progress is assessed on an ongoing basis via live observation, review of recorded service delivery sessions, detailed reviews of the trainee’s written notes and reports, observation of presentations of case formulations and treatment planning, informal feedback from referral sources, and research achievements. Supervisors and fellows review written evaluations in individual face-to-face meetings with the supervisors.

Postdoctoral fellows can also collaborate with faculty in research by participating in ongoing studies or initiating new projects. Fellows are encouraged to attend a weekly research meeting in their area of interest even if they do not actively participate in a research project.