APPIC Postdoctoral
Training
Postdoctoral fellowship
applicants have some choices as they pursue further training, and some may choose
to continue their education at a formal postdoctoral training site. In exchange
for generally a lower salary, postdoctoral fellows have the right to expect a
formalized training program that includes at least minimal training standards.
If the postdoctoral training site is a member of APPIC, the applicant can expect
that the site meets APPIC membership standards. APPIC Membership insures the postdoctoral
applicant that the APPIC member site has met a certain level of quality and training
standards, such as having due process procedures in place, and providing adequate
and qualified supervision. APPIC Member sites are required to provide an
organized sequence of training experiences that meet or exceeds membership criteria
for APPIC. Training materials should accurately reflect the training experiences
at that site. Members are reviewed by the APPIC Postdoctoral Membership Committee
every 3 years to ensure that programs continue to meet APPIC standards. Please
see the Joining APPIC
webpage for specific postdoctoral membership criteria. FAQThis
area is under construction: please forward questions, comments or suggestions
to Dr. Teri Simoneau. Question:
I am interested in applying to several of the postdoctoral sites listed in
the APPIC directory. I am confused about whether I have to enroll as an APPIC
member in order to apply to the sites on your directory. I enrolled as a member
for my internship search, but have not done so for post-doctoral searches.
Answer:
Only training programs and university programs
are eligible to join APPIC. This allows them to be listed in the match service.
Predoctoral students are required to register with the match to be part of the
national matching service. The postdoctoral program does not have a match (except
for neuropsych at www.appcn.org). You are free
to search the Online APPIC Directory
for APPIC postdoctoral programs to obtain information, applications and email
addresses required in the application process. Question: Is there
a Postdoc Match similar to the Predoctoral Internship Match? Answer:
APPIC does not hold a match for the general postdoctoral positions listed in
the APPIC Online Directory.
APPIC members do not favor a match given the need for flexibility in start dates
(completion of dissertation); variable funding notifications (grants received
and/or awarded) and the difficulty knowing in advance how many positions will
be available for the coming training year. The Association of Postdoctoral Programs
in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) does hold a match for the applicants in neuropsychology
looking for a 2 year postdoctoral program. Question: Why are there
so few postdoctoral positions? Answer: Postdoctoral members of APPIC
are required to have an organized program of training. This can be expensive as
licensed psychologists are required to provide the supervision. In contast to
the basic sciences, which has a long tradition of postdoctoral fellowships, psychology
is just beginning to offer formal postdoctoral training. This will continue to
increase as the VA system has declared that VA training programs that have postdoctoral
fellows must become APA accredited in order to continue. The number of postdoctoral
positions will continue to increase as it becomes more of the standard in psychology
training. Question: Why do most postdoctoral positions pay less than
an entry level psychologist? Answer: Training is expensive as revenue
by the supervisor is lost when they are supervising and not generating billable
hours or writing grants or other faculty duties. Billing is not usually allowed
by postdocs unless the provider has a license and most postdoctoral fellows are
not licensed until their 2nd or 3rd year. Training is expensive and time consuming
and revenue production tends to take time to build a revenue stream. Many programs
that have postdocs are not always a clearly defined organization and many individuals
taking a postdoc need to clearly understand the extent of training offered for
the typically lower salary. Other Postdoctoral Training Sites of InterestNeuropsychology The
Council of Specialties in Professional Psychology Behavioral
Medicine Geropsychology The
National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology Pediatric
Psychology Rehabilitation
Psychology 8 February 2008 | 
