Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory

Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training

Our program subscribes to the guidelines for the specialty of Clinical Health Psychology advanced by the American Psychological Association, and espouses a strong scientist-practitioner training model. Training involves focus on the following program aims: (1) Research/scholarship - to produce Clinical Health Psychologists who are competent in applied research that both informs, and is informed by, clinical practice. (2) Advanced Clinical Practice - to produce Clinical Health Psychologists who are competent in the use of a variety of evidence-based and culturally-informed assessment and intervention techniques. (3) Interprofessional Teaching and Training - to produce Clinical Health Psychologists who are competent in providing interprofessional education and training relevant to the science and practice of clinical health psychology. (4) Program Development/Policy Guideline Implementation - to produce Clinical Health Psychologists who are knowledgeable about healthcare systems, and within those systems, are competent in performing program development and evaluation, and in contributing to the development of relevant policies and practice guidelines. With the assistance of the faculty mentors, residents develop an individualized training plan to meet these 4 core competencies. While residents are invited and encouraged to participate in existing projects (i.e., current research, teaching, clinical, or program development activities), training opportunities in other areas of behavioral medicine of particular interest to a resident are also supported.

Examples of opportunities available within the 4 core program aims are listed below: RESEARCH: Current faculty research interest areas include: alcohol-tobacco interactions, smoking cessation/nicotine dependence, chronic pain, cardiovascular behavioral medicine, diabetes, health promotion, obesity, patient-provider interactions, primary care psychology, women’s health, and palliative care. ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE: Several clinics/clinical areas are supported by the Clinical Health Psychology Section, including (but not limited to): Primary care, interdisciplinary pain clinics, oncology, smoking cessation, weight management, diabetes, palliative care, sleep clinic, liver clinics, women's health clinic, inpatient C&L, and the facility-wide health promotion programs (stress management, healthy lifestyles, etc.). INTERPROFESSIONAL TEACHING AND TRAINING: Opportunities to teach, mentor, and supervise other trainees (e.g., predoctoral interns) and to deliver educational trainings to other health professionals are provided. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT/POLICY GUIDELINE IMPLEMENTATION: Opportunities include the development and/or implementation of innovative, integrative, and multidisciplinary models of care across a variety of clinical settings. Residents often work with colleagues from other disciplines to identify needs and implement changes to clinical programs that can improve outcomes, or work to develop new programs to meet emerging needs in clinical settings that are of interest to the resident.

For more detailed information about our program and the training positions that we offer, please visit our online training brochure located at the following website: 

https://www.va.gov/connecticut-health-care/work-with-us/internships-and-fellowships/

Interviews - Our interview process will be conducted virtually, using Zoom or other virtual platforms that work for both applicants and program faculty (e.g., MS Teams, Skype, etc.). Interviews will take place the week of January 20th. We will conduct group informational sessions at the outset of the interview day, which will be conducted by the Director of Training. These sessions will serve to provide an overview of our training program, our VA medical center, and our local community. Time will be provided for Q&A before applicants begin their individual interviews with faculty. Each applicant will meet individually with 2 faculty members, with pairings based on convergence of applicant and faculty interests. Applicants will also have an opportunity for an informal group Q&A session with our current postdoctoral residents and for meeting with additional faculty during virtual office hours during the interview day.

We will do our best to connect applicants with faculty with whom they are interested in meeting. If applicant and faculty schedules do not permit, we will arrange for virtual meetings/interviews on alternative days. Applicants will be notified of interview offers no later than January 6th.