Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory

Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training

Who are we?

The Houston VA MIRECC fellowship is a 2-year research training program (75% time devoted to research; 25% to clinical activities). The purpose of the SC MIRECC Fellowship is to train professional psychologists for eventual leadership roles in research, education, and clinical services, particularly in academic and medical care settings. 

What careers do fellows pursue after fellowship? 

By the end of the fellowship, fellows pursuing academic clinical-research careers should be ready to submit applications for career development awards (e.g., VA career development award or National Institutes of Health [NIH] K-Award) or to pursue entry-level leadership roles which integrate state-of-the-art research, education, and clinical approaches to mental health in the VA healthcare system and other academic institutions. Although we are not APA accredited, all fellows complete clinical rotations at our VA hospital and have been able to obtain licensure in clinical psychology. Many of our recent fellows have obtained VA Career Development Awards and pursued funded research careers in VA. Others have obtained tenure-track professor positions at universities or careers that integrate clinical work and research.

How does mentoring work?

The SC MIRECC fellowship is founded upon a team mentoring approach where each fellow works with one primary mentor and a team of 2-3 additional research, methodological, or clinical mentors. Research mentoring is centered on the areas of:

• Implementation of evidence-based mental health treatments;
• Behavioral medicine;
• Primary-care mental health; 
• Anxiety disorders; 
• Post-traumatic stress disorder;
• Sleep and CBT-I; 
• Health equity and disparities research; 
• Telehealth and virtual care;
• Intervention development and clinical trials; 
• Rural mental health; 
• Substance use disorders.

We have strong collaborations with the SC MIRECC sites in Little Rock and New Orleans, the Houston VA’s Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety, and the Baylor College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, providing a wide pool of additional mentor options. We also have a strong methods core, providing expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods. If you have questions about whether we have mentoring available in a particular area, please contact Dr. Hundt (Natalie.Hundt@va.gov). 

Working with their mentoring team, each fellow will develop training plan with a set of experiences, training activities, and research projects that best complement their research and career goals. We expect fellows to lead at least one research project while on fellowship, and provide pilot funding for data collection, statistical software, and research books.

Where are we located?

Our fellowship is based out of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC). The MEDVAMC is one of the largest clinical care facilities in the VA and is host to one of 14 VA Health Services Research and Development Centers of Innovation (COIN). The Houston COIN houses over 50 research investigators and 150 research staff from disciplines including medicine, psychology, psychiatry, epidemiology, and statistics/methodology, as well as several different research fellowships that provide our fellows with an interdisciplinary postdoctoral community. The academic affiliate for the MEDVAMC is Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), one of the top 25 medical schools in the country. Upon acceptance, incoming fellows are appointed at the level of Instructor at BCM within the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 

We are located in Houston, Texas, which is the fourth largest city in the US and one of the most diverse cities in the US--and has arguably the best Mexican food in the US. Our facility is located in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, a hub of clinical care and research, and right across the street from the 445-acre Hermann Park. 

Requirements. To apply, you must be a U.S. citizen and be enrolled in or have completed an APA or CPA-accredited doctoral program in clinical/counseling psychology. You must be enrolled in or have completed an APA or CPA-accredited internship OR newly established VA internship pursuing accreditation. Your dissertation must be completed before the start date of your fellowship.