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VA Portland Health Care System Psychology Fellowship Program (Mental Illness Research and Treatment; MIRECC)

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Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System
Portland , Oregon

Starts on Monday, August 11, 2025

Applications due Wednesday, January 15, 2025

This training experience is not an APPIC Member program and is not APA Accredited. Applicants should be aware that this training experience has not undergone a formal external quality review process.

Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training

This training experience is a planned and programmed sequence of training that aims to ensure preparation for advanced practice rather than one that is focused on providing supervised hours for licensure. Yes

This training experience ensures that training takes precedence over service delivery regarding the nature, content, volume, and quality of the postdoc’s activities. Yes

This training experience ensures that postdocs receive at least two hours of individual supervision per week for the duration oof the experience. Yes

This training experience is administered by a doctoral-level licensed psychologist who directs and organizes the training experience and its resources, is responsible for the selection of postdocs, and monitors and evaluates the goals and activities of the experience. Yes

This training experience has two or more doctoral-level licensed psychologists who have sufficient time to provide quality supervision and training.   Yes

This training experience includes regularly scheduled structured educational activities that help postdocs its defined goals. These activities may include didactics, seminars, case conferences, and/or research activities. Yes

This training experience has written Due Process and Grievance procedures. Yes

This training experience has the stable and necessary financial (e.g., stipend) and physical resources (e.g., computers, physical space) needed for effective training. Yes

Our program adheres to the scientist-practitioner model of training in preparing Fellows for advanced practice in a traditional area of professional psychology. We strive to integrate science and practice throughout training. We support Fellows in achieving realistic research goals, with up to 30 hours per week offered at minimum for trainees to focus on research. Many of our psychology staff conduct research, demonstrating our belief in the importance of the science of psychology in the context of job responsibilities that are primarily clinical or administrative. Interventions and assessment approaches are guided by empirical studies, to the extent that the literature supports this. 

Our didactic series offers a quarterly journal club to strengthen Fellows’ understanding of research limitations and the translational implications surrounding current empirical topics. Our training philosophy reflects deeply held principles of respect for individual differences (including race/ethnicity, religion, SES, ability, sexual orientation, etc.), supportive training towards professional growth and transition to an autonomous psychology career, emphasis on science informing psychological practice and vice versa, and ethical practice and decision-making. 

We view the postdoctoral training years as an opportunity to consolidate and advance assessment, treatment, and consultation skills established during internship, while increasing autonomy across the training years to allow our graduates to feel fully prepared to enter an independent psychology career at the end of training. In supervision we reflect the advanced skills of the postdoctoral trainee by eliciting the Fellow's case conceptualization and plan at the outset, and offering reflective supervision to assist the Fellow in deciding on therapeutic goals and actions.

The MIRECC fellow also has a variety of other novel training opportunities: 1. Participation in weekly research-oriented videoconferences with fellows from the national VA Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment (MIRT). 2. Optional participation in Oregon Health & Science University’s Human Investigations Program (HIP), which offers an integrated clinical and translational research education curriculum and results in a Certificate in Human Investigations. 3. Collaboration with clinical researchers who share a common interest in polytrauma, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. 4. Presentation of research to various disciplines of health practitioners in academic and community settings and the MIRECC Presents videoconference series. 5. Participation in the design and implementation of CME conferences and distance learning programs for VA and non-VA professional staff, and programs for Veterans and their families, throughout the Pacific Northwest. 6. Provision of supervised supervision of clinical services provided by practicum trainees and/or predoctoral interns. 

NOTE: The MIRECC Fellowship is a two-year research program, and we have a separate more detailed brochure about the training experience (e.g., training opportunities). We encourage you to visit our homepage (https://www.portland.va.gov/cptp.asp) where you can download that document. To learn more about the NW Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, you may also visit https://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn20/.

For information about the MIRECC fellowship nationwide, please contact Ruth O’Hara, Ph.D. or Sherry Beaudreau, Ph.D., at the Fellowship hub site, (650) 493-5000 x64119 or Sherry.Beaudreau@va.gov). http://www.mirecc.va.gov/mirecc-fellowship.asp  

COVID Adaptations and response: Please see the additional comments section, our brochure(s), or e-mail/call us if you have specific questions about this track in response to COVID or need more information.  We are happy to provide as much up-to-date information as we have in real time as you consider our program for your postdoctoral training.

Additional Information

Agency Type
VA Medical Center
APPIC Membership
No
APA Accredited
No
Recognized Specialty
Clinical Psychology
Other Emphasis
Mental Illness Research and Treatment
Research Time
51-75%
Training Director
Mary Steers, PhD
Contact Email
Mary.Steers@va.gov
Contact Phone
503-220-8262 ext.58430
Virtual Interviews
Virtual Only
Duration in Months
24
Hours Per Week
40
# of Licensed Supervisors
3
Number of Positions
1
Applications recieved last year
4
Stipend
$57,370
Will follow APPIC Selection Standards
Yes
Estimated offer date
Friday, January 31 2025
Created Date
Friday, November 18 2016
Unfilled Positions
0
Research opportunities
The Veterans Affairs' Advanced Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment is a two-year postdoctoral training program. The primary goal of the Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center's (NW MIRECC) Advanced Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship program is to train and equip psychologists with the knowledge and expertise to lead clinical research efforts that make lasting contributions in the lives of Veterans experiencing mental health challenges. In collaboration with their mentors, the Advanced Psychology Postdoctoral Fellows will develop and implement research projects, publish and present findings, write grants, and utilize the latest technology for educational activities and clinical service delivery. Psychology Postdoctoral Fellows devote 75% of their time to research and education activities (25% of research must be clinically-focused) and 25% to clinical training. Over the course of the two-year program, fellows are trained in clinical and health systems research, advanced clinical care service delivery, and program administration in an interdisciplinary setting. The VA Portland Health Care System NW MIRECC Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship site is linked electronically to other national MIRECC sites for didactic, academic, and research efforts.
Application Instructions
The following materials are required: 1. A letter of interest (identifying the desired fellowship, a brief summary of your interests and qualifications for this specialty training, why you are interested in this position, and aspirations for your psychology career) 2. Curriculum Vitae (including a brief description of your internship rotations) 3. Three letters of recommendation (at least one from an internship supervisor) 4. A separate, brief memo from your graduate program Training Director or Dissertation Chair stating with certainty that you will complete all graduation requirements, including the dissertation, by the start date of the Fellowship (please do not embed this within a letter of recommendation) We will use the APPA CAS system for application in the fall of 2024. https://appicpostdoc.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login Applicants may apply to more than one emphasis area; if so please submit separate applications for each emphasis track; a specific letter of intent should be written individually for each emphasis application and submitted with a CV.

This record was last updated on Monday, December 23, 2024

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