User:
Site Name: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System
Department: Behavioral Health
All interviews will be conducted virtually and are required. No on-site interviews will be offered. Candidates will complete individual interviews with 2 staff supervisors; dates to be negotiated with the candidate and each staff member. Candidates also have the opportunity to attend a half-day virtual open house (see website for dates) which will include an overview of the training program by the Director of Clinical Training, informal discussions with training staff, and meeting with current postdoctoral fellows. Our website and email interview invitations will contain additional information about our interview process and open house opportunity.
We have 2 fellowship programs: Clinical Psychology and a specialty program in Professional Geropsychology. Our program in clinical psychology is APA accredited and has 3 focus areas: Interprofessional Care (1 slot), PTSD (1 slot), Substance Use Disorders (1 slot). The fellow in the Interprofessional Care focus works with our Behavioral Medicine teams. Clinical experiences include transplant evaluations and psychotherapy opportunities in interdisciplinary pain, sleep disorders and oncology clinics. The fellow in the PTSD focus works within the Trauma Recovery Clinic. The fellow completes diagnostic evaluations and provides empirically-based individual and group psychotherapy for trauma related disorders. The fellow in the SUD focus works with the interdisciplinary team in the Center for the Treatment of Addictive Disorders for the year and has the opportunity to provide diagnostic evaluation and individual/group psychotherapy in the CORE program, recovery and aftercare clinic, and opioid substitution clinic.
The specialized program in Professional Geropsychology (2 slots) is also APA accredited. Fellows in the geropsychology program complete two 6-month rotations. On the required GRECC rotation, the fellow conducts brief cognitive screenings in the outpatient interdisciplinary geriatric specialty clinics (GEM clinic and Driving Safety Clinic) and provides outpatient psychotherapy to older veterans. The second 6-month rotation can be individualized to include experiences such as the Community Living Center, Home Based Primary Care, and/or outpatient neuropsychology clinic. Geropsychology fellows also have the opportunity to participate in a program development/evaluation project and attend several geriatric focused didactics each week.
All fellows participate in the weekly postdoctoral fellowship didactic series which includes a case conference, professional development seminar, diversity seminar, and topic seminar, in addition to other track-specific didactics. All fellows also receive training in supervision through didactics and opportunity to supervise doctoral interns as well as serve as members of the Clinical Training Committee.
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Additional information about training opportunities: Not all rotations or training experiences may be available as described in the APPIC Directory. Please consult the program's application materials or their website at: https://www.va.gov/pittsburgh-health-care/work-with-us/internships-fellowships/psychology-internships-and-fellowships/ for a complete description of the training opportunities available at this training site. IF the site has not updated their information by August 1, feel free to contact the Training Director for additional information.
