Psychology Fellowship Curriculum

The following is an overview of the curriculum for the Psychology Fellowship Program.

The fellowship will promote general professionalism, including appreciation of and sensitivity to diversity and ethics, and preparation for licensure. The fellow will:

• Work with a culturally diverse patient population, including those who are traditionally underserved
• Participate in the Baylor College of Medicine Psychology Fellow Network, which exposes fellows to ethical and professional issues and promotes collegial relationships among fellows in the Houston area
• Be prepared for licensure in the state of Texas

The fellowship will provide training in psychological assessment. The fellow will conduct:

• Focused psychological assessments of medically ill patients in the general hospital setting
• Comprehensive psychological assessments for patients in the outpatient setting
• Problem-focused, brief psychological assessments for patients on the acute inpatient psychiatric unit

The fellowship will provide training in psychotherapeutic interventions. The fellow will::

• Conduct individual and group psychotherapy in outpatient programs for patients with chronic psychopathology, including personality disorders
• Conduct individual outpatient psychotherapy with adults
• Conduct time-limited individual psychotherapy for patients on the acute inpatient psychiatric unit
• Co-facilitate a daily therapy group(s)

The fellowship will promote multi-disciplinary consultation. The fellow will:

• Serve as a consultant to other mental health care disciplines, including psychiatry, social work, psychiatric nursing, occupational therapy, and chemical dependency counseling
• Teach other mental health care providers about the psychological services he or she conducts, both informally through discussion and formally through seminar teaching

The fellowship will provide training in clinical supervision. The fellow will:

• Supervise one to two psychotherapy patients being treated by either psychology trainees and/or psychiatry resident(s)
• Participate in didactic presentations to either other psychology trainees, medical students and/or psychiatric residents

The fellowship will promote evidence-based practice. The fellow will:

• Conduct clinical activities based on an empirical approach, consulting relevant research, and using scientific methods of evaluating evidence
• Be involved in ongoing research protocols and will develop at least one project for presentation and/or publication by the end of the fellowship

• The fellow receives a formal written and verbal evaluation from rotation supervisors twice a year (view Handbook - Appendix I for evaluation form).
• The fellow will be evaluated in a variety of competency areas and will be given specific feedback on strengths and areas that need improvement.
• The fellow will be able to provide supervisors with formal written evaluation after each rotation (view Handbook - Appendix II).
• The supervisor evaluation form is given to the fellowship director who will then give the faculty the evaluation once the fellowship year is complete.
• Supervisors will receive informal evaluation/feedback from fellows at the end of each rotation.

Due Process

Formal due process procedures (view Handbook - Appendix III) are in place for both the fellow and the training program regarding problem situations.

Supervision and Didactics

Fellowship training follows a developmental model of supervision, beginning with more supervision and oversight of the fellow’s activities and progressing to greater autonomy, with supervisors taking a more consultative stance. Furthermore, the training program is flexible and tailored to the fellow’s interests and needs. At the beginning of the academic year, the fellow meets with the director of training and deputy chief of psychiatry to identify personal goals within the competence areas identified by the program. Specific activities are then selected to achieve these goals, which allows for a customized fellowship curriculum.

The fellow attends weekly Grand Rounds in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Grand Rounds include lectures, case reviews, and research presentations. Grand Rounds provides an opportunity to hear and meet nationally recognized experts in the fields of psychiatry and psychology as they present the most up-to-date information on a variety of topics.