Psychology Education and Training Program

Psychology  Fellowship Descriptions

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offers post-doctoral fellowships in four general areas:

The fellowships listed here are contingent upon funding decisions, some of which may not have been finalized at the time of this posting. This means that there may be changes in the availability of some of the fellowships listed below. It also means that some additional fellowships may become available late winter or spring. It is highly recommended that you contact the training director and relevant faculty mentors for updates and additional information regarding specific fellowships.

Pediatric psychology positions

Pain Management Service, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

(NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS) - Jessica Guite, PhD

The Pain Management Service is offering one fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Jessica Guite. The fellowship provides training in research and clinical work focused on patients with pediatric pain problems and their families. The broader goals of the Pain Management Service research efforts are to better understand factors that facilitate treatment progress and to improve treatment outcomes for pediatric pain patients and their families.

The psychology fellow will participate in clinically focused research projects that focus on pain beliefs, treatment expectations and outcomes for patients with chronic pain and their parents. The psychology fellow will be actively involved with project coordination, data management, manuscript preparation, research presentations, development of new research initiatives, and grant writing. Approximately 25 percent of the fellow’s time will be clinical activities and supervision for licensure will be provided. Clinical activities will involve children/adolescents with chronic pain problems and their families through the outpatient multidisciplinary Pain Management Clinic.

The fellow will participate in outpatient pain clinic evaluations and follow-up treatment and will have some additional opportunities for consultation and short-term treatment for patients with acute, inpatient pain issues.

The position is contingent upon funding and will be available for one year, renewable for a second year based on progress made toward developing an independent research project. Applicants must have:

A July start date is preferable, but negotiable. Please contact Dr. Guite at guite@email.chop.edu for further information.

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Clinical/community/schools positions

Behavioral Health in Urban Schools

The Behavioral Health in Urban Schools Program of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is committed to conducting culturally relevant applied research in schools serving children of low income and ethnic minority backgrounds who are at risk for mental health problems and underutilization of mental health services. The primary goal of the BHUS Program is to reduce barriers to mental health care, with a particular focus on improving access to behavioral health services for children and families in urban school settings.

Activities: The fellowship will focus on clinical and research skills related to the development of school mental health programs for the prevention and treatment of externalizing and internalizing disorders. The fellow will be expected to contribute to grant writing and manuscript preparation. Access to current and archival datasets will be made available. The fellow will be able to accrue hours for licensure in psychology.

Qualifications: Applicants must have a PhD in clinical child or school psychology from an APA-accredited doctoral program. Strong interest and/or experience in working with underserved children in urban schools. Bilingual/bicultural (English/Spanish) students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin immediately, and will continue until the position is filled.

Start date: Start dates are August 1 or September 1, 2012. The position is for one year with the possibility of a second year contingent upon funding.

Salary: Salary is based on the NIH rate.

For more information about this position, contact Dr. Ricardo Eiraldi at 215-590-7759 or eiraldi@email.chop.edu.

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Autism spectrum disorders positions

Accepting applications for 2012-2013 - Robert Schultz, PhD and Judith Miller, PhD

The Center for Autism Research (CAR) was recently established by CHOP and UPenn to coordinate, sponsor, and support state-of-the-art research into understanding the causes and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Studies focus on diagnosis, development, neuropsychology, genetics, and neuroimaging of individuals with ASD. CAR has a large training program spanning both research and clinical mentorship. This provides a rich environment for individuals interested in pursuing a career in clinical work, research, or a combination.

The clinical postdoctoral fellowships offer specialty experience in ASDs. Diagnostic evaluations are at the heart of the fellowship, and opportunities to master assessment of individuals age 6 months to 50 years are available. Opportunities to participate in intervention studies, parent trainings, and community presentations are also available. Participation in research development, implementation, and publication is based on the fellow’s level of experience and CAR’s needs.

Three specific fellowships are available (two-year fellowships) ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS 12-13:

Clinical Autism Fellowship (Schultz & Miller)

Focuses on assessment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Assessments occur in our research clinic, the interdisciplinary Regional Autism Center clinic associated with CHOP, and in community settings or schools as part of ongoing intervention studies.

Fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychology with a Focus in Autism (Miller & Flynn)

Fellows participate in the same activities as the Clinical Autism Fellowship, and also receive general training in pediatric neuropsychology services for children and adolescents with developmental and acquired neurological disorders (approximately two cases per month, 20 percent time). This fellowship is designed to meet INS-Division 40 and Houston Conference guidelines for training in neuropsychology while maintaining a primary focus on autism.

Autism/LEND Fellowship (Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders (Miller & Epstein)

Fellows participate in the same activities as the Clinical Autism Fellowship with additional training in interdisciplinary, community-based, and family- and culturally-sensitive programming through weekly LEND seminars and activities.

Requirements

Clinical postdoctoral fellowships are two-year positions. All post-doctoral applicants must have completed an APA-accredited doctoral program and an APA-accredited internship. Significant experience in cognitive testing of children with a wide range of behavioral presentations is required. Experience with ASDs is also required, and exposure to diagnostic procedures is preferred. Knowledge of the ADOS and ADI is a plus.

Applicants are highly encouraged to contact Stephanie Ricchini-Egan at ricchiniegans@email.chop.edu or 866-570-6524 to facilitate the application process. Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

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Pediatric neuropsychology positions

Accepting applications for 2012-2013 - Thomas Flynn, PhD and Lauren Krivitzky, PhD, ABPP/CN

The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (DCAPBS) at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has an opening for a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric neuropsychology beginning September 2012. The position offers a two-year residency designed to meet the criteria set forth by the Houston Conference Policy Statement on education and training and participates in the match process through the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN). The goal is to prepare the fellow for a career as a scientist-practitioner in pediatric neuropsychology.

The Pediatric Neuropsychology Program receives referrals from many different medical services, including neurology, neurosurgery, hematology/oncology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation, and from a variety of clinics for care of children with neurodevelopmental disorders or medical health conditions impacting neurobehavioral functioning.

Didactics

Fellows will spend approximately 20 percent of their time in supervision and didactic experiences. Specific didactics include neuropsychology seminar, general psychology seminar, clinical neuroscience conference, brain cuttings, psychiatry grand rounds and neurology grand rounds at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. There are also additional experiences in support of the fellow’s specific clinical responsibilities at the time to include attending weekly stroke conferences, rehabilitation team meetings and epilepsy planning meetings. Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate in mock fact-finding examinations in preparation for board certification in neuropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). The trainee may also have the opportunity to be a member of the Program Planning Committee for the Neuropsychology and the Psychology Seminar Series, both of which provide APA-approved CE credits for psychologists.

Clinical experiences

Fellows spend approximately 60 to 70 percent of time devoted to clinical work, which consists of a combination of general outpatient services and focused clinical experiences. The fellow receives approximately two hours of individual supervision per week, to support planning assessments, analyzing data and providing oral and written feedback.

The following is a list of potential clinical experiences the fellow will encounter over the course of two years:

General Outpatient Service

Throughout their two years, all fellows spend a portion of their clinical time providing consultation and neuropsychological evaluation to general outpatients. Referrals to our department come from a variety of referral sources, including general neurology, hematology/oncology, rehabilitation medicine, cardiology, metabolism/genetics, plastic surgery, developmental pediatrics and other medical subspecialties.

Pediatric Regional Epilepsy Program

The fellow has the opportunity to participate in the Multidisciplinary Epilepsy Team Conference, which involves providers from neurology, neuroradiology and neurosurgery in evaluation and consultation activities for children and adolescents diagnosed with epilepsy. The fellow will follow surgery candidates through baseline assessment, possible MEG/Wada evaluation of language and memory functions, cortical mapping, and/ or functional imaging and post-surgical evaluation. The fellow will assist the attending psychologist as a liaison between neuropsychology and the epilepsy program.

Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit

The overall goal of this experience is for fellows to develop skills in providing neuropsychological assessment services for neurorehabilitation patients as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Whereas the primary objective of this rotation is assessment, there may be selective opportunities for case consultation, behavioral management, individual psychotherapy, family therapy, education, cognitive screening, co-treatment with other members of the team and overall team support. Fellows on this service will be responsible for providing services to patients with various neurorehabilitation needs, such as those regarding traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, encephalitis and seizure disorder. Fellows may also have the opportunity to participate in the Minimally Responsive Evaluation Program, if appropriate patients are entered in this program during their rotation.

Pediatric Stroke Program

The goal of the rotation is for fellows to develop skills in consultation and assessment of children with a history of stroke. The fellow will have the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team including neurology, physical, occupational, speech-language therapies, social work, school intervention and neuropsychology. The fellow may have the opportunity to provide both outpatient and inpatient consultation services with this population in addition to seeing outpatients with a history of stroke or other vascular malformations. The group of patients is quite diverse, from children with a history of perinatal stroke, vascular malformations, sickle cell and other complex neurologic and genetic disorders resulting in stroke.

Hematology/Oncology

The goal of this experience is for fellows to be exposed to patients from the hematology/oncology population such as children with brain tumors, leukemia or sickle cell disease. This includes our large population of children who are referred to CHOP for proton beam radiation at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center, as a collaborative effort between Penn Medicine and CHOP.

Research experience

Approximately 10-20 percent of the fellow’s time should be dedicated to research. The fellow will be assigned a primary research mentor and will be expected to demonstrate competency for independent research after completing the residency. For example, residents are expected to present at local conferences, professional conferences or submit a review paper or chapter by the end of the fellowship.

Our program includes monthly research meetings/seminars to support the development of research skills. There are various active research projects, on topics including outcome from cardiac bypass surgery, working memory in absence epilepsy, neuropsychological functioning in velocardiofacial syndrome, management in the intensive care unit (ICU) following traumatic brain injury, outcomes in children with posterior fossa tumors, and cognitive and neuroimaging follow-up in children with sickle cell disease.

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