Neuropsychology Postdoc application questions

[neurobraingirl]

Hi all! I am an intern at an APA accredited VA site and am looking to apply to neuropsychology postdocs. I have some questions for those of you who have gone through the postdoc process. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

1- My internship is APA accredited but is more general, with about 4.5 months spent in neuropsychology. My previous experience has been in strong neuropsychology clinics and research labs. Will this less focused internship harm my chances in landing a neuropsych postdoc?

2- What's the difference between post docs that participate in match through APPCN and those that don't? What do I need to assure the ones that don't participate in the match provide? Just following Houston guidelines?

3- How many sites did you apply to, ballpark range

4- I am still active in publishing and presenting and am working on getting into some research opportunities. Any other suggestions for what I should be doing during the internship year to increase my chances. My dissertation is already done and defended so I have some time on my hands

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[AcronymAllergy]

Hi all! I am an intern at an APA accredited VA site and am looking to apply to neuropsychology postdocs. I have some questions for those of you who have gone through the postdoc process. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

1- My internship is APA accredited but is more general, with about 4.5 months spent in neuropsychology. My previous experience has been in strong neuropsychology clinics and research labs. Will this less focused internship harm my chances in landing a neuropsych postdoc?

2- What's the difference between post docs that participate in match through APPCN and those that don't? What do I need to assure the ones that don't participate in the match provide? Just following Houston guidelines?

3- How many sites did you apply to, ballpark range

4- I am still active in publishing and presenting and am working on getting into some research opportunities. Any other suggestions for what I should be doing during the internship year to increase my chances. My dissertation is already done and defended so I have some time on my hands

Let's see...

1) Likely not; 4.5 months in neuro with a strong grad school background should be plenty. The biggest snags arise when folks are late to the neuro game (i.e., little or no grad school experience) and don't have a very neuro-intensive internship. This means folks may not be well-prepared for fellowship (where sites appreciate having someone who can hit the ground running), and not all programs are willing/able to help folks make up this ground.

2) Yes, you'll want to make sure the program explicitly indicates adherence to Houston/Division 40 guidelines, as this will make board eligibility much less of a headache. The answer to the question of the difference between match and non-match sites is a bit more complex; there's politics involved in some/many cases, but in general, non-match sites seem to appreciate having greater control over the applicant selection process, and also have the option to take folks sooner (i.e., before the match).

3) I want to say I applied to 12, but could've been fine with half as many. Of those, probably a third were included essentially to bump my numbers (i.e., they were great sites, but they were in areas of the country where I ideally wouldn't have wanted to relocate). My ratio of interviews to applications was significantly higher for postdoc than internship; I want to say I interviewed at 11 of the 12 sites to which I applied. Having most of those at INS preserved copious amounts of my sanity.

4) Dissertation being defended will be huge. Staying active in research is also great. Outside of that, just focus on getting as much out of internship as you can. Start thinking about career goals (if you haven't already) so that you can clearly articulate desired professional trajectory, and take a look at the sites to which you'd like to apply to see how their opportunities would get you where you want to be.

 

[WisNeuro]

1) What AA said.
2) If you want ABPP board cert, an APPCN/accredited program will make things more streamlined. But, not necessary as long as they go by HCG.
3) Applied to 7
4) If you can talk about those manuscripts, and have some out for review, it would be good discussion material during interviews.

 

[Existenz]

Hi all! I am an intern at an APA accredited VA site and am looking to apply to neuropsychology postdocs. I have some questions for those of you who have gone through the postdoc process. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

1- My internship is APA accredited but is more general, with about 4.5 months spent in neuropsychology. My previous experience has been in strong neuropsychology clinics and research labs. Will this less focused internship harm my chances in landing a neuropsych postdoc?

2- What's the difference between post docs that participate in match through APPCN and those that don't? What do I need to assure the ones that don't participate in the match provide? Just following Houston guidelines?

3- How many sites did you apply to, ballpark range

4- I am still active in publishing and presenting and am working on getting into some research opportunities. Any other suggestions for what I should be doing during the internship year to increase my chances. My dissertation is already done and defended so I have some time on my hands

1. Could make you less competitive but if you have clinical NP reports under your belt, emphasize that.
2. I"d look for 2 year NP postdoc that is APA accredited----the makes the ABPP application waaay easier. APPCN is not necessary but you'll still want to apply to sites in the match.
3. 10
4. I'd make sure I present a poster at conferences, especially INS (you'll be interviewing there anyway).

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Quick note about APA-accredited vs. APPCN-member: if I'm remembering my ABPP application correctly, having either one for your postdoc will allow you to skip a whole bunch of steps related to listing individual didactic experiences. Overall, APPCN membership is much more common for neuro fellowships than is APA accreditation, although as WisNeuro mentioned, neither one is actually required for ABPP.

 

[Existenz]

Quick note about APA-accredited vs. APPCN-member: if I'm remembering my ABPP application correctly, having either one for your postdoc will allow you to skip a whole bunch of steps related to listing individual didactic experiences. Overall, APPCN membership is much more common for neuro fellowships than is APA accreditation, although as WisNeuro mentioned, neither one is actually required for ABPP.

Yep it's either APA accred. or APPCN Member. But if the program is in the APPCN match but not a member or APA accred. it doesn't allow you to skip steps.

 

[gabbbby16]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this question. I can't seem to figure out what university is the best choice for a student who is hoping to become a pediatric neuropsychologist. I am interested in research and would love to do both clinical and research oriented work after becoming licensed. I am currently a senior at Suffolk University. I have found a few schools with a neuropsych track, but they are limited. Should I be looking for clinical psych PhD programs with a concentration in neuropsych, or placing more focus on other programs such as a PhD in neuroscience or brain sciences? I am really lost and any info would be more than helpful! I have pretty competitive credentials so I am keeping my options open I just have to find out exactly what those options are. I am currently looking at:
University of Rhode Island
University of Connecticut
Suffolk University
Boston University
Any other suggestions?