PhD/PsyD Postdoc and beyond

[eeaaagggllee]

Hi everyone, I will be going into my internship this coming fall. I've had wonderful conversations with my future TD re: the direction of my training and am lucky to be in a specialty track that allows for plenty of autonomy when it comes to choosing clinical activities. I'm looking ahead and have been developing a list of post-doc sites (apologies in advance for how obvious the answers to my questions might be), I had a few (really a lot) of questions about the next steps and hoping you can all indulge me --

1. For those who searched outside of the APPIC site, what other resources did you use (i.e., what other resources are there beyond division listservs/appic postdoc listserv)?
2. How has your pre-doc and post-doc experience differed most significantly for you in applying for positions and in practice?
3. If I am interested in working specifically with oncology patients (older adults); should I broaden my search to all sites that provide primary care/health care training THEN negotiate working with this particular population, or should I be specific in my search? If my goal is to specialize with a particular population, would working with that population for only a small percentage of my time in postdoc be a hindrance?
4. For those interested in ABPP -- what has been the best way to keep of track hours, CE, and clinical experience for application to ABPP?
5. I am about to defend my dissertation and plan to take my EPPP during internship year, are there drawbacks in doing so?
6. Also, what study materials has been most helpful? I've been looking at the AATBS materials.
7. Lastly, when looking at my CV (I went straight from undergrad to gradschool), I lack administrative/leadership experiences and this has been the most elusive for me in terms of training and practice. I will be providing supervision for the first time in internship, but I am also interested in a career in directing programs along with clinical practice. I've been lurking in the forum for a while and see that a lot of you have extensive experiences in directing agencies and training programs -- what types of clinical work/administrative work in internship/postdoc has allowed you to mold your experience towards this direction?

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[deleted343839]

I'll try to answer a few of your questions (by number):

(1) I used word of mouth to find my postdoc, which was a federally funded research postdoc that accepted applicants from multiple disciplines and hence was outside of APPIC's purview. Other resources are PsycCareers.com and various APA and society listservs.

(3) If you are interested in working in oncology settings, then it seems reasonable to aim first for psycho-oncology fellowships and then aim for more general medical settings that offer an oncology rotation. Primary care would not be my first pick. The more oncology-specific experience you can get, the better.

(4) I am a candidate for ABPP certification but haven't had the time or motivation to "go all the way." In my experience it was not all that difficult to demonstrate the required experience, but qualifications vary from board to board so you'd probably be best off reaching out to someone who already has the ABPP credential you are seeking and start the credentials banking process if nothing else.

(5) Are you eligible to take the EPPP before you receive your Ph.D.? This is not the case everywhere.

(6) Everyone is different, but I liked Academic Review's study guides. Just don't buy the books new if you can avoid it. Try the Yahoo EPPP Study group or your recently-licensed colleagues and get secondhand books. If they're a few years old it's not a big deal. Do pay for online practice tests, though - it's worth it.

(7) I would venture to guess that few people get actual admin/leadership experience during predoctoral training. If your internship site allows it, though, you might consider doing a quality improvement or program evaluation-type project.

 

[cara susanna]

I can answer a few of these!

1. Our internship training director and other staff would often forward announcements, which was helpful. Other than that, listservs were really the best resource.
2. I can't talk about post-doc since I haven't started that yet, I think that I had a very different view of internship while applying than it has been in practice. Specifically, I was looking for internships with a lot of very specialized training, and in the end I don't think I realize that internship is generalist (even though I wrote it in my cover letters, haha). Some internships are more specialized than others, but all of them have generalist training. And now I really appreciate that I've had this generalist year to fill in some gaps that needed it. Post-doc seems to be the time for specialty training.
5. Another intern took the EPPP this year and seemed very, very stressed. So that was kind of the drawback. Internship is busy enough without adding that onto it. But, this intern passed and it helped them get a job so it seems like it was worth it in the end

 

[PsychPhDone]

I can answer some of these:

1. For those who searched outside of the APPIC site, what other resources did you use (i.e., what other resources are there beyond division listservs/appic postdoc listserv)?

Listservs, NIH Reporter to see who had active grants, and most importantly letting absolutely everyone I know that I was looking and what I was looking for. I got my position through networking hard.

3. If I am interested in working specifically with oncology patients (older adults); should I broaden my search to all sites that provide primary care/health care training THEN negotiate working with this particular population, or should I be specific in my search? If my goal is to specialize with a particular population, would working with that population for only a small percentage of my time in postdoc be a hindrance?

I'd try getting as much specific training as you can. If you have any other limitations and/or want some backups, try applying to positions in related areas, perhaps geropsychology or chronic pain.

7. Lastly, when looking at my CV (I went straight from undergrad to gradschool), I lack administrative/leadership experiences and this has been the most elusive for me in terms of training and practice. I will be providing supervision for the first time in internship, but I am also interested in a career in directing programs along with clinical practice. I've been lurking in the forum for a while and see that a lot of you have extensive experiences in directing agencies and training programs -- what types of clinical work/administrative work in internship/postdoc has allowed you to mold your experience towards this direction?

See if you can get an "administration rotation" on internship -- some programs have this. If not, as others have suggested, see if you can do a program evaluation project while on internship. Finally, you might be able to get on some committees to beef up your experiences, so speak with you TD and supervisors to see what's available.

Best of luck!