PhD/PsyD When scientist and practitioner have little overlap...

[psychobabble_]

I'm currently in the middle years of a clinical Ph.D. at a research-focused program. I'm interested in pursuing a research career and seem to be on track for a job in that area (i.e., solid publication record + some hopefully high impact stuff in the pipeline, etc). That said, my research is increasingly unrelated to clinical science (e.g., in the normal range personality/social psych ballpark) and, accordingly, there is virtually no overlap between my clinical work and research work. My advisor is 100% research focused and my collaborators are in non-clinical fields. Often, I feel like I'm juggling entirely distinct responsibilities -- it's certainly not the boulder model working as intended. moreover, I'm thriving in the research arena but am struggling to devote sufficient time and energy to the clinical side of things...I often describe my decision-making process regarding how best to allocate my time as "triage." This concern has been reflected in evaluations from my clinical supervisors, which is certainly distressing to me. But, as I'm acutely aware, getting a TT job or a good postdoc requires continued research productivity, and I worry that every hour spent on clinical work is an hour that a competing candidate for such a position--one who did not come from a clinical background--will have over me.

One thought I've had is forgoing an external practicum one year and using a sixth year to make up the hours. Frankly, I don't see a clinical job in my future, but I do enjoy clinical work to some extent and seem to be reasonably good at it thus far; hence, I don't want to drop clinical just from a pragmatic standpoint. The academic job market is fickle and if I get licensed I'll have a back-up option. Plus, I partially suspect that being able to supervise students may help rather than hurt me if I apply for social/personality jobs at schools with clinical grad programs (i.e., I bet the clinical faculty will vote to hire me).

Has anyone else been in this position? Even if not, any advice? I feel like I'm at a crossroads and will have to choose a path soon.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

seems like the path is clear. Do what you do best.

 

[deleted343839]

Often, I feel like I'm juggling entirely distinct responsibilities -- it's certainly not the boulder model working as intended. moreover, I'm thriving in the research arena but am struggling to devote sufficient time and energy to the clinical side of things...I often describe my decision-making process regarding how best to allocate my time as "triage."

This is not an unusual experience in more research intensive programs. It's also not unusual that your research and clinical activities don't overlap much. This is also a concern of people whose research falls into niche areas where they might not have a lot of access to the patient population outside of a research setting. It's maybe not ideal but also not a major problem.

I agree that it's worthwhile to take the steps to become licensed. If you will consider jobs outside of R1 universities (eg, academic medical centers, R2s, regional/smaller uni's) then licensure may indeed become more important for your candidacy. As long as you have sufficient practicum hours to put together a strong internship application you'll most likely be fine. Assuming you're at a program with a high match rate, try to find out the range of hours that people in recent cohorts have had for their applications. I think it's worth applying for internship even if you're on the low end of that range (though this is not to replace the advice of your DCT, who can give you more nuanced guidance).

Plus, I partially suspect that being able to supervise students may help rather than hurt me if I apply for social/personality jobs at schools with clinical grad programs (i.e., I bet the clinical faculty will vote to hire me).

Sneak preview: clinical faculty might not* vote on your appointment to a social/personality job at all, and will not care much about licensure if your job is to mentor social/personality students.

*edited per comments below

 

[psychobabble_]

Many, many thanks for the thoughtful and helpful answers!

 

[futureapppsy2]

This is not an unusual experience in more research intensive programs. It's also not unusual that your research and clinical activities don't overlap much. This is also a concern of people whose research falls into niche areas where they might not have a lot of access to the patient population outside of a research setting. It's maybe not ideal but also not a major problem.

I agree that it's worthwhile to take the steps to become licensed. If you will consider jobs outside of R1 universities (eg, academic medical centers, R2s, regional/smaller uni's) then licensure may indeed become more important for your candidacy. As long as you have sufficient practicum hours to put together a strong internship application you'll most likely be fine. Assuming you're at a program with a high match rate, try to find out the range of hours that people in recent cohorts have had for their applications. I think it's worth applying for internship even if you're on the low end of that range (though this is not to replace the advice of your DCT, who can give you more nuanced guidance).



Sneak preview: clinical faculty probably won't vote on your appointment to a social/personality job at all, and will not care much about licensure if your job is to mentor social/personality students.

Depends on the department. In some departments, all the faculty do vote on every appointment.

 

[Seven_Costanza]

Just to reassure you a little, I am from a research intensive program with not much regard for clinical activities. My clinical interests and research interests have very little overlap. I also have relatively low clinical hours (I’d advise you to get at least 400 hours) and it did not hinder me for this internship cycle at all. As someone said above, do what you do best.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[DynamicDidactic]

Sneak preview: clinical faculty probably won't vote on your appointment to a social/personality job at all, and will not care much about licensure if your job is to mentor social/personality students.

I am not sure about the accuracy of this statement. I've seen the inner workings of a just a hand full of searches and here is my anecdotal experience. Typically, the entire faculty vote for candidates but it is highly driven by the hiring committee, which will be mostly made up of faculty from the program looking for a hire. So, if the hiring committee liked a clinical person that does social/personality research, I don't see why the clinical faculty would mind. If anything, getting a person that can mentor students from numerous programs within a department is preferential.

 

[futureapppsy2]

I am not sure about the accuracy of this statement. I've seen the inner workings of a just a hand full of searches and here is my anecdotal experience. Typically, the entire faculty vote for candidates but it is highly driven by the hiring committee, which will be mostly made up of faculty from the program looking for a hire. So, if the hiring committee liked a clinical person that does social/personality research, I don't see why the clinical faculty would mind. If anything, getting a person that can mentor students from numerous programs within a department is preferential.

This really varies by university—some have the whole department vote, others have only select faculty (usually the search committee) vote. At all universities I am familiar with, though, the dean actually makes the decision.

 

[deleted343839]

This really varies by university—some have the whole department vote, others have only select faculty (usually the search committee) vote. At all universities I am familiar with, though, the dean actually makes the decision.

Good points! I will go back and edit my post above.

So, if the hiring committee liked a clinical person that does social/personality research, I don't see why the clinical faculty would mind.

I didn't say they'd mind. All I'm saying is that if a clinically trained candidate is being hired for a social/personality area job, then their ability to provide clinical supervision would probably not be much of a selling point. Even in some clinical programs this hardly matters.