ABCN Post-doc?

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I'm wondering if anyone can help me get some info on the post-doc application process for neuropsych? Do you have to do an ABCN accredited post-doc? What is the cost/benefit? Does doing a non-neuropsychology (less than 50%, but still a rotation) significantly hurt your chances?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

There's technically no such thing as an ABCN-accredited postdoc, as ABCN does not accredit postdocs (or any other training programs). Rather, ABCN is a specialty board of ABPP that's "responsible for administration of the examination for competence in the specialty of Clinical Neuropsychology" (per the ABCN website).

There are APPCN-member fellowships. But again, APPCN does not accredit fellowships. One does not need to complete an APPCN-member and/or APA-accredited neuropsychology fellowship to be eligible for board-certification or to be a neuropsychologist. For ABPP certification, one does need to complete a fellowship consistent with the Houston conference guidelines, including that it generally be two years in length, have a certain percentage of time devoted specifically to training in the practice of clinical neuropsychology, and include instruction/didactics in a variety of topics.

The term "neuropsychologist" is not protected in most states. Thus, in many instances, the only thing technically stopping a psychologist from calling themselves a neuropsychologist is essentially their own view of their competence. And whether or not they'd ever want to have to try to defend that determination.

 

[NEUROHERO123]

Does doing a non-neuropsychology (less than 50%, but still a rotation) significantly hurt your chances?

I assume you might be referring to a internship without a formal neuropsychology track. It can be helpful to have a "neuropsychology track" mainly because those tend to be supported by the program with faculty, didactics, and resources marked for specialty training vs other experiences. It also might be more enjoyable for you if you are a neuro-bound type of person.

An individuals sum total of experiences is what is really important here. If you have had good experiences throughout your graduate training and do less than 50% on internship but the experience you do get on internship is good quality training with board-certified people you are fine. If you had less exposure in graduate school gaining that additional formal training on internship track would probably be very valuable to your application. Both pathways are consistent with the HCG. Any reputable training program in neuropsychology is going to want you to have developed foundational competency in psychology more generally prior to postdoctoral specialization - training in psychotherapy, broad patient populations, consultation, and assessment is not a liability. At least that is what we say we want.

APPCN is not necessary to be a neuropsychologist or get board certified as mentioned. That said they offer a little more guarantee that you'll be attending a program that follows the HCG, provides adequate supervision and didactics, and abides by certain policies that are probably in your best interest. Some postdocs are accredited by APA which could indicate that the healthcare system devoted a lot of resources to the program to meet their accreditation requirements, there is formal due process, and I think in these cases less likely to be a complete rat-hole because it gets periodically inspected with site visits.

Likely the only "con" to doing an APPCN program is the match process which can be a stressful thing for some people.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

And to add to the above, the credential review paperwork for ABPP is much easier on the applicant's part if their fellowship was an APPCN member and/or is APA-accredited.