Health Psychology PsyD and PhD Programs in the US

[psychstudent9090]

Hi everyone,

I am an aspiring health psychologist and researcher living in Australia. I have recently completed my undergraduate qualifications, which include an accredited bachelor's degree in psychology and my honours year. I have fairly good grades, and a little experience.

Unfortunately I was recently rejected from the only health psychology doctorate in Australia, so I am now looking into options overseas. How do things work in the US and Canada? Are there separate professional bodies for the US and Canada - or are they lumped together?

I am interested in a career as a practicing health psychologist, as well as doing some research (e.g. as a research fellow). Which course would be best for me - the PsyD or PhD?

Also, where do I find a list of all of the accredited health psychology programs in the US?

Thanks so much!

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[WisNeuro]

PhD is the clear route if you want solid research backing as well. As far as the health focus, I would look into clinical psychology Ph.D's that offer health focused practica placements. They're more common than you would think. Unfortunately you're not a US citizen, so you wouldn't be eligible for internships/fellowships within the VA system where positions have been expanding rapidly.

 

[psychstudent9090]

Thanks WisNeuro. In Australia PhDs are pure research, but they must be different in the US. Is there a website that lists all PhDs in the US?

 

[LisaLisa86]

If you want to practice and do health psych research, I suggest PhD programs that are called: "health clinical programs", "clinical health programs", "medical and clinical psychology", etc. This will give you health psych research with a clinical psych degree (ex. practice)- although you might want to look at what the requirements are to get licensed in Australia before you go abroad and do a clinical psych program.

Off the top of my head, depending on your research interest:UCLA (health psych only- no practicing), Ohio University (clinical health psych), USUHS (medical and clinical psychology), University of Miami (health clinical), University of Pittsburgh (joint clinical and health program). In the US, we generally start with research interest (ex. stress) and then figure out what professor we want to work with as a first priority, with the program coming somewhat of a second priority (however, a first priority relating to programs is generally clinical vs not clinical). That being said, if your research interests are a bit more general, then looking at websites and professors' research interests for these programs may help guide you.

I don't know a list of ALL programs in the US, but if you look on Amazon, there are plenty of books focused on Clinical Psych (APA, Insider's Guide) with information on "tracks" like Health Psych in it, I think. The best way to find programs is through talking to other people (aka this forum), looking up specific professors that have published interesting research, and the internet :-D. It's time-consuming, but a very informative and useful process to go through. When I did my first pass of pontential programs, I think I had about 100 on my list, which I then got down to 12 based on professors at the programs that I wanted to work with, asking other people for schools or researchers I may have missed and/or professors I definitely didn't want to work with, etc.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily limit yourself to programs that are pure health psychology. You will find some professors who do health psychology research within a clinical psychology department. There really aren't that many health psych programs- it's a fairly new area of psychology- so it's equally important to pay attention to the type of research the professor is doing, even if they aren't at a pure health psych program.

Just my two cents!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Just to add on to the schools mentioned above, the University of Alabama--Birmingham and the University of North Texas both also have strong health psych tracks/training. Although as was mentioned above, your research match with potential advisors will be one of the key determining factors in helping you figure out whether or not you'll be competitive and compatible with any program. And, also as mentioned above, looking only for explicit health psych tracks/programs really will limit your results (in much the same way as would looking only for programs with explicit neuropsych tracks if that were your interest). My grad program, for example, was a general clinical program, but depending on your advisor, you could do neuropsych, health psych, trauma, substance abuse, developmental disorders, etc.

If there's a medical school or other large hospital nearby, then there's probably someone at the local university doing health psych-type work.

 

[QAsPsych]

You say you want to practice so it seems a degree in clinical psychology is what you would want, not just health psychology.

http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/programs/clinical.aspx This is the list of schools with APA accredited clinical PhD or PsyD degrees. Ignore all of the Alliants and Argosies and professional schools. There's a huge number of programs with an emphasis in health, more than any person here can rattle off, but as noted above research match is important and some people do great health psych work at programs that don't have a track in this specific area. For me personally in going through this list I found a lot of great programs doing "health psychology," but their specific areas of study within health were addiction and/or obesity, which don't hold a great deal of interest for me, so the programs with a health component which I applied to were limited by my interests quite a bit. Having a sense of your specific interests in health psychology is really necessary before you can go through this list and find a good match for you.

 

[erg923]

I am not really convinced one needs to go to an entire program that specializes in health psych (UMKC, UAB), although it couldn't hurt, I'm sure. As long as training is available in multiple hospital/medical settings and there is at least one class that helps to academicaly supplement the training, I think you'll be just fine.

I actually did a neuropsych track in grad school, but am now working in primary care mental health in the VA, which is alot of health psych stuff...although there is a pretty good variety of stuff going on in my clinic. I really think of myself as a rather traditional psychologist who is doing integration work in the medical setting rather than one that is expert of specializes in health psych though.

 

[bcliff]

Isn't there a link to a map of all the accredited programs in one of the stickies? I always thought that was especially useful when comparing/contrasting programs. I would think the map would be especially helpful for someone applying from outside the U.S.

edit: here's the link
http://psychologymaps.com

 

[rlw23]

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Clinical PhD program also has health specialization

 

[searpr]

University of North Carolina-Charlotte has a clinical health PhD program.

 

[MCParent]

I am not really convinced one needs to go to an entire program that specializes in health psych (UMKC, UAB), although it couldn't hurt, I'm sure. As long as training is available in multiple hospital/medical settings and there is at least one class that helps to academicaly supplement the training, I think you'll be just fine.

Clinical Health Psych is a recognized speciality now (http://cospp.org/specialties/clinical-health-psychology), so I think I would grant that there is a slight advantage to attending a program offering a recognized track (at the very least, in networking), though I do agree with you in general.

 

[erg923]

Clinical Health Psych is a recognized speciality now (http://cospp.org/specialties/clinical-health-psychology), so I think I would grant that there is a slight advantage to attending a program offering a recognized track (at the very least, in networking), though I do agree with you in general.

What would be an benefit of seeking ABPP for clinical health (or general clinical psych) in my case? I think I would have to wait a couple more years anyway, because I did not do a clinical post-doc. Is that accurate?

 

[MCParent]

Is that accurate?

Post-docs are beyond my realm of knowledge. I have heard people who cannot get ABPP (bc of doing an unaccredited program, or whatever) lament that they cannot get it and they've told me it is a problem for them, so I assume something good comes of it if not being able to do it is bad.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I know the health psych folks at my VA are trying to encourage current trainees to go the boarding (or at least board-eligible) route, although I'm not sure if there are any direct substantive benefits for health as of yet. I think the general idea in many of the specialty areas is currently trying to push for the adoption of appropriate, uniform(ish) standards as well as helping the concept of board certification in psych gain traction.

 

[erg923]

I know the health psych folks at my VA are trying to encourage current trainees to go the boarding (or at least board-eligible) route, although I'm not sure if there are any direct substantive benefits for health as of yet. I think the general idea in many of the specialty areas is currently trying to push for the adoption of appropriate, uniform(ish) standards as well as helping the concept of board certification in psych gain traction.

I am going to do some research on this, as took a SLAC academic position straight from internship, saw some clients at the counseling center there one day per week just to ward of skill atrophy but didnt have any formal post-doc training cause my state didn't require it. I probably had 200 direct contact hours last year at most. I got licensed last month. I am now a primary care psych at VA CBOC here. So, my understanding is that I have to wait 3 years before I can even apply.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

What exactly is health and medical psychology?

 

[erg923]

What exactly is health and medical psychology?

The study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness and healthcare.[1] It is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral and cultural factors are involved in physical health and illness, in addition to the biological causes that are well understood by medical science.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

The study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness and healthcare.[1] It is concerned with understanding how psychological, behavioral and cultural factors are involved in physical health and illness, in addition to the biological causes that are well understood by medical science.

Sounds interesting, is there a specific increased scope? Do the graduates work different roles?

 

[erg923]

Sounds interesting, is there a specific increased scope? Do the graduates work different roles?

No.
Yes.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

No.
Yes.

Yeah, it's actually more of a limited than expanded scope, if anything (much like any other specialty-related practice). For the programs that offer tracks/emphases in it at the grad school level, there are usually a couple physio-type classes in addition to the normal slate of clinical psych coursework. Practica/internship/postdoc experiences, understandably, most often happen in hospitals...usually, but not always, in an integrated primary care mental health capacity. My understanding is that at least in the "ideal"/original PCMH model, there's a big focus on time-limited, empirically-supported interventions focusing on a variety of issues, including health-related behaviors, compliance, and adjustment. Transplant and bariatric surgery evaluations are other areas commonly worked by health/medical psych folks, and lots of research (that I've seen anyway) focuses on healthcare utilization and access disparities (in addition to the aforementioned areas). There are also some even more focused postdocs popping up in HIV/Hepatitis C specifically.

 

[WisNeuro]

What would be an benefit of seeking ABPP for clinical health (or general clinical psych) in my case? I think I would have to wait a couple more years anyway, because I did not do a clinical post-doc. Is that accurate?

Many VA's will give you step increases for getting boarded. Depends on the director. Not sure about benefits in other systems.