Neuropsych fellowship guidance

[PsyPsy]

If I decided to pursue a Neuropsych post-doc at a VA, would that significantly “pigeonhole” me in the job market given that I’m already doing internship at a VA and did practicum at a VA, too?

The post-doc that offered me the position is a large VA system, has multiple inpatient and outpatient opportunities (including ones within Neurology), and is affiliated with a well-known AMC where I could work one day per week. They also provide protected time for research. So, on paper it all sounds great - I’m just thinking about future prospects in the job market if I have VA’s all over my CV if that’ll diminish my chances of working at an AMC or other hospital-based system in the future, for example. Yes, I know that research productivity, who I trained under, and where I went to school can all factor - but I’m primarily just talking about clinical work/post-doc sites at the moment.

Most of my mentors work in VA’s and I’ve already consulted with my dissertation chair - so I would appreciate the guidance from others.

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[WisNeuro]

If I decided to pursue a Neuropsych post-doc at a VA, would that significantly “pigeonhole” me in the job market given that I’m already doing internship at a VA and did practicum at a VA, too?

The post-doc that offered me the position is a large VA system, has multiple inpatient and outpatient opportunities (including ones within Neurology), and is affiliated with a well-known AMC where I could work one day per week. They also provide protected time for research. So, on paper it all sounds great - I’m just thinking about future prospects in the job market if I have VA’s all over my CV if that’ll diminish my chances of working at an AMC or other hospital-based system in the future, for example. Yes, I know that research productivity, who I trained under, and where I went to school can all factor - but I’m primarily just talking about clinical work/post-doc sites at the moment.

Most of my mentors work in VA’s and I’ve already consulted with my dissertation chair - so I would appreciate the guidance from others.

Not at all. Lot's of VA trained folks are getting jobs in hospital systems. As to the AMC aspect, I know a lot of more research minded colleagues who were VA trained and are now in VAs. Now, if you did very little research in postdoc, that may limit your AMC prospects, but that's productivity dependent, not due to VA stuff.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Agree with the above: most likely no. The bigger issue, as WisNeuro mentioned and as you've also identified, would be if you were going for a research-based position but had little to no research experience on postdoc and/or previously.

AMCs can tend to see some of the rarer conditions, especially if they have clinics dedicated to such. At the VA, you're very likely to get experience evaluating and treating patients who might be considered "difficult" and/or "complex."