neuropsychology

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serotonin

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I am interested in being a neuropsychologist in a hospital setting, both clinical and helping out with research studies, as well as and maybe doing some forensic work on the side. I am especially interested in the neuropsychology of psychiatric illness- ie is Mary seeing martians because she's schizophrenic or did she injure her occipital lobe? I've been testing patients for the past 5 years and absolutely love it.

I have some interviews at clinical psych PhD programs with different emphases on neuropsych. One school has a totally separate track for neuropsychology, one offers a neuropsych "specialization" within the clinical psych program, and another offers a few neuropsych classes but no specific neuropsych differentiation.

I have heard from different people that I should take many general classes now and concentrate on neuropsych during my post doc so as to not limit my choices, but others have said to focus on neuropsych more if I'm sure that's what I want to do. What do YOU think?

If it matters, my undergraduate background was in neuroscience and I have actually taken very few psychology classes (I took mostly biology and chemistry and only 2 psych classes that weren't physiologically oriented).

Thanks!

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I am interested in being a neuropsychologist in a hospital setting, both clinical and helping out with research studies, as well as and maybe doing some forensic work on the side. I am especially interested in the neuropsychology of psychiatric illness- ie is Mary seeing martians because she's schizophrenic or did she injure her occipital lobe? I've been testing patients for the past 5 years and absolutely love it.

I have some interviews at clinical psych PhD programs with different emphases on neuropsych. One school has a totally separate track for neuropsychology, one offers a neuropsych "specialization" within the clinical psych program, and another offers a few neuropsych classes but no specific neuropsych differentiation.

I have heard from different people that I should take many general classes now and concentrate on neuropsych during my post doc so as to not limit my choices, but others have said to focus on neuropsych more if I'm sure that's what I want to do. What do YOU think?

If it matters, my undergraduate background was in neuroscience and I have actually taken very few psychology classes (I took mostly biology and chemistry and only 2 psych classes that weren't physiologically oriented).

Thanks!

Sounds like you already have a good foundation. Ideally a neuropsych track or specialization will serve your purposes. Check out the div 40 guidelines and see if the program adheres to these. Make sure that they have a sequence of neuropsych courses that include neuropathology, neuroanatomy, and neuropsych testing. Also that should have practicums set up in neuro settings. Any program that has this in place will likely suite your needs whether there is a track or not. Don't neglect the other aspects of training though.
 
I have a related question. How do people feel about different kinds of neuropsych externships? I am a doctoral neuropsych student with two years of hospital-based experience in neuropsych testing, report writing, and feedbacks. This next year (my last year) I can apply to hospitals again, but also know of a great private practice neuropsychology office. I think I might gain more comprehensive experience with a variety of kinds of patients at the private practice site, but worry that it will not look very impressive when I apply to hospital settings for internship this coming fall. Would it look like a step down? There seems to be a stigma against training in private practice settings. Superficial of me probably, but I know the name game is big in this field and getting a division 40 internship is a priority.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
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I have a related question. How do people feel about different kinds of neuropsych externships? I am a doctoral neuropsych student with two years of hospital-based experience in neuropsych testing, report writing, and feedbacks. This next year (my last year) I can apply to hospitals again, but also know of a great private practice neuropsychology office. I think I might gain more comprehensive experience with a variety of kinds of patients at the private practice site, but worry that it will not look very impressive when I apply to hospital settings for internship this coming fall. Would it look like a step down? There seems to be a stigma against training in private practice settings. Superficial of me probably, but I know the name game is big in this field and getting a division 40 internship is a priority.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Are there any ABPPs at the private practice?
 
That's a good question. Well respected in the community, but I'm not sure credentialed.

On another matter, are there any neuropsych types on here who have made a career working with both kids and adults? The training is quite stratified and I am trying to do both. Worried that at some point I may be spreading myself too thin. Curious about your experiences, and particularly how such choices impact internship and postdoc decisions.
 
That's a good question. Well respected in the community, but I'm not sure credentialed.

On another matter, are there any neuropsych types on here who have made a career working with both kids and adults? The training is quite stratified and I am trying to do both. Worried that at some point I may be spreading myself too thin. Curious about your experiences, and particularly how such choices impact internship and postdoc decisions.

I only work with adults, but I have colleagues that do both. They generally trained in settings that had both adult and pediatric neuropsych so they were able to be proficient in both. For me, I would feel spread too thin and I chose to focus.
 
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