Hello! I’m a graduate student going off to internship this summer. I have been interested in the Neuropsychology route for a while now but unfortunately wasn’t able to land a Neuro internship. In my program we also only have generalist training—not Neuro track. I only had one Neuro prac where due to lack of familiarity with handling very challenging child behavior, my supervisor only allowed me to do the psychoed component of the evals after a couple of months of observing though I’ve done more extensive testing at our university clinic. In my internship we have set our 1day/week for evaluations (Neuro, psych, asylum etc). So my question is this, will I still be elegible to apply for Neuropsych post docs? I realize that I’ll be competing with people who have multiple Neuro pracs and possibly even Neuro focused internships. However, I’ve also heard people get into Neuro postdocs with minimal experience and that there are typically more postdocs spots than applicants. I am curious to know what people’s experiences have been in this regard and how things play out in reality.
Non-traditional route to Neuro Postdocs
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You're definitely still eligible in a broad sense, as essentially anyone who has completed a (usually APA-accredited) doctoral program is eligible. The issue, which you also mention, is one of competitiveness. It'll be an uphill battle, but I do know of folks who landed fellowships in similar positions. Many folks who have generalist training in grad school will start to have more neuro experience and focus on internship, but that isn't to say it's never happened otherwise. You'll want to see if there's anything else you can do while on internship to bump your neuro (and general assessment) experience. That catch is that you'll need to begin applying for postdoc pretty soon after starting internship, so your time is pretty limited to fit some of those extra activities in before your applications go out.
All that being said, if what you're able to get on internship is limited (e.g., no possibility of attending things like brain cuttings, neurology grand rounds, neuropsychology case conferences, etc.), you can check online resources such as with NAN and SCN for online activities they might offer. There's also the KnowNeuropsychology series that you could sign up for and, I believe, look back through in-between new "episodes." And probably most importantly--apply broadly. The advice I received was to aim for around 7 to 10 programs; in your case, if possible, I might try for twice that.
Thank you so much for your advice! I followed it and applied to a ton of sites. I snagged some interviews and definitely got a lot of rejections. I’m now just waiting after my interviews. I recently received an offer for a 1-year assessment focused postdoc (backup plan to neuro post doc)… I have no other offers…do you think a1yr assessment only postdoc could serve as a stepping stone to a neuro postdoc afterwards? Or is that not seen positively?
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At my former sites, we did not generally consider individuals who had completed other postdocs for our postdoc in neuropsych. Almost universally, these applicants lacked a strong neuropsych foundation to begin with, and the postdoc is not the place to get that. It's a fairly hectic two years of advanced learning, and to try and also cram what should have been years of foundational training/knowledge in as well was simply not feasible.
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1) If I were in that position, I would apply to rehabilitation psych post docs.
a. The rehab people seem to be accepted as synonymous with neuro in academic and legal settings.
b. Rehab psychologists still do testing. However, the testing is usually done to document patients' abilities. This is different than neuropsychologists' focus on using testing for differential diagnosis. I am not sure if neuropsychological testing will be useful for diagnostic purposes in the future.
c. Recently insurance is paying less and less for neuropsychological testing. Not stagnating... going down. If that trend continues for a few years, it will become harder to make a living doing neuropsychological testing. You can still make a decent living, but you'll have to work harder. Many neuropsychologists moving towards treatment. If you look at the literature, treatment is more of the purview of rehab psychologists.
d. It's easier to get into a rehab postdoc, and they might still accept an informal post doc.
a. The rehab people seem to be accepted as synonymous with neuro in academic and legal settings.
b. Rehab psychologists still do testing. However, the testing is usually done to document patients' abilities. This is different than neuropsychologists' focus on using testing for differential diagnosis. I am not sure if neuropsychological testing will be useful for diagnostic purposes in the future.
c. Recently insurance is paying less and less for neuropsychological testing. Not stagnating... going down. If that trend continues for a few years, it will become harder to make a living doing neuropsychological testing. You can still make a decent living, but you'll have to work harder. Many neuropsychologists moving towards treatment. If you look at the literature, treatment is more of the purview of rehab psychologists.
d. It's easier to get into a rehab postdoc, and they might still accept an informal post doc.
