Post-doc applicants

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Has anyone heard from Hines VA (PTSD-SUD)? OR San Francisco VA PTSD-SUD?

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Any word from Houston VA's yet for anyone?

I've heard back from Houston (MEDVAMC). Feel free to PM for additional info if you'd like.

All in all, there's only one site left that I haven't yet heard from (the other contacted me this morning). I'm honestly about ready to write it off at this point, as I've been fortunate enough to secure a decent number of interviews already (6 or 7 of which will be at INS...eek).

Continued best wishes to everyone else going through this process.
 
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Still waiting on:
Ann Arbor VA
Memphis VA
Tampa VA (Pain track)
Minneapolis VA
 
I think I mentioned earlier that I've heard from Memphis and Tampa (Haley), but I'm guessing (or, in the case of Tampa, I know) it's for a different track.
Yes, you did. Thank you. To clarify I am applying to Health/Pain/Primary Care post docs only. No neuro for me :)
 
Does anyone else have to give a job talk during their post doc interview? I have to do one, and I am a wee bit stressed over it.
 
Does anyone else have to give a job talk during their post doc interview? I have to do one, and I am a wee bit stressed over it.

I have to give a 10-minute presentation based on 8-pages of made-up information/data (that they send ahead of time) for the VA National Center for Organization Development postdoc. Also have to do writing samples of how I would approach various consulting situations while I'm there. Much different interview experience than I'm used to!
 
Has anyone heard back from Loyola University Chicago Medical Center?

Thanks!
 
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Has anyone heard from Cleveland Gero? I know their PTSD notifications have gone out... also waiting on Oklahoma HSC, but their deadline was just last week. Anyone?
 
Hi Gotta,
The Cleveland email I got was specific to the Psychosocial Rehab track.
 
Hey there...for those who have heard from Houston - which tracks? I applied for Anx/trauma and its been crickets....

Anyone hear from Baltimore VAMC (trauma), Gainesville (PTSD), or Bay Pines (women & trauma?). Thanks!
 
Hey there...for those who have heard from Houston - which tracks? I applied for Anx/trauma and its been crickets....

Anyone hear from Baltimore VAMC (trauma), Gainesville (PTSD), or Bay Pines (women & trauma?). Thanks!
I have heard bay pines women and trauma offered interviews a week or 2 ago
 
I just heard from Memphis VA Health Track :)
 
"I have to give a 10-minute presentation based on 8-pages of made-up information/data (that they send ahead of time) for the VA National Center for Organization Development postdoc. Also have to do writing samples of how I would approach various consulting situations while I'm there. Much different interview experience than I'm used to!"


Yes that is unusual. I guess they can eliminate variability in data quality and focus on evaluating your presentation and understanding of the material provided.
 
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I am wondering how important APA Postdoc accreditation is to non-neuropsych people, especially health psych people. I have interviews at 2 APA health psych accredited postdocs, 2 generally accredited APA postdocs, and 2 non-accredited postdocs. All are for health psych tracks. I am not sure how much weight I should put on accreditation status. Any thoughts on this?
 
I am wondering how important APA Postdoc accreditation is to non-neuropsych people, especially health psych people. I have interviews at 2 APA health psych accredited postdocs, 2 generally accredited APA postdocs, and 2 non-accredited postdocs. All are for health psych tracks. I am not sure how much weight I should put on accreditation status. Any thoughts on this?
My understanding is that APA does not matter for post-doc. I actually don't even know which of my sites are APA-accreditation. Of course I am mental health and don't know if it is different for health psych, though I suspect that it is not.
 
I've heard back from Houston (MEDVAMC). Feel free to PM for additional info if you'd like.

All in all, there's only one site left that I haven't yet heard from (the other contacted me this morning). I'm honestly about ready to write it off at this point, as I've been fortunate enough to secure a decent number of interviews already (6 or 7 of which will be at INS...eek).

Continued best wishes to everyone else going through this process.

Sent you PM. Which track did you apply to?
 
FINALLY!!! :) Just one more to hear from, and they had a February deadline. I was about to start doing A-B-C worksheets on not hearing from sites...
 
My understanding is that APA does not matter for post-doc. I actually don't even know which of my sites are APA-accreditation. Of course I am mental health and don't know if it is different for health psych, though I suspect that it is not.

Yes, I have also heard that it does not matter now in the sense that nobody requires an APA postdoc for a job, licensure, etc.. However, it does seem to me that the APA fellowships are more comprehensive in the training experiences they offer. Supervision training, teaching, admin, and program development seem to be more important in the APA fellowships, and are often not mentioned in the non-APA fellowships. I wonder if APA accreditation is really a marker of the quality of training experience in many cases.
 
Anyone have any recommendations re: how long to wait before contacting a site with no stated notification date? Obviously, things are getting tight with travel planning/time off from internship with a month to go before UND, but I'm not sure if it's standard to interview for fellowships with less than a couple weeks notice.

Thanks!!
 
I'm in the same boat here... still waiting on one response. The site had a later deadline, and I'm trying to respect that, but also the Type-A in me wants to plan accordingly! Has anyone heard from Oklahoma HSC? Bueller? Bueller?
 
I am wondering how important APA Postdoc accreditation is to non-neuropsych people, especially health psych people. I have interviews at 2 APA health psych accredited postdocs, 2 generally accredited APA postdocs, and 2 non-accredited postdocs. All are for health psych tracks. I am not sure how much weight I should put on accreditation status. Any thoughts on this?

In general, I agree with Blush that APA accreditation does not matter much at the postdoctoral. I am completing my postdoc in a health-psych position at a VA that happens to be accredited, but that is more of an administratiive push within the VA than anything else. This push does not seem to be generalizing to other settings. I'm in the process of applying for jobs and it the issue hasn't come up at all. I think it is best to focus on getting good health psych experience in a place you'd like to settle down. I wouldn't weigh the APA thing too heavily at this point.
 
Anyone have any recommendations re: how long to wait before contacting a site with no stated notification date? Obviously, things are getting tight with travel planning/time off from internship with a month to go before UND, but I'm not sure if it's standard to interview for fellowships with less than a couple weeks notice.

Thanks!!

It is common to have a fast turn around from invite to interview (approximatey 2 weeks) when applying for postdoc, which is a pain. I found that sites were far more accomodating (and sometimes encouraging) of phone interviews than they were for internship search. Of course if it is one of your top choices, it is generally advised to go in person as much for yourself as for the program. In terms of contact, I'd say that if the site is participating in UNDr and you haven't heard anything by now, you should definitely inquire. If it is not doing UNDr and has no set date for notification, you should probably check in a month after you've submitted your application just to see how far along they are in the process. A single inquiry is not likely to ruffle any feathers as people know that you are trying to juggle several balls right now.

Best of luck. :luck:
 
My program required an APA-accredited internship to graduate; however, my DCT told me that APA accredidation does not need to be a factor in postdoc selection.

BTW: Anyone hear from Ann Arbor U of Michigan Adult VA/ Mood Disorders track?
 
Did anyone here apply to USC Children's Hospital LA? Their application deadline was today (althoughI sent my application a while ago) but I was wondering if anyone had heard from them before the deadline.

I don't see anywhere on their site whether they participate in the UNDr. Are they required to do so as they are APA accredited?
 
It is common to have a fast turn around from invite to interview (approximatey 2 weeks) when applying for postdoc, which is a pain. I found that sites were far more accomodating (and sometimes encouraging) of phone interviews than they were for internship search. Of course if it is one of your top choices, it is generally advised to go in person as much for yourself as for the program. In terms of contact, I'd say that if the site is participating in UNDr and you haven't heard anything by now, you should definitely inquire. If it is not doing UNDr and has no set date for notification, you should probably check in a month after you've submitted your application just to see how far along they are in the process. A single inquiry is not likely to ruffle any feathers as people know that you are trying to juggle several balls right now.

Best of luck. :luck:

Thanks for the information! To my knowledge, they are not participating in UND, and they had a late deadline (Feb.1st), so I should probably relax a little. I also recently heard word that they have already sent out interview offers, so I'm thinking the news is not good whenever I do get it.

Although I think nothing is quite as stressful as the mad internship rush, I'm definitely missing the consistency and clearly laid out guidelines from there!
 
My program required an APA-accredited internship to graduate; however, my DCT told me that APA accredidation does not need to be a factor in postdoc selection.

BTW: Anyone hear from Ann Arbor U of Michigan Adult VA/ Mood Disorders track?
I have not heard from Ann Arbor VA yet either.
 
Has anyone heard back from Loyola University Chicago Medical Center?

Thanks!
Yes, they have been conducting interviews since January. I interviewed with them and they said they received double the applications from last year, so it might have been steeper competition this year.
 
Has anyone heard from Cleveland Gero? I know their PTSD notifications have gone out... also waiting on Oklahoma HSC, but their deadline was just last week. Anyone?
I'm still waiting on Oklahoma HSC and haven't heard anything either...
 
I'm wondering for those of you applying to health psych/primary care/behavioral medicine post-docs, can all of these lead to a similar career path? I have interviewed with a variety of these types, and I am wondering if anyone knows if one is better than the other (or i.e. keep more open career paths)? I'm not quite sure what I would like to do yet following post-doc, but I know I want a health psych related career, and I am trying to keep as many options open as I can.

Also, has anyone heard from the Cleveland Clinic as of yet? For those of you who have not heard from Oklahoma HSC, I feel your pain! 28 days left!
 
Yes, they have been conducting interviews since January. I interviewed with them and they said they received double the applications from last year, so it might have been steeper competition this year.

Thanks Shutterbug. I'm guessing it is a big fat no for me then! :(
 
I'm wondering for those of you applying to health psych/primary care/behavioral medicine post-docs, can all of these lead to a similar career path? I have interviewed with a variety of these types, and I am wondering if anyone knows if one is better than the other (or i.e. keep more open career paths)? I'm not quite sure what I would like to do yet following post-doc, but I know I want a health psych related career, and I am trying to keep as many options open as I can.

Also, has anyone heard from the Cleveland Clinic as of yet? For those of you who have not heard from Oklahoma HSC, I feel your pain! 28 days left!
I have applied to some places that offer rotations in all three areas, and a couple that are specific to pain or primary care. I suppose that fellowships with several different rotations keep more options open, though there is certainly overlap, and principles can be applied in different settings. I spoke with one supervisor on an interview who did her internship and fellowship specializing in pain, but then was hired to do diabetes work post-fellowship.
 
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To those in neuropsych, now that INS is over and we have a whopping 2.5-ish days to submit our rankings, I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck.

Personally, I have a relatively clearly defined set of three "tiers," but am still pretty clueless with regard to how I'm actually going to rank the sites in tier 1. I've swapped out my top set of spots probably a dozen times at this point, and will likely shuffle them around at least that much again between now and Tuesday.

Luckily, nearly all of my sites are in the match, so I don't have the added complication/frustration of having to weight the match/non-match decision. I can definitely feel for those of you in that tough spot, though.
 
To those in neuropsych, now that INS is over and we have a whopping 2.5-ish days to submit our rankings, I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck.

Personally, I have a relatively clearly defined set of three "tiers," but am still pretty clueless with regard to how I'm actually going to rank the sites in tier 1. I've swapped out my top set of spots probably a dozen times at this point, and will likely shuffle them around at least that much again between now and Tuesday.

Luckily, nearly all of my sites are in the match, so I don't have the added complication/frustration of having to weight the match/non-match decision. I can definitely feel for those of you in that tough spot, though.

I'm kinda of curious out how people continue to be so geographically flexible/unlimited after this many years. I cant be the only one with a spouse who "don't play dat" (as homey the clown would say), can I? She has a career too! And are people willing to move, AGAIN, after post-doc. Geez. I dont think I'm quite as nomadic as many in this field, lol
 
I'm kinda of curious out how people continue to be so geographically flexible/unlimited after this many years. I cant be the only one with a spouse who "don't play dat" (as homey the clown would say), can I? She has a career too! And are people willing to move, AGAIN, after post-doc. Geez. I dont think I'm quite as nomadic as many in this field, lol

Based only on what I've seen directly (both with myself and with peers), it seems that people are--like you--much more selective with respect to location for post-doc. During the whole internship application process, I often heard people say, as I'm sure many of us did, "I can live anywhere for a year." I haven't once heard this for postdoc. The majority of applicants I've spoken with are limiting their searches to one or two geographic regions in light of the factors you've mentioned. They're generally applying to places that are located where they'd like to end up in the long run.

Those who aren't limiting themselves basically still want to move around a bit, and would likely have planned to move within a few years regardless.

In my own case, I'm able to be very flexible geographically if I desired. However, even then, my top sites are all in the same region, with many being grouped in the same state. And location is playing a MUCH larger role in my final rankings.
 
I'm kinda of curious out how people continue to be so geographically flexible/unlimited after this many years. I cant be the only one with a spouse who "don't play dat" (as homey the clown would say), can I? She has a career too! And are people willing to move, AGAIN, after post-doc. Geez. I dont think I'm quite as nomadic as many in this field, lol

I would agree, it is very difficult if you have keep moving to different regions of the country with a spouse. I feel horrible and guilty about it all the time, and thankfully my spouse is just understanding and willing to let me finish my training the way I want to, since there aren't really any post-docs in the area we are from originally. Fortunately, my husband also has a very "replaceable" job (he's a bank teller), so he is pretty flexible with the location we move. He's planning on going to graduate school when I am licensed and settled down in an area of work, so we're just taking turns. Doesn't mean I still don't feel terrible about dragging him around the country, and he's becoming very resentful of the clinical psychology field for all of these rules and requirements for training. :(
 
I'm kinda of curious out how people continue to be so geographically flexible/unlimited after this many years. I cant be the only one with a spouse who "don't play dat" (as homey the clown would say), can I? She has a career too! And are people willing to move, AGAIN, after post-doc. Geez. I dont think I'm quite as nomadic as many in this field, lol

After doing this current year of internship long distance, and having basically every spare penny I make (which, as we know, is not a lot this year!) go to visiting my fiance, I'm definitely geographically restricting myself a lot more this time around. He can't move next year, but at the very least, I'm hoping to be within driving distance of him, if not in the same city.

It's hard, because my career is so important to me, but now that I'm thirty, I'm getting a little sick of this lifestyle, I have to say. I'm getting more and more jealous of my friends who know where they're going to live for the next decade, let along the next year.
 
I'm kinda of curious out how people continue to be so geographically flexible/unlimited after this many years. I cant be the only one with a spouse who "don't play dat" (as homey the clown would say), can I? She has a career too! And are people willing to move, AGAIN, after post-doc. Geez. I dont think I'm quite as nomadic as many in this field, lol
My S.O. is an academic and is on the job market right now too. We are trying to apply to several cities/states where we would be able to live together or at least visit every weekend... But we are well aware that we may have to live apart for another year or two if we both want to pursue our career goals. It is an unfortunate fact of life for us right now. I will likely have to try to find a job in the area where he lands a tenure-track university position- but that may take a while to figure out.
 
To those in neuropsych, now that INS is over and we have a whopping 2.5-ish days to submit our rankings, I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck.

Personally, I have a relatively clearly defined set of three "tiers," but am still pretty clueless with regard to how I'm actually going to rank the sites in tier 1. I've swapped out my top set of spots probably a dozen times at this point, and will likely shuffle them around at least that much again between now and Tuesday.

Luckily, nearly all of my sites are in the match, so I don't have the added complication/frustration of having to weight the match/non-match decision. I can definitely feel for those of you in that tough spot, though.


I'm really happy that the decision making process is so compressed--less time to agonize and pontificate!
 
is there a clearinghouse for appcn sites? If so, it would not be that many huh?
 
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