Supplementing courses for poor curriculum in neuropsychology

[MPRage]

Hi folks! I have two questions pertaining to an upcoming internship cycle. I am a 5th year graduate student in a clinical science program applying this year and am realizing that relative to sites that have dedicated neuropsychology tracks (i.e. U of Florida etc), my university's curriculum is really lacking.

We have a few assessment courses but do not require neuroanatomy/functional neuroanatomy or other courses that reflect strong didactic training in NP. I am considering taking a National Academy of Neuropsychology online course in clinical neuroanatomy or behavioral/cognitive neurology September thru December. I am not sure if its worthwhile, however am trying to bolster my application a bit as I have a cumulative ~600 hours of intervention/assessment and have been a bit more neuro research focused. (I meet site minimums but its impossible not to panic that I haven't done enough). Any thoughts on if this may be a worthwhile endeavor?

My second question pertains to continuing to accumulate clinical hours. I have received mixed feedback from peers that have placed at competitive NP sites that you can take a break from seeing therapy clients and NP cases the semester you apply, while others have said it may look good to show that you're continuously engaged in clinical work. Id appreciate any thoughts on the topic! My impression is that taking on clients/NP cases is worthwhile for training and breadth purposes (quality, not quantity).

Thanks so much

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[AcronymAllergy]

The NAN course is definitely one option if your program is lacking in coursework, and shows that you've taken the initiative to try to fill some of those gaps. Other than the cost, I don't see a downside to taking the course. You can also then spend time while looking for postdocs in particular to find those that offer more structured coursework (e.g., medical school-aligned neuroanatomy course) to further bolster some of this later on.

For clinical hours, it's been a while since I applied, but no one I know (neuro or not) took any time off from seeing clinical cases before, during, or after applying for internship. If this meant that you'd actually not have a clinical practicum placement the semester you applied to internship, I'd say that's a big "no no" for me. My expectation in reviewing applications was that students were continuously enrolled in clinical practicum throughout their training (as allowed by/typical for their program, such as not during the first year).

 

[summerbabe]

My second question pertains to continuing to accumulate clinical hours. I have received mixed feedback from peers that have placed at competitive NP sites that you can take a break from seeing therapy clients and NP cases the semester you apply, while others have said it may look good to show that you're continuously engaged in clinical work. Id appreciate any thoughts on the topic! My impression is that taking on clients/NP cases is worthwhile for training and breadth purposes (quality, not quantity).

As somebody who reviews apps, I would not recommend this.

Anything that can make an application stand out in a potentially negative light should be avoided if possible.

When just about every one of your peers is doing something clinical that semester and you aren’t, that could raise questions.

If you feel like you have plenty of hours, your best bet is to find a limited, part time prac. And if you have any holes in your training, this would be a good time to try to address that.

Even if your goal is neuro, many sites will still want to see that you’ve had a chance to work on all of your general competencies. One small area where I see people get dinged is lack of any group therapy experience (understandable with Covid challenges but it’s not ideal to go into internship having never facilitated a single group).

So if there’s anything like that where you would be putting ‘0 hours’ in your APPI but your peers won’t, that could be a great use of that semester. And then you can stop vlinical work (with your grad TDs approval) after you’ve secured an internship.

 

[erg923]

My second question pertains to continuing to accumulate clinical hours. I have received mixed feedback from peers that have placed at competitive NP sites that you can take a break from seeing therapy clients and NP cases the semester you apply, while others have said it may look good to show that you're continuously engaged in clinical work. Id appreciate any thoughts on the topic! My impression is that taking on clients/NP cases is worthwhile for training and breadth purposes (quality, not quantity).

Thanks so much

Never heard of such a thing. And you couldn't just do it if you feel like it. Your practicum is a class on your transcript, no? You have to get permission from your school AND the site. Maybe this is a clinical science program thing???

 

[MPRage]

@summerbabe - I appreciate your insights very much. Much of our training is at our in house clinic (we are rural) and our curriculum has us attend only one offsite practicum which I completed in neuropsychology at Brown. Ive taken cases again since then but there's a bit of redundancy in the types of cases we see (predominantly ADHD, LD), supervision, and didactics since we have limited exposure to certain populations and supervisors; Altogether, it sounds like its a good time to fill some gaps in training and will aim to do so. Thank you all for feedback, its very much appreciated!