Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Neuropsychology

This unique, two-year fellowship is designed for those interested in a career as a scientist/practitioner in neuropsychology. The Neuropsychological Assessment Clinic is a large, multidisciplinary, private clinic in Brighton, Massachusetts provides neuropsychological, psychoeducational, and psychological testing, as well as psychotherapeutic support to individuals across the lifespan with attention, learning, neurodevelopmental and behavioral issues, and a broad range of neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions that so often accompany these disorders.

The post-doctoral neuropsychology fellowship program provides all aspects of neuropsychological assessment. The emphasis is on diagnosis, assessment, clinical conceptualization, treatment planning, feedback, and therapeutic intervention. Post-doctoral fellows receive training and close supervision in the neuropsychological evaluation of outpatients presenting with a variety of neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric presentations, and neurologic injuries.

Assessment may also be requested to assist the patient, referring provider, treatment team, or family to determine rehabilitation needs or educational planning. Fellows learn both basic and advanced aspects of diagnosing disorders of high brain functioning, analysis of the interactions among cognitive impairments and psychiatric and physical illnesses, and the practical implications of patients’ impairments on their functional abilities.

Options are available for adult and pediatric/adolescent tracks.

Adult Postdoctoral Fellowship: Adult cases include patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning disabilities, mild neurocognitive impairment, brain tumors, stroke, multiple sclerosis, toxic exposure, epilepsy, and chronic pain. Similarly, fellows evaluate patients with various conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, vascular dementia, metabolic syndromes, Huntington’s disease, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia, and depression. The clinic provides pre- and postoperative neuropsychological evaluations and pre-surgical evaluations for Parkinson's and essential tremors for patients undergoing placement of deep brain stimulators. Post-doctoral fellows have a unique opportunity to follow surgery candidates through baseline assessment for epilepsy.

Pediatric/Adolescent Postdoctoral Fellowship: The track includes a wide range of patients seen with histories including ADHD/LD, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, epilepsy, oncology, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, prematurity/low birth weight, hydrocephalus, and various genetic and low incidence disorders. The fellow will evaluate surgery candidates for children and adolescents diagnosed with epilepsy. Fellows complete psychodiagnostic evaluations with children/adolescents with behavioral and/or social/emotional difficulties.

The core battery is 2 to 4 hours in length, with additional assessment instruments guided by the referral question, the condition of the patient findings from the core battery, and other factors. A fellow can expect to participate in one patient evaluation per day, with the maxim of 4 cases/per week. Reports typically range in length from five to seven pages but vary in length depending upon the referral question and patient concerns.

Training opportunities focus on therapy for children and adults (depending on the clinical focus). Behavioral health treatment includes individual and group therapy for children and adults. Therapeutic services focus on short-term interventions.

In addition to clinical responsibilities, the postdoctoral fellows can participate in a data/research project that includes outcome assessment and protocol development for the clinic. Fellows have access to our clinical database which contains both clinical and neuropsychological data. Fellows are expected to complete a scholarly project during the course of training (e.g., present their research at a conference and/or seek publication in a peer-reviewed journal). Ideally, fellows will complete two to three scholarly projects over the course of their fellowship.

The fellow will have at least two hours of direct supervision each week. A sample schedule is provided below:
Monday: Research
Tuesday Morning: Clinical Care Afternoon: Clinical Care
Wednesday: 7:00 am to 8:00 am Neurology Grand rounds; followed by Clinical Care
Thursdays 7:00 am to 8:00 am Neuropsych Didactics; followed by Clinical Care
Fridays: Clinical Didactics Research

This postdoctoral fellowship meets the required supervised practice requirements necessary for licensure in Massachusetts.

Our goal is to train fellows to an advanced level of competence in neuropsychology, and to provide fellows with experience in neuropsychology research, preparing them for positions working with various conditions (e.g., neurodegenerative disorders, stroke, and traumatic brain injury) in a number of settings (medical, group practice, private practice, etc.)

Post-doctoral Fellowship Program Goals:

Advanced skills in neuropsychological evaluation, treatment and consultation to patients and professionals necessary for independent practice
Advanced understanding of brain-behavior relationships
Adequate understanding of the various conditions with which neuropsychologists work (e.g., neurodegenerative disorders, stroke, and traumatic brain injury)
Eligibility for state licensure or certification for independent practice of psychology
Eligibility for board certification by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP-CN)

To achieve the goals above, the programs uses the competencies recently articulated regarding postdoctoral training in clinical neuropsychology (Smith, 2019; Rey-Casserly et al., 2012; Hessen et al., 2017). Fellows are evaluated on their progress toward achieving these competencies by the end of their fellowship. Methods of evaluating fellow competencies including ensuring that they prepare coherent, organized and detailed presentations to give at the time of our didactic seminars. The specific competencies domains include:

Scientific Knowledge and methods
Evidence-Based Practice
Individual and Cultural Diversity
Ethical, Legal Standards and Policy
Professional Identity
Reflective Self Practice
Relationships
Interdisciplinary Systems
Neuropsychological Knowledge Based Competencies
Neuropsychological Applied Competencies

The specific specialty competencies on which Fellows are evaluated are:

Clinical Skills

Assessment: interviewing skills, case conceptualization, integration with theory & empirical literature, test selection, test administration, behavioral observation.
Intervention: Develop appropriate recommendations based on evaluation results.
Interpersonal Relations: providing verbal feedback in a compassionate, clear, and effective manner, maintaining rapport, appropriate follow-up, flexibility, speaking on the patient’s level, and sensitivity to the patient’s needs.
Report Writing: level of sophistication/integration of results, comprehensiveness, clarity of communication, conciseness.

Knowledge Base, Research Skills, Supervision Skills

Use of Research/Empirical Literature: effectively utilize empirical literature and integrate with clinical neuropsychological assessment results
Research Design/Execution: level of theoretical & methodological sophistication, creativity, integration, follow through on projects, statistics, analytical skills, writing skills
Supervision: able to effectively supervise junior trainees in clinical neuropsychology theory, techniques, report writing, and case conceptualization, build and maintain professional relationship with junior trainees

Professional Characteristics

Initiative: independence, self-starter, problem-solving
Ethical Behavior: consistently demonstrates respect for confidentiality, accountability, and managing ethical situations
Professionalism: consistently demonstrates responsibility, timeliness, self-confidence, interactions
Interpersonal: consistently demonstrates respect for peers, supervisors, and support staff
Didactic Teaching: consistently demonstrates the ability to present material in a coherent, logical, and engaging manner, effectively handle questions, and engage the audience in presentations
Response to Supervision: ability to accept critical feedback, and then incorporate into ongoing treatment or research