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The Clinical Science Program in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt subscribes to the clinical scientist model of training, with the primary goal of training clinical scientists. The program has two training tracks: a Generalist track with emphases in adult psychopathology, basic cognitive and emotional processes, clinical neuroscience, and health psychology, and a Child, Adolescent, and Family (CAF) track with emphases in developmental psychopathology, pediatric psychology, prevention, and intervention. Regardless of track, the training experience includes a core curriculum, a common set of course requirements and research milestones, and a variety of practicum opportunities. Our commitment to the mentoring model of graduate training allows for maximum individual attention to and nurturance of students’ interests and abilities.
Admissions. We typically receive from 200 to over 300 applications each year to our program. Applicants apply to the Clinical Science Program and can indicate an interest in concentrating in either the Generalist track or the Child, Adolescent, and Family track.
A number of criteria are considered in reviewing applications for admission. These include undergraduate grade point average and performance on the GRE. However, we also carefully consider applicants’ research and applied experience and the degree to which applicants’ research interests represent a good match with the research of our faculty.
Program Costs. For the 2007-2008 academic year, semester tuition rates are approximately $12,200 per semester for students taking a full graduate course load of 9 credits (if accepted through the Peabody college) or 12 credits (if accepted through the College of Arts and Sciences) per semester. However, tuition costs for all students admitted to the program are covered through support associated with teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or fellowships for up to 5 years. Financial Support. All admitted Ph.D. students receive funding for up to five years of study. The financial package includes full tuition, a monthly stipend that is highly competitive with comparable programs around the country, and a health insurance package. Based upon presented qualifications, selected students are nominated for additional honor scholarships and fellowships awarded by both the college and the graduate school. These merit awards supplement the baseline financial package. Financial support for students comes from a wide range of sources. Teaching assistantships and fellowships are available from Vanderbilt University. As of September 1, 2007, our program is supported by two Training Grants from the National Institute of Mental Health that provide fellowships for several of our students. Students are also supported by research assistantships on grants awarded to our faculty; as of September 1, 2007, the Clinical Science faculty held over $30 million dollars in current research grants. Our students have been successful in obtaining individual predoctoral fellowships, including National Research Service Awards from the National Institutes of Health and predoctoral training fellowships from the National Science Foundation.
Attrition. Over the past 7 years, 49 applicants have enrolled in the Vanderbilt University Clinical Psychological Science program. Three of those students have left the program, an attrition rate of 6 %. Research. Clinical faculty research areas include:
The Program faculty enjoy strong relationships with the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development; the Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience; the Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Medicine in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine; the Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Science; the Vanderbilt Brain Institute; the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; the Center for Child Development; the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies; and Meharry Medical College. A strong focus of Clinical Science at Vanderbilt is the integration of research with professional expertise. Students are actively involved in research on a continuing basis throughout their graduate training. The primary orientations are cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and neurobiological. The program is able to provide students with a wealth of training experiences, both scientific and professional, that is unmatched even by programs much larger in size. Students are involved in clinical practicum work at a number of Vanderbilt sites and more broadly throughout the Nashville community. They receive supervised research and clinical training in a wide variety of agencies that serve children, adolescents, and adults, and that address a wide spectrum of psychological problems. Clinical Internship. As with practicum training, the clinical internship is carefully planned to meet each student’s career goals and needs. Our students typically intern at highly regarded, APA-approved internship sites. The vast majority of our students are matched at the internship ranked as their first or second choice. Evaluations of internship placements indicate both that our students are well prepared for internship by our training program and that they find the internship experience to be highly rewarding.
Our Graduates. Graduates of the Clinical Science Program over the last decade occupy important positions in academic as well as service institutions, and have research interests that are at the cutting edge of clinically and socially relevant issues. Their success is evidence of the effective combination of research and clinical training we offer, and of their own commitment to professional, research, and academic careers in clinical psychology.
These figures include the internship year. For example, a student who graduated in 6 years spent 5 years in the department and 1 year away on clinical internship. Licensure of graduates. From 1997 through 2007, 70 students received their Ph.D. from the Clinical Psychological Science Program. Of these graduates, 43 are licensed psychologists, 6 provisionally licensed (pending meeting final requirements), 6 are not licensed, 4 are not yet eligible for licensure, and we do not have current information on 11 graduates. Thus of those graduates for whom we have current information and who are eligible, 89% are either licensed or are pending final approval of licensure. Accreditation. The gradute training program in Clinical Science is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (last accredited 2005; next site visit 2009). For more information concerning accreditation, contact:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation American Psychological Association 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002-4242 Phone: 202-336-5979 Website: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation For more information, please contact the program Co-Directors: Generalist Track, Jo-Anne Bachorowski (j.a.bachorowski@vanderbilt.edu); Child, Adolescent, & Family Track, Bruce Compas (bruce.compas@vanderbilt.edu). |
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Clinical Science Overview