Training Program Overview » Department of Psychiatry » College of Medicine

Broad Overview

Our post-doctoral training program is a specialist program that provides postdocs with at least 60% of their clinic time spent in one of three different areas. As the largest psychology practice in North Central Florida, postdocs also provide general clinic services for the remaining portion of clinical time. The four specialty tracks are:

Commonalities Across All Tracks

Hours Expectations: The total number of patient-facing hours will range from 20-24 hours per week. Scheduling assistance is provided by administrative staff and the postdoc is not expected to make up “no shows” or “late cancellations.” All patient facing hours are scheduled to occur between 8am and 5pm with a 1-hour break between 12pm and 1pm. Should administrative tasks fall outside of these hours, the postdoc is given discretion of when and where they complete this work as long as it is completed by the deadlines and within HIPPA compliance.

Methods of Training

Our post-doctoral fellowship is much more than on-the-job training. We take our responsibility to provide high-quality education very seriously. As such, we provide post-docs with a variety of didactic lectures and workshops, case conferences, journal club, group supervision and individual supervision.

Clinical Supervision

Receiving Individual Supervision: All post-docs receive two hours of individual supervision per week. The individual supervisor is selected during orientation by the training director based on post-doc area of specialty and faculty availability. Supervision times are scheduled at times that are convenient for the postdoc and faculty member. Supervision meetings will focus on discussion of current therapy cases, as well as issues related to setting training goals, and overall professional development. Individual supervision may also involve live supervision or review of video or audio recordings of therapy sessions at the supervisor’s discretion. Supervisors maintain professional responsibility for the cases being supervised by reviewing and co-signing treatment notes and bills, as well as any other paperwork required for therapy cases (e.g., insurance paperwork, advocacy letters, etc.).

Safety Assessments and Crisis Management

In addition to case-based individual supervision, we use an attending clinician model, wherein there is always an on-site licensed provider to oversee logistical, operational, or clinical concerns that may arise

Cascading training model (Co-therapy)

We ascribe to the cascading training model in which more experienced clinicians see cases with less experienced clinicians in co-therapy to model and provide direct supervision for new skills and procedures. Postdocs are involved in this process at all levels. For skills that are new to them, they may take the observational or co-therapist role until they are ready to work independently. For skills they have mastered, they may take on a junior therapist (e.g., graduate student trainee) as their co-therapist.

Direct Supervision with Bug in the Ear

Depending on the training need and supervisor/supervisee preference, we can use the rooms with one way mirror and bug-in-the-ear set-ups to provide direct supervision and real time feedback. This training approach has been particularly helpful for clinicians learning to administer the ADOS or providing exposure therapy for complex presentations.

Teaching

Graduate Student Supervision

Each postdoc will have up to two teaching hours per week during which time they may provide didactic education, group supervision, or individual supervision for graduate practicum students in the Division of Psychology. The exact nature of the teaching time will be based on postdoc preference and trainee need.

Didactics

Didactic Seminar

This occurs every Tuesday from 1pm – 3pm. Post-docs participate in a variety of planned educational activities. Topics include: clinical skill building, clinical research findings, broad review of areas of the EPP (e.g., psychopharmacology), and professional development (e.g., fundamentals of starting a private practice). One week each month is combined with the medical trainees in the Department of Psychiatry.

Multidisciplinary Case Conferences

The OCD, Anxiety & Related Disorders Track and the Autism Spectrum Disorders Assessment & Intervention Track each have weekly case conferences attended by licensed psychologists, board certified psychiatrists, psychiatry residents and fellows, board certified behavior analysts, researchers, and graduate students. In these conferences, we discuss complex cases requiring coordination of care, and learn from each other’s expertise.

Duration of Program

The post-doctoral fellowship is intended as a one-year training program, for a total of 2000 hours of supervised training experience. This program meets the licensure requirement for the State of Florida (and most other US jurisdictions, but post-docs are encouraged to research the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they may seek licensure). Post-docs receive a certificate upon successful completion of the training year. If desired the fellowship may be extended to two years in the same or different specialty track. Postdocs are asked to supply a cover letter to the Director of Postdoctoral Training no later than January 15th outlining their goals for their second training year, why these goals require a second year of training, and how they align with long-term career goals. Decisions regarding extending the term of the fellowship are made by the faculty based on the postdoc’s training needs and performance as well as the clinic’s ability to meet those needs. Postdocs are notified of the faculty’s decision no later than January 30th.