The goal of the Postdoctoral Psychology Residency program is to train the next generation of psychologists in the Patient Centered Medical Home model. Through weekly seminars, group and individual supervision and clinical work with diverse, underserved populations, residents will fine-tune assessment and therapy skills. In order to complete the residency, the resident will be required to demonstrate advanced proficiency across listed goals and objectives.
CHC’s Postdoctoral Clinical Psychology Residency Goals and Objectives of the program are as follows:
- Goal #1: Advanced Clinical Practice: Residents will gain a deeper understanding of behavioral science and research and apply this knowledge to clinical practice/interventions with underserved populations in a primary care setting
- Objective(s) for Goal #1:
- Through clinical experience, supervision and didactic seminars including related readings, residents will develop an understanding of behavioral theory and research as applied to primary care settings.
- Through engagement in didactic seminars, residents will gain an understanding of relevant research regarding evidence-based interventions used for brief therapies within the primary care setting.
- Through didactic seminars, residents will learn about work with underserved populations, how to address psychosocial issues as part of the therapeutic process and will gain experience working with this population during clinical time.
- Goal #2: Treatment Planning: Residents will develop an understanding of the social determinants of health, how chronic, co-occurring medical conditions affect mental health and use this knowledge to create an effective plan of care for each patient.
- Objective(s) for Goal #2:
- Through clinical experience and supervision, residents will gain competency in providing care for patients with complex co-morbidities
- Through didactic seminars and clinical experience, residents will learn about the social determinants of health and how social factors impact mental and physical health
- Through experience and supervision, residents will gain an understanding of the interaction between medical and mental health disorders and learn how each affects the other
- Through experience and supervision, residents will be able to develop effective integrated care plans, which include both medical and mental health goals in collaboration with the patient and providers of other disciplines
- Goal #3: Residents will have a global understanding of primary care behavioral health models and will be able to conduct brief psychosocial assessments and provide consultation to multidisciplinary teams including primary care providers, nurses, dentists, medical assistants and psychiatrists
- Objective(s) for Goal #3:
- Through didactic seminars, supervision and clinical experience, residents will understand the goals of a full psychosocial assessment and how results inform care planning
- Through supervision and clinical experience, residents gain insight into the role of behavioral health within the primary care setting, the warm hand-off model and “curbside consults.”
- Through didactic seminars and clinical experience, residents will be able to conduct very brief psychosocial assessments (“warm hand-offs”) and will be able to ask information relevant to case based on information from the medical provider.
- Residents will be able to make an accurate diagnosis and preliminary plan of care based on results of the warm hand-off.
- Through didactic seminars, residents will learn about relevant research regarding the effectiveness of integrate health systems including research about the cost-benefit to application of the model
- Through clinical experience, residents will learn about other disciplines including medical, dental, chiropractic, nutrition and nursing.
- Through integrated care experience, residents will gain skills needed to interact in a professional manner with staff from other disciplines as a means of providing comprehensive and effective clinical care
- Goal #4: Cultural Competency: Residents will gain experience working with diverse and often underserved populations and will demonstrate cultural sensitivity and competence in providing effective mental health care to medical patients of different backgrounds.
- Objective(s) for Goal #4:
- Through didactics and supervision, residents will learn an approach that integrates cultural identity, health beliefs, and illness history that impact health behaviors.
- Through supervision and clinical experience, residents will learn sensitivity to issues of diversity and adjust treatment planning and intervention strategies in response to cultural factors.
- Through supervision and didactic training, residents will demonstrate sensitivity to patient cultural diversity, including race, ethnicity, religion, country of birth, gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, disability and health status, as well as other individual differences.
- Residents are encouraged to explore their own cultural background and resulting attitudes and biases to promote personal growth and sensitivity to others.
- Goal #5: Ethics and Professional Development: Residents will demonstrate knowledge and application of the APA ethical code and laws specific to patients treated in Connecticut as reflected in clinical practice. Residents will grow in their capacity to demonstrate appropriate professional conduct within an integrated care setting, within the field and within the communities in which we serve.
- Objective(s) for Goal #5:
- Residents will gain a thorough understanding some of the complexities regarding privacy and confidentiality when working from a shared medical record in an integrated primary care setting.
- Residents will have funding made available to join professional organizations, will learn about working with legislators to advocate for our patients and will have opportunities for interactions with established community leaders in the field of psychology.
- Through didactic seminars, residents will review issues related to ethics and the law, present cases of “dilemmas” and using the APA Code of Ethics and state statutes will develop a plan to ensure adherence to ethical standards.
- Through clinical experience and supervision, residents will gain knowledge of complex ethical issues that arise in treating patients within an integrated primary care setting.
- Goal #6:Program Development: Residents will learn about healthcare systems improvement beginning with organizational assessment, planning for structural transformation, implementation of systems improvement, and evaluation of change.
- Objective(s) for Goal #6:
- Residents will learn quality improvement strategies and work as a multidisciplinary team to improve healthcare performance including the agency’s ability to meet UDS goals.
- Residents will have the opportunity to participate in agency quality improvement initiatives including the Dartmouth Clinical Microsystems Approach to healthcare performance improvement.
- Residents are encouraged to engage with leadership in process improvement and to provide input for changes to healthcare delivery to help make our system more effective and efficient.
- Residents are invited to attend the yearly Weitzman Symposium, highlighting innovations in healthcare delivery within primary care.
- Residents may have the opportunity to take part in the Internal Review Board (IRB) depending on location
- Residents may have the opportunity to participate in a clinical microsystems team depending on location