Florida Tech’s Psy.D. program features an emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology. Clinical neuropsychology is an applied specialty within professional clinical psychology dedicated to understanding the relationships between the brain and behavior, particularly as these relationships can be applied to the diagnosis of brain disorders, assessment of cognitive and behavioral functioning, and the design of effective interventions for certain neurological and psychiatric conditions. Students choosing the Clinical Neuropsychology emphasis develop skills in clinical assessment of higher cortical function and dysfunction, receive exposure to cognitively challenged patient populations, and participate in neurobehavioral research.
Training In Clinical Neuropsychology
Graduate training in clinical neuropsychology is accomplished via a combination of coursework, practicum experiences, and empirical research opportunities. Students initially learn the anatomic, functional, and cognitive substrates associated with human behavior and neurobehavioral disorders. Through coursework in Fundamentals of Clinical Neuropsychology, students are introduced to the guiding principles of brain-behavior relationships, integrating elements of psychology and neurobiology, including functional neuroanatomy and neuropathology. The Neuropsychological Assessment course sequence provides students with training in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of several common neuropsychological tests with persons who have known or suspected neurological dysfunction due to illness, disease, or acquired injury. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment typically utilizes a standardized test battery evaluating multiple cognitive domains, including learning and memory, attention and processing speed, executive functioning, language, visual-spatial skills, and psychomotor skills. Students re guided in selecting and administering additional tests of intellectual functioning, academic achievement, performance and symptom validity, mood, and personality.
Past these basic classes, additional classroom experiences occur in alternate years. These include Neuropsychological Assessment and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Concussion and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, and Pediatric Neuropsychological Assessment.
Through clinical practica, students expand and refine their neuropsychological test administration and interpretation skills in various medical and neurological patient populations. These settings provide additional opportunities to develop skills in consulting with family members and other healthcare providers and develop/implement appropriate interventions for patients. Students also are invited to attend and participate in the Neuropsychology Research Team, which provides opportunities to conceptualize and design research methods and engage in applied neurobehavioral research with patient populations. Florida Tech has an active chapter of the Association of Neuropsychology Students and Trainees (ANST) through the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (SCN) of the American Psychological Association (APA, Division 40). The ANST Chapter hosts a didactic series with presentations by neuropsychologists, neurologists, and other professionals in related fields.
Upon program completion of the Clinical Neuropsychology emphasis, students are skilled in the clinical assessment and treatment of neurobehavioral disorders and can ask empirically testable research questions of relevance to brain function and dysfunction. Training prepares students for competitive internships and fellowships in clinical neuropsychology and sets them on course for pursuing board certification in clinical neuropsychology.
Clinical And Research Opportunities in Clinical Neuropsychology
Florida Tech's experience in Clinical Neuropsychology provides extensive opportunities for training in geriatric neuropsychology with the Health First Memory Disorder Clinic. Students will learn to administer, score, and interpret a variety of neuropsychological tests in these capacities, and will also obtain experience with clinical report writing and responding to referral questions. Students receive direct clinical supervision from board-certified clinical neuropsychologists and additional mentoring from other neuropsychologists and medical psychologists, neurologists, geriatricians, psychiatrists and sports-medicine professionals.
Additional advanced neuropsychology practica are available in external placements ranging from smaller private practices to larger medical centers and healthcare settings throughout Central Florida that offer opportunities for involvement with both adults and children, inpatient, outpatient, and specific neurorehabilitation settings. These experiences allow for exposure and training with an even broader patient population including complex neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and brain tumors. Through these external placements, students may have opportunities to observe specialty procedures such as WADA testing and attend other interdisciplinary conferences such as brain tumor boards.
Meanwhile, neuropsychology research opportunities at Florida Tech cover applied neuropsychological research primarily in sports concussion diagnosis and management and neuropsychological assessment in geriatric populations including Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias. Specifically, recent and ongoing research projects have aimed to refine neurocognitive assessments for sports concussion diagnosis and management, determine methods of facilitating concussion recovery, assess variables which may predict progression of MCI to dementia, and explore optimal neuropsychological assessment techniques to improve diagnostic accuracy in geriatric populations. Neuropsychology Research Team meetings are held at least once per month. There are ample opportunities to pursue research endeavors specifically for purposes of fulfilling the Psy.D. requirement of a Doctoral Research Project. Additionally, students routinely present their research as posters at national conferences for professional organizations such as the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN), International Neuropsychological Society (INS), American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), and Sports Neuropsychology Society (SNS). Students are encouraged strongly to prepare and submit manuscripts to peer-reviewed scientific journals based on these research findings as well. Faculty support, guidance, and feedback is provided to assist with these activities. A listing of recent published papers, books, and chapters can be found HERE.
General Program And Clinical Neuropsychology Experience Requirements
In addition to the general requirements of the Psy.D. program in clinical psychology at the Florida Tech, interested students also may complete a series of specialized coursework, clinical practica, and applied empirical research projects in clinical neuropsychology. These training experiences are quite rigorous and require additional time and effort to complete successfully. Consensus among the clinical neuropsychology specialty organizations for the training of clinical neuropsychologists resulted in the Houston Conference guidelines. Training in Clinical Neuropsychology at Florida Tech always aims to comply with the spirit and intent of these guidelines while preparing students with the foundational knowledge to be competitive applicants for internships and post-doctoral fellowships with a clinical neuropsychology focus. We ensure completion of the foundational groundwork for graduate students to be well-equipped to pursue board certification in clinical neuropsychology. We encourage applicants to review the tips and guidelines for Graduate Training in Clinical Neuropsychology provided by the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology.
Students interested in more information should contact Dr. Frank Webbe and/or student leaders in ANST (contact information available upon request).