VA BOSTON PSYCHOLOGY POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

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an area of focus or specialty clinic. This may include a focus in polytrauma, geriatricneuropsychology, supervision of more junior trainees, programdevelopment/evaluation or research. Fellows will work with a variety ofneuropsychology supervisors during the course of their fellowship. Currently 11neuropsychology faculty contribute to supervision. The fellows’ primary supervisorwill be a Track Co-Director of the neuropsychology fellowship.This fellowship provides experience in a number of clinical settings, allowing thefellow to obtain a unique array of training experiences. While the specific clinicalsettings vary, the underlying goal and training emphasis remains consistent. Ineach setting, fellows will be involved in the clinical interview, administration, datascoring, report writing, patient feedback, and multidisciplinary teamconsultation/collaboration. Fellows will provide clinical services within most of thesettings described below, though duration of time dedicated to each service is notequal. Fellows are primarily at the Jamaica Plain Campus, although a day per weekis frequently spent at West Roxbury and occasional travel to Brockton may berequired.Neuropsychology Consult Service (NCS): Jamaica Plain campus. Fellowsserve as consultants and provide assessments as part of the neuropsychologyconsult service at VA Boston Healthcare System. Patients are referred to thisservice from a variety of sources; referrals typically include ADHD, stroke,traumatic brain injury, dementia, epilepsy, and cognitive dysfunctionsecondary to a medical or psychiatric condition. The fellow may also elect tofocus on capacity referrals when available. Neuropsychology consults involve aclinical interview, test administration, scoring of test data, test interpretation,written report, and in-person feedback to patients. Opportunities forneuropsychology-specific group interventions are typically through this clinicand include psychoeducational/cognitive rehabilitation interventions. Currentgroups include Memory and Aging, Healthy Brain Group (veterans with TBI,epilepsy, stroke, brain tumor), ADHD, and Returning to School.VA Boston Psychology FellowshipGeriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Clinic: WestRoxbury campus. The fellow functions as part of a multidisciplinary team thatincludes a geriatrician, nurse practitioner, social worker, pharmacist, andgeriatric medicine fellows. The neuropsychological assessment of elderlypatients, who are often frail as well as physically and cognitively compromised,requires an alternative to the time consuming, multiple hour test batteriesoften used in clinical assessments. Most GRECC assessments involve 1-2hours of testing. The trainee is responsible for the clinical interview, testing,scoring of test data, test interpretation, and written report of the37
neuropsychological evaluation, as well as feedback to the patient and theteam.Polytrauma Clinic: Jamaica Plain campus. The Polytrauma Network Systemof Care was developed in response to the growing number of individualsreturning from deployment as part of Operation Enduring Freedom andOperation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). This VA network is dedicated to providingcare to new veterans and addressing the unique healthcare needs of thesereturning soldiers. Of specific concern for neuropsychologists is the exposureto blast munitions during deployment (e.g., Improvised Explosive Device (IED)or Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG)) and the direct and indirect impact of theseexposures to brain function. Additionally, issues related to trauma exposureand readjustment are common for this patient population. Neuropsychologytrainees serve as part of the multidisciplinary Polytrauma clinical team thatalso includes a physiatrist and social worker. Interns will provide cognitive andmental health screenings to outpatients seen by that service and contribute totreatment planning. The brief screenings are designed to quickly assess formood and trauma as well as possible history of traumatic brain injury.Inpatient: West Roxbury and Brockton campuses of the VA Boston HealthSystem provide specialized inpatient care to the veterans of the Boston area.Frequently, the referring provider and medical team has some concernregarding the patient’s cognitive functioning and ability to care forhimself/herself following discharge from the hospital. Fellows will completeevaluations through the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation unit (WestRoxbury). These assessments are completed on an inpatient basis and includeall aspects of the neuropsychological assessment (interview, testadministration, test scoring, interpretation, and report writing). In this setting,the intern is frequently required to work very efficiently to provide in-personfeedback to the medical team. Fellows may also elect to complete inpatientevaluations in the severe mental illness unit (Brockton). Fellows choosing thisoption will need a vehicle or would be encouraged to carpool, as the shuttleschedule will not provide sufficient time for this setting (whereas West Roxburycan be reached by VA Shuttle).Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center (HGARC): The HGARC holdstwice-monthly patient rounds at the Jamaica Plain campus. Rounds beganunder the direction of Dr. Norman Geschwind in 1965, and have served as animportant and distinctive training experience for many neuropsychologists overseveral decades. Individuals seen in the HGARC are frequently referred frommedical centers outside of the VA system (e.g., Massachusetts GeneralHospital, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham & Women’s). The fellow’sFellowship Training Brochure | 2013 - 2014 Training Year38
Page 1 and 2: VA BOSTON PSYCHOLOGYPOSTDOCTORAL FE
Page 3 and 4: Neuropsychology Training ProgramNik
Page 5 and 6: Fellowship Training Brochure2013 -
Page 7 and 8: training with a spirit of clinical
Page 9 and 10: • Fourth, we place emphasis on th
Page 11 and 12: Organization of the FellowshipAll C
Page 13 and 14: “Gender Issues in the VA” ~ Pre
Page 15 and 16: Length of Training: One year.Goals:
Page 17 and 18: Fellows also provide supervision to
Page 19 and 20: General Mental HealthTrack Director
Page 21 and 22: meetings that may include psycholog
Page 23 and 24: system and will develop expertise a
Page 25 and 26: strategies to address their negativ
Page 27 and 28: Length of Training: One year.Goals:
Page 29 and 30: Returning Veterans and Substance Us
Page 31 and 32: the application of new technologies
Page 33 and 34: and female veterans in the Outpatie
Page 35 and 36: THE TRAINING PROGRAMSTHE CLINICAL N
Page 37: Postdoctoral education and training
Page 41 and 42: esearch mentors, many of whom have
Page 43 and 44: Plain campus, located in the heart
Page 45 and 46: If needed, childcare is available a
Page 47 and 48: Hours, Stipend, and Benefits• All
Page 49 and 50: Eligibility for VA EmploymentTo be
Page 51 and 52: • Letters of recommendation shoul
Page 53 and 54: Please review the following table c

VA BOSTON PSYCHOLOGY POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

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