Clinical Psychology

• Biological aspects of behavior (e.g., Physiological Psychology)
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Affective aspects of behavior (e.g., The Nature of Emotion)

• Regression & Lab
• Multivariate Stats
• Psychometrics
• One Additional Methods Course

• Introduction to Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology
• Psychological Assessment: Theory and Research
• Evidence-Based Assessment
• Clinical Psychology Interventions-Theory and Research
• Clinical Skills for Psychological Intervention
• Ethics & Professional Problems

• Four additional courses from list of Advanced Seminars (At least 3 of the 4 must be within the clinical area).

• First Year Project (present at poster session at end of spring semester)
• Comprehensive exam (General/Integrative) or Major Area Paper
• Thesis (6 thesis credits, 2 of which are during semester degree is granted)
  Dissertation (12 dissertation credits, 2 of which are during semester degree is granted)
• A minimum of four years of full-time academic training on-site, this includes a minimum of 90 credit hours.
• Internship (One year, APA accredited; or in unusual circumstances, a student in good standing can petition to the clinical faculty to be allowed to apply to an internship that is accredited by APPIC (but not accredited by APA).

Semester 1

Regression and Lab: PSY 6217 (4 credits)
Psychopathology: CLP 6166 (3 credits)
Intro to Clinical Psychology: PSY 6065 (3 credits)

Total Credit Hours: 10

Semester 2

Assessment Sequence
      Psych Assessment: CLP 6438 (3 credits)
      Evidence Based Assessment: CLP 7379 (3 credits)
Ethics & Professional Problems: PSY 7931 (2 credits)
Independent Research: PSY 6917 (2 credits)

Total Credit Hours: 10

Semester 1

Clinical Psych Interventions: CLP 7188 (3 credits)
Clinical Skills: PSY 6946 (2 credits)
Multivariate Stats (3 credits)
Clinical Practicum: PSY 6946 (1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 2

Psychometrics (4 credits)
Choice of DSK courses (3 credits)
Thesis: PSY 6971 (2 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946 (1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 10

Semester 1

Choice of DSK courses (3 credits)
Choice of Methods (3 credits)
Thesis: PSY 6971 (2 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946(1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 2

Choice of DSK courses (3 credits)
Choice of Clinical Specialization (3 credits)
Thesis: PSY 6971 (2 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946 (1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 1

Choice of DSK courses (3 credits)
Choice of Clinical Specialization (3 credits)
Independent Research: PSY 6917 (2 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946(1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 2

Choice of Clinical Specialization (3 credits)
Dissertation (4 credits)
linical Practicum 6946 (2 credits)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 1

Dissertation: PSY 7980 (4 credits)
Choice of Clinical Specialization (3 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946 (2 credits)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Semester 2

Dissertation: PSY 7980 (8 credits)
Clinical Practicum 6946 (1 credit)

Total Credit Hours: 9

Task	Aspirational Goal	Probation Deadline	Final Termination Deadline
Propose M.A. thesis	Spring, First Year or Fall, Second Year	End of Third Year	End of Fourth Year
Defend final M.A. thesis	Spring, Second Year or Fall, Third Year	End of Fourth Year	End of Fifth Year
Comps or MAP	Spring, Third Year	Fall of Fifth Year	Fall of Sixth Year
Propose dissertation	Spring, Third Year or Fall, Fourth Year	End of Fifth Year	End of Sixth Year
Defend dissertation	Spring, Fourth Year or Spring, Fifth Year	Fall of Sixth Year	End of Seventh Year
Attend / complete internship	Fifth or Sixth Year	End of Seventh Year	End of Eighth Year

Goals are meant to keep students on track. However, students and their major professor should aspire to exceed the goals in order to maximize the student’s academic training while at USF (e.g., to enhance their CV with additional publications before they go on the job market, to master a new research methodology, etc.).

Probation deadlines are the last possible time that students can complete each milestone and remain in good-standing. Students who fail to meet a deadline will be placed on probation (usually for a one-year period). In conjunction with the major professor and with the approval of the clinical faculty, the Director of Clinical Training will write a letter to the student (filed with the college and graduate school) that outlines the nature of the deficiency and the required remedy. Failure to meet the terms of the probation will be grounds to recommend dismissal of the student from the program.

In extraordinary circumstances (e.g., student’s serious health problem, massive problems with data collection that are not the fault of the student, such as the new HIPAA regulations) the clinical faculty can allow a student to exceed these established deadlines without penalty.

Comprehensive exams consist of a take-home exam with two questions that are general and integrative in nature. These general/integrative (GI) questions may draw from such content areas as psychometrics, assessment, psychopathology, ethics, therapy/interventions, clinical research methods, diversity, development, and history and systems. One of the questions will assess issues in research methods. The other question will require that students integrate knowledge across at least two foundational areas in psychology (i.e., biological, affective, cognitive, developmental, and social) and then apply this integration to the field of clinical science.  Thus, students are expected to gain knowledge in these domains and demonstrate competency by developing a passing comprehensive exam response. 

Comprehensive Exams will be given for the Clinical concentration twice a year: Fall General/Integrative comps will be given on the first Friday of October and Spring General/Integrative comps will be given on the Friday of spring break.  All students will be given the G/I questions at the same time (Friday at 4:00 pm with a deadline of Monday at 9:00 am) for that particular semester. 

Requirements to take Comps

Clinical students must complete the following requirements to be able to take comps: 3 DSK courses, 3 methodology courses, all core clinical courses, 1 clinical specialization course, and the master’s thesis. One of these required courses may be in progress the semester comps are being taken.

Students must have successfully defended their master’s thesis two weeks prior to the first day of exams and be approved by their major professor to take the exams.  Please note that this does not mean that students must have the final revisions of the thesis completed and accepted by the Office of Graduate Studies.  However, if considerable changes are required by the thesis committee, the major professor has the option of requiring that all revisions be completed prior to granting approval to take the comprehensive exam. Please see the Request to Sit for Ph.D. Qualifying Examination in Clinical Psychology form, available on the department website. Note: If students defend their master’s thesis and pass comprehensive exams in the same semester, students must wait until the following semester to apply for doctoral candidacy.

Students who are in good standing in the major have the option of requesting to write a Major Area Paper (MAP) in lieu of the Comprehensive Examination.

The MAP option is an excellent, highly recommended choice for select students who want the opportunity to pursue an in-depth analysis of a particular topic of interest. Students must realize the possibility that more than one post-proposal meeting will be needed to incorporate faculty recommendations and complete the MAP.

Because of the importance of appropriate clinical training, a Clinical Placement Committee exists to monitor the paid and volunteer clinical, research, and teaching activities of clinical graduate students. Each year, students receive a document that reviews the Placement policies in depth. Students should read this document carefully. The following policies, in particular, should be kept in mind:

1. Work funded by a mentor’s grant is not considered a “placement.”
   
   
2. Students are discouraged from working more than a total of 28 hours per week across paid or unpaid positions, and require approval to do so. Complete adherence to this policy, including full reporting of all work hours, paid or unpaid, is expected of our students. This includes paid and unpaid research, clinical, and teaching activities that are outside the student’s primary laboratory (please note, for the purposes of this policy, a .50 FTE appointment is defined as up to 20 hours/week). Paid and unpaid research positions not involving direct clinical services (e.g., data analyst, position conducting literature reviews) are still reported as hours worked. For example, formal positions outside your primary mentor’s laboratory such as clinical intake assessor, primary therapist (on a clinical trial), data analyst, or project director should be reported if it goes beyond your funding source + one externship. Therefore, all formal clinical and research positions (paid or unpaid) outside a student’s primary laboratory are considered working hours as defined in the extra working hours policy below.
   
   Exceptions: Extra hours within your research lab or associated with informal research collaborations across laboratories (e.g., data analysis and manuscript write-ups, co-investigators on a research project) do not require reporting. Also, engaging in support hours or extra activities at the PSC, up to 4 hours (e.g., PSC 4-hour externship), are exempted from this policy. However, students must still discuss these activities at the PSC with research advisors.
   
   Requests to work above typical hours (i.e., funding source + 8 hours of externship) will be denied by the faculty in the absence of very strong justification by the student. If students have strong justifications for working above these hours (paid and unpaid), students can submit an Extra Hours Request Form (see Clinical Placements Policy and Procedures on our program website). It is extremely important that students seek clinical faculty approval prior to accepting any positions above the typical workload. Upon completion of this form, the following steps should be taken: 1. Meet with major professor to discuss the extra hour request and receive approval. 2. Email completed form with major advisor approval to the DCT (with major professor cc’ed). The request will be evaluated by the faculty, and the major professor will have to attend and present the student’s request during the next clinical faculty meeting for further discussion. The decision to approve such requests is made by the whole clinical faculty, not just the DCT or major professor, and is made based on the specific case of the student progress and training goals. As noted, these requests are rarely approved. Note: See the Departmental Assistantships section of this handbook for the Psychology Department policy regarding number of work and paid hours per week. The clinical program does not have authority over this policy. Students can use the Extra Hours Request Form to first obtain approval from the clinical faculty and then to seek departmental approval for paid work over 20 hours per week.
   
   
3. If students hear about potential paid placements, they should have the supervisor at the potential placement contact the chair of the Placement Committee. Please have the site complete the Placement Information Form. The placement committee will review and consult with the faculty.
   
   
4. Note that students have to inform the faculty regarding any work or appointment to which they intend to apply outside of the department or not sponsored by the area (i.e., not part of our externship/placement system) including during the summer. The faculty have vetted the supervisors and placement sites that are currently sponsored by the program, to ensure the best possible training of our students consistent with our clinical scientist values. When new opportunities come up for students, and the above Placement Information form is not appropriate (e.g., summer camp, FBI), students should complete the Outside Work Request Form about this outside opportunity and send the request to the DCT, who is responsible for sharing with the rest of the faculty for approval.
   
   
5. Students are required to carry malpractice insurance throughout their clinical training. A copy of the malpractice verification should be submitted to Shae Krispinsky each year.

 See the PSC and Clinical Placements and Externship opportunities for more information.

Each student in the Clinical Program is required to complete a one-year, full-time APA-approved internship in a training facility approved by the Program area. Students on internship are allowed to register for a zero-credit course (IDS 6940) while on internship.

Students must have proposed their dissertation successfully before the end of the spring semester in the year of their internship application before applying for an internship. However, it is recommended that students propose their dissertation before submitting the internship applications. Exceptions may be allowed only if the major professor, clinical faculty, and student guarantee that the student will propose their dissertation successfully on or before August 31st of that year.