Neuropsychology Vertical Team
All students in the Clinical Neuropsychology Program are expected to register for these courses and to participate in the weekly VT meetings throughout their time in the program. The VT meetings serve several general purposes:
- Develop and maintain a sense of community and belonging among neuropsychology students and core faculty.
- Develop and maintain professional identify as clinical neuropsychologists, by participating in discussions with neuropsychology faculty and more senior students.
- Keep students and faculty “current” by discussing a variety of new professional and scientific issues as they emerge on the national/international neuropsychological scene.
- Afford in-depth analysis of clinical cases that goes beyond what is typically affordable in the real-world clinical settings.
Specific activities during VT meetings include:
- Discussion of interesting neuropsychological cases seen by trainees in the community.
- In-depth analysis of neuropsychological assessments conducted by the VT, including literature review, discussion of interpretation, and detailed analysis of the reports generated by trainees.
- Review of didactics covered in the Neuropsychological Assessment Pre-practicum, to facilitate preparation for the students currently enrolled in that course for their final exam, and to help maintain the knowledge gained by more senior trainees in that same course during previous years.
- Focused, in-depth discussion of various topics of interest, such as psychometric and normative issues, test selection, in-depth analysis of specific disorders, or in-depth analysis of specific neurocognitive domains, to name a few.
- Review of presentations VT members saw at national/international neuropsychological conferences.
- Review of activities and opportunities at various clerkship sites
- Review of internship application process, experiences from internship interviews, etc. (discussion is led by senior students who are in the process of internship application).
Specific Courses per Year
Neuropsychological Assessment Observation
Intended to be taken by first-year students and serves as an informal introduction to the richness of the field of clinical neuropsychology and neuropsychological assessment. It is hoped that first-year students, who are very busy (and often overwhelmed) with general coursework requirements, will learn somewhat effortlessly “by osmosis” as they participate in discussions or are exposed to the sometimes daunting neuropsychological terminology. Additionally, first-year students have the opportunity to observe assessments conducted by VT members, thus gaining some familiarity with the testing procedures that they will need to master by the spring of their second year. In lieu of actual participation in assessments, students at this level contribute by looking up relevant literature for any given case. In all, we view the Observation year as an “easing in” phase of the training, or basically a humane way for the incoming students to get their feet wet and to begin to get acquainted with some of the material that they will need to formally master during their second year in the program.
Neuropsychological Assessment Pre-Practicum
Taken by students in the fall of their second year in the program. During this semester, students will undergo formal didactic training in neuropsychological assessment that surveys the following areas: Theoretical underpinnings of neuropsychological assessment, psychometrics, brain-behavior relationships, neurocognitive domains, and pathophysiology of neurologic disorders and brain injuries. This is a traditional course, with a syllabus, assigned readings, and a final exam. In addition to these formal didactics, students continue to meet weekly with the Vertical Team. In that context, they are expected to master test administration and scoring, and become more active participants in the VT clinical assessments.
Neuropsychological Assessment Practicum
Taken by students in the spring semester of their second year in the program. During this semester, students continue to have some didactic instruction, but the majority of class time is spent on clinical applications of the material mastered during the pre-practicum semester. Specifically, students now begin to shadow more senior trainees during their clinical activities in the community, and have the opportunity to spend class time by discussing clinical or professional issues they encounter in that context. Additionally, they have the opportunity to discuss clinical cases, interpret and write up patient data, and discuss in more depth the material that was covered during VT meetings. Of course, as was the case during the fall semester, students continue to participate in all VT activities. They also begin to fully participate in clinical assessments conducted by the VT, being fully responsible for test administration and scoring, as well as major portions of the report write-up.
Neuropsychological Assessment Supervision
Taken by students after they completed the pre-practicum/practicum sequence, that is, in their third year and beyond. With the increasing emphasis nationally on preparing trainees to become clinical supervisors, this aspect of the VT provides students with invaluable supervision experience (not to mention a competitive edge when it comes time to apply for internships) as they provide assistance to more junior students who are learning test administration and scoring, report writing, and interpretation of test results. Students at this level are also given the opportunity to experience what it is like for professional neuropsychologists who use the technician model. That is, an assessment model in which the neuropsychologist conducts clinical interview and record review, and interprets and writes up the results of testing, but the testing itself is fully or partially done by a technician. This is a model that is followed by most neuropsychologists who work in medical centers or other large institutions.