Neuropsychology Externship

Unpaid beginning and advanced practicum training (externship) are offered in clinical neuropsychology.  Students in the clinical diagnostic practicum gain experience in the assessment of neuropsychological disorders resulting from stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, brain neoplasm, dementia and other neurological diseases and conditions. Students also learn ways of evaluating the impact of emotional disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety) on neuropsychological functioning.  The primary training site for externs is the Emory Center for Rehabilitation Medicine (CRM)/Emory Rehabilitation Hospital (ERH).  Externs also have the option of a rotation to Kaiser Permanente to work with an Emory-affiliated neuropsychologist at this site. The patient population at Emory CRM/ERH is a mixed, outpatient neurological population with diagnoses including stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain tumor, dementia, major organ transplant and epilepsy. The Kaiser population is again a mixed neurological population across the lifespan.  

Practicum training usually begins in August with first patient-facing activities beginning in September and continuing through June. Students work a minimum of 16 hours per week, which includes time spent in supervision with faculty. Report writing and review of literature relevant to cases being evaluated are expected to be done outside of the regular practicum hours.  Students are also required to participate in a weekly, two-hour neuropsychology case seminar on Friday afternoons from 12:00-2:00. This seminar provides an opportunity for students and faculty to present interesting cases, discuss relevant clinical literature and to share different perspectives on neuropsychological diagnosis or current topics relevant to field of neuropsychology as a profession.  

Applicants must have completed graduate course work in basic psychological assessment and should be familiar with interview procedures. Graduate course work in neuropsychological assessment is desirable but not required for admission to the practicum.  

Applicants should be familiar with the most common intellectual and personality measures such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Personality Assessment Inventory. Preference is given to applicants currently enrolled in a graduate program in clinical psychology/neuropsychology. We will consider applicants from any accredited graduate program and will assist applicants in meeting the practicum requirements of their schools.

Applications for the practicum year beginning in August may be submitted as early as January 1 but not later than March 1. The application consists of your curriculum vitae and an email stating the rotation(s) for which you are interested in applying. Interviews (by invitation) are typically conducted in the weeks following the annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in February, but applicants are encouraged to submit materials early.  All materials should be submitted to:

Anastacia A. Nichols, PsyD
Practicum Training Director
Email

and

Stevie N. Fowler, MA, CSP
Supervisor of Psychometric Services
Email

Division of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
Emory University
1441 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30322  

To inquire about the practicum, contact Dr. Nichols at 404-712-5667 or via email.

During the first two months of the clinical neuropsychology practicum, externs are expected to become proficient at basic neuropsychological test administration and scoring, although students will continue to be introduced to new tests throughout the practicum year.  From months two through six, externs will shift concentration to test interpretation and report writing. Externs also begin to acquire information about various neuropsychological disorders through supervision, case seminars and suggested outside reading.  This acquisition of knowledge continues during months seven through ten, with externs becoming skilled not only at diagnosis, but also at making recommendations for patient rehabilitation. Externs may also begin to observe feedback and recommendations to patients and other professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses and rehabilitation therapists) based on the patients’ neuropsychological examination pending extern availability.

Extern progress is evaluated informally on a week-to-week basis by faculty, and feedback will be given as part of the weekly supervision sessions. Formal evaluation occurs at the end of every semester at which time externs will receive oral and written feedback from their faculty supervisors. The evaluation process is not meant to foster anxiety, but rather to provide externs with information needed for their professional growth and development. 

The neuropsychology faculty maintain active research programs. Externs have the option of involving themselves with ongoing or proposed faculty research. Opportunities are also available for externs to conduct master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation research in the Center for Rehabilitation Medicine. All research must be conducted outside of the routine practicum hours, although the project may utilize data collected as part of the extern’s routine duties. All research projects must be done under the auspices of, or in collaboration with, the neuropsychology faculty.

Externs may take off official Emory holidays. A list of recognized holidays may be requested from your Emory faculty supervisor. In addition, externs may take off any holidays associated with religious observances. Externs may take additional vacation during the practicum year but must follow procedures for requesting this leave time in advance. Time off for other than Emory officially recognized holidays must be approved by the Emory faculty supervisor. Please speak with your supervisor regarding leave request procedures.

Externs may request to take a leave of absence from the practicum for medical or personal reasons.  Externs may also be asked to take a leave of absence from the practicum when, in the judgment of the faculty, their physical or mental health prevents them from successfully performing their clinical duties. All leaves are for a maximum of three months (counted cumulatively during the year), with the time to be made up after the extern returns to the practicum. Externs unable to return from a leave within three months, will be terminated from the practicum, but may apply for readmission at a later date when a practicum slot becomes available.   

Externs who take a leave of absence due to health concerns may be required to furnish proof the health problem has been resolved prior to their return. If such proof cannot be furnished, faculty may elect to terminate the extern’s practicum. In most cases, the extern’s word that the problem is resolved will be accepted, but faculty may require more stringent proof in selected instances.  

Only in rare cases when externs fail to show consistent progress and do not appear to benefit from supervision and feedback, will an extern be asked to leave the practicum. This will occur only after every effort has been made to remediate the problem. Externs engaging in unprofessional conduct or conduct that is in violation of the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association will be terminated immediately from the practicum. Externs who are terminated for reasons of unethical or unprofessional conduct will not be considered for readmission.