Medical Clinical Psychology Course Requirements Print E-mail


Students enter the program with either a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.  Under the direction of faculty mentors, students not already holding a Master’s degree complete a Master’s thesis research project, typically during the first two years of the program.  Once this thesis is completed, students begin work on the doctoral dissertation. The dissertation research is intended to be a major contribution to scientific understanding of a problem having clinical and/or theoretical importance. Students should consult the UAB Graduate Student Handbook for updated policies regarding number of research credit requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. While there are (for most students) two required research projects (thesis and dissertation), students are expected to be continuously involved in research and complete multiple projects that can be published in the scientific literature. 

Students are expected to earn at least 18 credit hours in clinical training obtained through clinical clerkships.  Students begin formal clinical clerkships in their second year, choosing clinical sites from the vast resources at UAB, VA Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, and other health care facilities and private practices in the community.  Supervision by a licensed clinical psychologist is required.

Course Curriculum

In addition to the clinical and research requirements, students complete a course curriculum.  The curriculum includes two broad areas: 1) basic psychological and biological knowledge, including cognitive, biological, emotional, and social bases of behavior; individual differences; research methodology and statistics; and 2) general clinical/medical psychology, including psychopathology, assessment, intervention, and professional ethics.  In addition to the required curriculum, students may take electives that relate to a specific area of interest.

Required: Statistical Methods                  

PY 716 Intro to Statistics (w/lab) (4 credits)

PY 717 Applied Stats Methods (w/lab) (4)

PY 719 Multivariate Stats Methods (w/lab) (4)

Required:  Assessment 

PY 760 Psych Interviewing & Behavorial Observation &           Assessment (2)

PY 764 Psych Assess: Cognitive Chld & Adult (3)

PY 765 Psych Assess: Personality I (2)

Required:  Intervention                           

PY 769 Cog. Beh. Therapy (3)

PY 770 Survey Psychotherapeutic Methods (3)

PY 777 Psychothrpy Series-Shadow (1)

PY 778 Psychothrpy Series-Initial (2) (taken 2 semesters)

Required: Biological Bases                               

PY 753 Overview of Beh Neurosci (3)

Required:  General Psychology                

PY 708 Developmental Psych. (3)

Other Required Courses                         

PY 701 Prof Issues & Ethics (1)

PY 702 History & Systems (3)

PY 704 Social Psychology (3)

PY 718 Research Design  (3)

PY 731 Health Psych & Assess I (3)

PY 739 Seminar Contemp. Issues In Clinical Med. Psych. (1)                   (attendance required 2/3 yrs of residence)

PY 740 Adult Pers. & Psychopath. (3)

 

Sample of Electives

PY 720 Human Neuropsych (3)

PY 721 Neuropsych Assessment (3)

PY 722 Adv. Human Neuropsych (3)

PY 724 Motor Control after Stroke (3)

PY 735 Psychology of Addiction (3)

PY 741 Dev. Aspects of Personality & Psychopathology (3)

PY 751 Human Psychopharmacology (3)

PY 772 Behavior Therapy (3)

PY 776 Child Psychotherapy (2)

PY 780 Rehabilitation Psych. (3)

PY 782 Anxiety-based Disorders (3)

PY 783 Developmental Disabilities (3)

PY 785 Psychology of Aging (3)

PY 791 Special Topics

- Functional Neuroanatomy for Neuropsychologists (3)

- Motivational Interviewing (2)

- Theories of Addiction (3)

 
Clinical Internship

As part of the Ph.D. degree requirements, students must complete a one-year APA-accredited clinical internship at a medical facility other than UAB. It is a Program requirement that students must defend their dissertation proposal before they can apply for internship settings.  Some of the internship sites to which our students have matched include:  Brown University, Harvard Medical/Mass General Hospital, Jesse Brown VA-Chicago, Boston Consortium, University of Florida Health Science Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and VA Pittsburgh.