About Our Clinical Neuropsychology Fellowship Program

We will be participating in the match as an APPCN program (#8752). Our training program follows the Houston Conference model for specialty training in clinical neuropsychology and our former fellows have been very successful at obtaining board certification in clinical neuropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).

The majority of a fellow’s time is devoted to outpatient neuropsychological assessment, as well as experiences in specialty multidisciplinary clinics and engagement in didactics. The remaining time can be tailored to individual interests, including participation in research, delivery of psychotherapy services, supervision of students, and community outreach.

• Individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to varying etiologies
• Neurodegenerative conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Body disease, posterior cortical atrophy)
• Parkinson’s disease, including pre-surgical candidates
• Atypical movement disorders (e.g., progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple systems atrophy, corticobasal syndrome, spinocerebellar ataxia)
• Huntington’s disease, including genetic counseling
• Multiple sclerosis
• Neuro-oncology
• Polypharmacy
• Targeted Assessment Clinic (TAC): Brief assessments for older adults concerned about their cognitive wellbeing to obtain a cognitive baseline

The Memory and Aging Care Clinic, or MACC as we fondly call it, is our flagship multidisciplinary clinic in the fellowship program. It is a multidisciplinary follow-up clinic for patients diagnosed with MCI or dementia and their families. The team includes neuropsychologists, a nurse practitioner, neurologists, a pharmacist, a speech therapist, a social worker, dementia care coordinators, and clinical research coordinators.

For a 6-month period each year (12 months total), fellows have the opportunity to take a leadership role in the weekly clinic. Fellows are responsible for preparing for and leading the morning meeting on the day of clinic. This involves provides a brief overview of each patient’s history and the plan for their visit. Fellows then staff the day-long clinic with the multidisciplinary team.

The care provided in MACC is individualized and focused on care for the whole family, such that no two visits are exactly alike. The fellow will conduct brief clinical interviews to assess for changes in cognition, functioning, mood, and/or behavior, as well as to assess for caregiver burden. Goals of MACC visits may involve troubleshooting current challenges the patient or the family are encountering, assisting with advance care planning, addressing safety concerns, and/or connecting patients and families with ongoing clinical trials or other research studies. If indicated, the fellow may also conduct brief neurocognitive testing to objectively assess cognitive change. A significant part of the time is focused on providing education and recommendations for implementing nonpharmacological, behavioral and environmental strategies.

Each fellow is expected to see 4 outpatients per week or 3 outpatients plus staffing one day of the multidisciplinary Memory and Aging Care Clinic (MACC). Technicians are used for outpatient assessments, but fellows may need to do their own testing if a technician is unavailable (e.g., due to illness). Fellows are responsible for scheduling a feedback session with each patient, either in person or virtually.

• Individual therapy with individuals with neurological disorders and/or their care partners
• Group therapy with care partners of individuals with early-onset neurodegenerative disorders
• Supervision of graduate practicum students
• Community outreach through cognitive screening events and presentations with local organizations
• Completing a rotation in the neuropsychology service in the Department of Psychiatry (separate program), who work with special populations not typically seen by our service (e.g., traumatic brain injury, psychiatric disorders, epilepsy).

Our job is to prepare you for independent practice and board certification in neuropsychology.  You will see a large number of cases so that you can solidify interview, report-writing, and feedback skills, as well as gain experience with a variety of disorders. Fellows who thrive in this program have a solid academic foundation in brain-behavior relationships, strong assessment administration and interpretation skills, and attributes such as intellectual curiosity, autonomy, efficiency, maturity, initiative, flexibility, and a sense of humor.  Our former fellows have been very successful at obtaining high-level employment and board certification.

Areas for growth that our fellowship provides in particular include experience providing evaluation feedback to patients and families, gaining fluency with consultation to colleagues from multiple disciplines, participating in multidisciplinary specialty clinics, and developing specialized knowledge and expertise in mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to various etiologies (e.g., neurodegenerative conditions).

By the conclusion of the fellowship, fellows will have completed a scholarly project, passed the EPPP, be eligible for state licensure, and be prepared for independent practice as a neuropsychologist.