Rotations and Curriculum

Rotations

Bariatric Psychology

The extern on the bariatric psychology rotation will provide pre-surgical bariatric evaluations to determine candidacy for outpatient bariatric surgery. The extern will also provide brief treatment aimed at improving patients’ psychological symptoms and problematic eating behaviors that could interfere with long-term weight management success. The extern will co-facilitate support groups throughout this rotation to promote short- and long-term behavioral changes. Other opportunities include brief follow up with patients, participation in interdisciplinary staff meetings and implementing psychotherapy groups.

Although most of this training experience would be clinically focused, there are opportunities to assist in research if this is an area of interest for trainees. Current projects include health literacy and cognitive functioning within bariatric surgery candidates as well as physicians’ perceptions of mid-level providers within interdisciplinary teams.

Neurorehabilitation Psychology

The student will gain experience completing bedside evaluations and providing evidence-based psychological services in an excellent acute rehab setting. Patients in rehab have had life-changing medical challenges such as strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and multiple fractures requiring inpatient rehabilitation. Conversion disorder patients can also appear in acute rehab settings, and they provide a fascinating team-based training experience.

The trainee will be an integral part of a multidisciplinary team that includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social work, recreation therapy and physical medicine providers. The trainee will have the opportunity to attend rehab team meetings to report on their patients and get a more complete picture of challenges the patient is facing. The team is very receptive to suggestions on behavior management strategies, improving mood, managing delirium and promoting good readjustment to community life.

There are other training experiences available within this track, such as leading a weekly “Relaxation and Reflection” mindfulness group for patients, attending and providing staff trainings, co-training with medical students and residents, performing bedside competency evaluations and learning more about CBT for chronic pain and other medical conditions. An opportunity to observe evidence-based clinical hypnosis interventions for phantom limb pain, irritable bowel syndrome and other functional disorders may be provided, depending on patient needs.

Integrated Behavioral Health in Family Medicine

The Family Medicine Residency Clinic provides opportunity for the student to learn foundational theory and practice for working as a psychologist within an integrated primary care model. The student will be exposed via assigned readings and supervised clinical experience to psychological practice as member of the family medicine team. Specifically, the student will be supported in achieving the following training goals:

• Understand and implement the 5A's model of behavior change in primary care.
• Demonstrate how to conduct an initial consultation appointment including (a) introduction, (b) identifying and clarifying the consultation problem, (c) conducting a functional assessment of the problem, (d) identifying possible change plan options, and (e) starting a change plan, within a 30-minute appointment.
• Demonstrate common behavioral and cognitive interventions used in integrated primary care including (a) deep breathing exercise, (b) cue-controlled relaxation, (c) cognitive disputation, (d) motivational interviewing strategies, (e) problem solving, (t) stimulus control, and (g) assertive communication.
• Demonstrate use of a treatment outcome measure designed for behavioral health services in primary care.
• Demonstrate succinct and prompt feedback to referring primary care providers.
• Psychological Practice with Pain Management Clinic
• Trainees may also have opportunity to work with patients referred for assistance with chronic pain. Trainees will learn to conduct an assessment from a biopsychosocial-spiritual model of chronic pain The overarching goal of treatment is to help patients living with chronic pain to move from medical management to a self-management approach, emphasizing living best quality of life as possible despite daily pain.

Psychological Assessment

• The psychological testing clinic provides an opportunity for the student to administer and score neuropsychological testing for a variety of referral questions that could include learning disability, autism, dementia, and diagnostic clarity.  
• The student will complete supervised clinical experiences related to administering and scoring of measures, interpretation of scores, providing feedback to the patient and/or the patient’s family, and providing feedback to the referral source regarding the original primary concern.
• The student will be expected to communicate timely and professionally with the referral source which could be pediatricians, primary care providers, psychiatrists, psychologists, local schools, speech and language pathologists, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.
• The student will have the opportunity to work with children, adolescents, young adults, older adults and families on this training track.