Neuropsychology Supplemental Practicum
Neuropsychological Assessment Experience & Goals
San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) is an approximately 100-bed county hospital that provides inpatient and outpatient medical and psychiatric services to low income individuals residing within San Mateo County.
Practicum Description:
Assessment Duties. The Neuropsychology track involves primarily conducting neuropsychological and personality assessments together with Dr. Vanderschaaf. Typically, the practicum student will sit in with Dr. Vanderschaaf for a formal interview of the patient and take notes and ask questions. At the end of the interview, the practicum student meets separately with the patient to complete all testing, invites the patient to return for additional sessions as needed and completes all scoring of the test battery. The practicum student is responsible for preparing the majority of the report typically within 1 to 2 weeks of all testing being completed. The patient is then invited to return for a feedback session together with the practicum student and Dr. Vanderschaaf. The practicum student is also responsible for preparing a feedback a letter for the patient.
Practicum Skills: Skills developed in the Neuropsychology track include: Test administration, report writing, feedback session communication, feedback letter development, ethics in assessment, and further knowledge about various neuropathology, neuroanatomy, and other medical conditions. An initial period of 6-8 weeks of shadow training and close supervision is necessary to ensure proper understanding of test administration.
Referral Conditions/ Disorders: Practicum students are exposed to a wide variety of different psychopathology including psychiatric disorders such as somatoform disorders, psychotic spectrum disorders, depression and anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorders. Additionally, the practicum students also gain exposure to a variety of different medical conditions including: diabetes, hypertension, other vascular risk factors, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's conditions, and of course cognitive disorders such as MCI and other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, vascular and Frontotemporal dementias. Finally, while they are not a focus of attention in referrals, co-morbid learning disorders, ADHD and other developmental disorders are often present as well.
Patient Diversity: Perhaps one of the San Mateo Medical Center's best features involves the diversity of patients in terms of culture, language and ethnicity. Although the majority of the work will be carried out in an outpatient geriatric clinic, most of the cases will involve adults of various backgrounds including: Spanish speakers from Mexico and Central America, African-Americans, and various Asian ethnicities. While the majority of your cases will not involve testing in another language, this is certainly an option for individuals who speak another language and who would like to learn more about working with such individuals.
The practicum studentship Goals: In addition to the goals that the practicum students bring to the program, specific site goals include: timely and concise preparation of reports within 1 to 2 weeks turnaround times, flexibility in handling individuals with diverse needs, assessing and providing feedback using sensitive approaches given some of our difficult patient characteristics, and developing comfort and improved knowledge in dealing with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Requirements:
Prior clinical experience is required, with preference given to advanced practicum students who have taken coursework in psychological and neuropsychological assessment. This practicum is for students who have the flexibility of 1-2 days per week. Experience or strong interest in medical settings, neuropsychology, and behavioral health is also preferred.
Placement details:
San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC) is an approximately 100-bed county hospital that provides inpatient and outpatient medical and psychiatric services to low income individuals residing within San Mateo County.
Practicum Description:
Assessment Duties. The Neuropsychology track involves primarily conducting neuropsychological and personality assessments together with Dr. Vanderschaaf. Typically, the practicum student will sit in with Dr. Vanderschaaf for a formal interview of the patient and take notes and ask questions. At the end of the interview, the practicum student meets separately with the patient to complete all testing, invites the patient to return for additional sessions as needed and completes all scoring of the test battery. The practicum student is responsible for preparing the majority of the report typically within 1 to 2 weeks of all testing being completed. The patient is then invited to return for a feedback session together with the practicum student and Dr. Vanderschaaf. The practicum student is also responsible for preparing a feedback a letter for the patient.
Practicum Skills: Skills developed in the Neuropsychology track include: Test administration, report writing, feedback session communication, feedback letter development, ethics in assessment, and further knowledge about various neuropathology, neuroanatomy, and other medical conditions. An initial period of 6-8 weeks of shadow training and close supervision is necessary to ensure proper understanding of test administration.
Referral Conditions/ Disorders: Practicum students are exposed to a wide variety of different psychopathology including psychiatric disorders such as somatoform disorders, psychotic spectrum disorders, depression and anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorders. Additionally, the practicum students also gain exposure to a variety of different medical conditions including: diabetes, hypertension, other vascular risk factors, stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's conditions, and of course cognitive disorders such as MCI and other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, vascular and Frontotemporal dementias. Finally, while they are not a focus of attention in referrals, co-morbid learning disorders, ADHD and other developmental disorders are often present as well.
Patient Diversity: Perhaps one of the San Mateo Medical Center's best features involves the diversity of patients in terms of culture, language and ethnicity. Although the majority of the work will be carried out in an outpatient geriatric clinic, most of the cases will involve adults of various backgrounds including: Spanish speakers from Mexico and Central America, African-Americans, and various Asian ethnicities. While the majority of your cases will not involve testing in another language, this is certainly an option for individuals who speak another language and who would like to learn more about working with such individuals.
The practicum studentship Goals: In addition to the goals that the practicum students bring to the program, specific site goals include: timely and concise preparation of reports within 1 to 2 weeks turnaround times, flexibility in handling individuals with diverse needs, assessing and providing feedback using sensitive approaches given some of our difficult patient characteristics, and developing comfort and improved knowledge in dealing with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Requirements:
Prior clinical experience is required, with preference given to advanced practicum students who have taken coursework in psychological and neuropsychological assessment. This practicum is for students who have the flexibility of 1-2 days per week. Experience or strong interest in medical settings, neuropsychology, and behavioral health is also preferred.
Placement details:
- For regular practicum students, placement details are:
- Start date: Open but usually after July 4th weekend.
- Duration: 12 months
- Time commitment: 8-16 hours per week; clinic hours are 8AM to 5PM.
- At least 50% of practicum hours to be allocated to clinical work.
- Location: San Mateo Medical Center 222 West 39th Ave San Mateo, CA 94403. You would typically provide the majority of your services in our Geriatric and Adult outpatient clinic but there may be occasional inpatient evaluations particularly on long-term care.
- Minimum of one hour individual supervision per week with a licensed psychologist.
- There may be additional trainings to attend periodically including psychiatric grand rounds but the majority of the experience is interviewing, testing and report writing.
- This is a supplemental practicum which means we do not offer the traditional requirements of a clinical practicum including additional group supervision or case conferences.