Instruction occurs through conferences, seminars, course work, individual and group supervision, and day-to-day collaboration with senior staff members. Opportunities for developing supervisory skills are also available.
Regular seminars include:
- Professional Development seminar (1 hour): This monthly seminar focuses on topics such as job search and negotiation, application for grant funding, ethics, risk management, and other topics of interest to the interns and fellows in clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology.
- Neuropsychology Topics Seminar (1 hour): Held weekly, this seminar is designed to further our trainee’s empirical knowledge base in neuropsychology and clinical care more generally, build clinical skills, and facilitate progress towards board certification in clinical neuropsychology. This is accomplished via trainee, faculty, and guest speaker presentations related to neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and other aspects of clinical care and illness (e.g., epilepsy, TBI, dementia); and (2) discussion of clinical issues and practices pertinent to functioning as a neuropsychologist.
- Neuropsychology Case Conference (1 hour): Held twice per month, this case conference is designed to further our trainee’s knowledge base, case conceptualization skills, and facilitate progress towards board certification in clinical neuropsychology. This is accomplished via exposure to and experience with ABPP style neuropsychology case fact-finding, neuropsychology case presentations, and group supervision.
- Sports Neuropsychology Seminar (1 hour): This monthly seminar is designed to provide a venue for individuals with a clinical or research interest in the practice of sports neuropsychology. Our program follows guidelines for the training of a sports neuropsychologist as set forth by the Sports Neuropsychology Society (SNS). This didactic is also designed to partially satisfy the didactic component of those expectations.
- Neuropsychology Culture & Diversity Seminar (1 hour): This bi-monthly seminar addresses culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the practice of clinical neuropsychology, as well as research and neuroscience more broadly. Seminar topics are broad and may include guest speakers, journal club, case presentations, group discussion/reflection on current events, and learning of practical clinical skills, etc. The primary objective is to facilitate greater cultural awareness and skills for ethically working with diverse populations.
- Psychometry Meeting (1 hour): This bi-monthly seminar addresses topics such as test administration/scoring issues (e.g., how to score an unusual complex figure copy), introduction of new tests or test versions, and other issues related to testing.
- Multidisciplinary Epilepsy Surgery Case Conference (1.5 hours): Neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, nurses, residents and fellows meet weekly to discuss pre-surgical findings and surgical planning.
- Multidisciplinary PET/CT Case Conference (1 hour): The monthly meeting involves DHMC Neuropsychology, Neurology, and Radiology faculty. Several cases involving older adults are discussed, including review of PET/CT and other neuroimaging scans, to inform differential diagnosis (e.g., AD, FTD, atypical movement disorders). Typically, the postdoc rotating on the COA Clinic presents any neuropsychological findings, though other trainees (postdocs and interns) may also participate.
- Multidisciplinary COA Case Conference (1 hour): DHMC Neuropsychology, Neurology, and Geriatric Psychiatry faculty, interns/postdocs, and residents meet twice per month to discuss patients seen within the COA Clinic, as well as cases that may benefit from consultation with one or more of the services within the COA Clinic.
- Multidisciplinary DBS Case Conference (1 hour/month): The monthly meeting discusses patients being considered for DBS surgery. Trainees have the opportunity to present neuropsychological findings.
Numerous other didactics are available including:
- Psychiatry Department Grand Rounds,
- Neurology Grand Rounds and Case Conference,
- Pediatrics Grand Rounds,
- Radiology Grand Rounds,
- Cognitive Neuroscience lecture series,
- Summer Neuroscience Institute lectures, etc.
There are many other didactic opportunities available at DHMC or on the Dartmouth campus.