MISSION
We provide compassionate healthcare to veterans, stressing customer satisfaction and doing the right thing the first time. Our patients benefit from state of the art healthcare enhanced through exemplary education and research in an environment which is continually improving.
VISION
Our healthcare system will be the provider and employer of choice, a center of excellence in patient care, education and research.
VALUES
Desirable qualities, characteristics and behaviors of importance and value: trust, respect, commitment, compassion, and excellence.
| TAKING A CLOSER LOOK |
 Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) is a two division, consolidated, tertiary care medical center which draws from a metropolitan area of over 600,000 people and primary service area including over 275,000 veterans. Commended as being "Outstanding by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations** (The Joint Commission) during the most recent accreditation review, CAVHS is a flagship healthcare provider and one of the largest and busiest VA medical centers in the country. Its two campuses, located in Little Rock and North Little Rock, anchor a broad spectrum of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services, ranging from disease prevention to primary care, complex surgical procedures and extended rehabilitative care. CAVHS serves as a teaching facility for more than 1,500 students and residents enrolled in more than 65 educational programs; its principal affiliate is the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences** (UAMS). The Psychology Fellowship program and an APA-approved Psychology Internship program are among the professional training programs offered at this site. |
| PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING OVERVIEW |
 The CAVHS Psychology Fellowship Training Program utilizes the “Practitioner-Scholar” model of training, which upholds that the best practice for training must be solidly based in science. The hands-on, experiential aspects of fellowship training opportunities are grounded in scientific literature, and fellows are challenged to systematically measure assessment and intervention practices against an established knowledge base. All preceptors and supervisors emphasize the importance of consulting the scientific literature when working with new and diverse patient populations. This is accomplished through individual supervision and specific reading assignments, as well as online availability of medical and psychological journals, textbooks and reference materials, accessible through each fellow’s computer desktop.
|
| |
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the CAVHS Psychology Fellowship Training Program is to provide preparation for advanced practice in the substantive area of Clinical Psychology, consistent with the American Psychological Association's Commission for Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology CRSPPP**. All fellows, regardless of specialty emphasis, are expected to master the advanced skills required of an independent psychologist in areas of assessment, intervention, consultation, supervision and professional development. The Program promotes the advanced development of proficiency in either psychosocial rehabilitation or post traumatic stress disorder. The Program promotes the advanced development of proficiency in either psychosocial rehabilitation or post traumatic stress disorder. Also available is a fellowship focusing on research through the MIRECC (Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers) and HSR&D (Health Services Research & Development) programs within this facility. For more information about research-focused fellowships, contact Greer Sullivan, MD or Kristen Ward.
SPECIALTY TRACKS
The Psychology Fellowship program offers three training tracks:
1) Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) Specialization:
The purpose of the PSR fellowship is to develop future mental health leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to transforming mental health care systems in the 21st century through emphasis on functional capability, rehabilitation, and recovery. Individualized, mentored clinical training is combined with a curriculum concentrated on a comprehensive approach to psychosocial rehabilitation and evidence based practice. The primary population served is Veterans with serious mental illness diagnoses, as well as their families and/or support persons. Opportunities will be provided for fellows to work with interdisciplinary teams and providers throughout the Mental Health Service (e.g., Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Community Outreach, Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Recovery Center, Inpatient Psychiatry, Vocational Rehabilitation, Residential Rehabilitation Therapy Programs, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Program, Mental Health Clinic, Mental Health Administration, and others).
2) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Specialization:
This specialization encompasses interprofessional training experiences in a variety of clinical settings. Opportunities are provided to work within the Residential PTSD Program, which provides inpatient mental health services for Veterans who have a history of chronic PTSD and with those returning from the Global War on Terror (GWOT), Iraq and Afghanistan (OIF/OEF). Additionally, fellows become members of a large PTSD Clinical Team (PCT) which offers mental health services to an outpatient population of PTSD-diagnosed veterans, their families and significant others. The PCT provides opportunities to practice Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)** and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Postdoctoral training will be provided in this treatment modalities. Fellows have access to working in a series of community-based recovery workshops (Life Guard Program), as well as an intervention program for veterans confronting both PTSD and substance abuse (Seeking Safety )**.
3) Research in Health Services:
Also available is a postdoctoral Fellowship focusing on health services-related research through MIRECC and HSR&D programs within this facility. Most fellowship positions allow for 25% clinical training in addition to the research focus. For more information on research-focused fellowship, contact Greer Sullivan, MD or Kristen Ward.
FELLOWSHIP APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS
|
- Must complete an earned doctorate from an APA Accredited program in Clinical or Counseling Psychology by the advertised start date. All Applicants muse be United States citizens
- Must have completed an APA Accredited Internship in Clinical or Counseling Psychology, which included face-to-face delivery of professional psychology services relevant to the fellowship specialty track desired.
- Are expected to have entry level independent proficiency in the administration, scoring, and interpretation of common psychological testing instruments, and to have entry level independent psychotherapy skills with adults.
|
FELLOWSHIP DESCRIPTION
|
- Appointment is made for a 12-month period and the fellow is expected to complete 2080 hours, the postdoctoral hour requirement for licensure in many states. The fellowship year is comprised of an initial orientation period, with the remainder of the year encompassing advanced training and service delivery activities consistent with specialty requirements, as well as elective options for adjunct training experience based on the individual fellow's interest or need for experience. Fellows are on duty five days a week, with a workday typically defined as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The VA annual stipend is set nationally by the Office of Academic Affiliations at $41,070 (Post-Doc Fellow Year 1) with pay distributed every two weeks. Fellows receive health insurance, sick leave, annual (personal) leave, 10 paid federal holidays and authorized absence for selected conferences.
- This Program meets criteria of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). In accordance with the membership guidelines of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), recruitment and selection procedures are designed to protect and preserve the applicants' rights to make a free choice among fellowship offers.
|
For more information about the CAVHS post-doctoral and interdisciplinary PSR fellowships, contact: Dr. J. Glen White, Training Director or Dr. Wendy Batdorf, Assistant Training Director.
PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY, FACILITIES & MORE
|
Psychology Training Faculty | Psychology Staff | Facilities | Resources and More...
|
** Links will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites. The link will open in a new window.
|
| |
|
|
Fellowship Program
Related Links
|
|
