Pediatric Neuropsychology

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HopefulSchoolClinicalPsyD

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Hi all-

I am beginning my doctoral degree in clinical psychology in the fall. I am going to a highly clinically oriented PhD. I am very interested in pediatric neuropsychology.

Outside of courses, research, and clinical work associated with the program for the first year is there anything anyone recommends? I want to set myself up to ultimately be able to be a candidate for a pediatric neuropsychology internship + post-doc. Are there any part time jobs anyone recommends?

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Hi all-

I am beginning my doctoral degree in clinical psychology in the fall. I am going to a highly clinically oriented PhD. I am very interested in pediatric neuropsychology.

Outside of courses, research, and clinical work associated with the program for the first year is there anything anyone recommends? I want to set myself up to ultimately be able to be a candidate for a pediatric neuropsychology internship + post-doc. Are there any part time jobs anyone recommends?
No, not really. I'd say just ensure you have strong coursework, research, and (probably most importantly) clinical experiences with supervisors who can speak positively with regard to your work ethic, competence, and clinical acumen. Make sure you have some balance, too- you need some intervention/therapy experience to be competitive for internship.

Otherwise... the only thing I'd suggest is to network. Attend conferences, present your work, ask others about their research, find people with similar interests. Join listservs, even if only as a lurker, so you can speak to current trends in the field. But that's more of a natural process over the next few years, it's nothing you need to worry about now... I'd focus on enjoying your last summer prior to grad school. You will be fully immersed in generalist training the first 1-2 years, then start specializing a bit later.

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Although there are people who go more academic or clinical in every specialty, neuropsychology tends to place a premium on research. I'd try to obtain quality research experiences related to your clinical work if these aren't naturally available right now.

Also, pediatric neuropsychologists are often lifespan neuropsychologists. To maximize your internship and fellowship prospects, I would probably recommend training in a variety of age ranges, but you can still keep your focus peds.
 
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Although there are people who go more academic or clinical in every specialty, neuropsychology tends to place a premium on research. I'd try to obtain quality research experiences related to your clinical work if these aren't naturally available right now.

Also, pediatric neuropsychologists are often lifespan neuropsychologists. To maximize your internship and fellowship prospects, I would probably recommend training in a variety of age ranges, but you can still keep your focus peds.

This particular point has not been my experience. True lifespan people are rare, but, if you are trained as one, you can easily find a job. There are just so few postdocs that can give you a true lifespan training experience. Also kind of a sticky area, some people believe that one can't possibly be adequately trained in both, unless you are very focused on a few disorders.
 
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True, I should refrain from labeling this "lifespan neuropsychologist." But I did mean that folks who identify as peds typically have some experience across the lifespan, at least in my group of colleagues. The same is not necessarily true of adult neuropsychologists.
 
True, I should refrain from labeling this "lifespan neuropsychologist." But I did mean that folks who identify as peds typically have some experience across the lifespan, at least in my group of colleagues. The same is not necessarily true of adult neuropsychologists.
In my experience, peds people sometimes see young adults, particularly with disorders that also occur in childhood (e.g., epilepsy, cancers). I rarely see peds people that feel comfortable with the full lifespan, though... I know I would not feel comfortable conducting an evaluation to distinguish MCI from dementia.

The ABPP exam is generally adult-focused (compared to peds, at least- one of the reasons for the subspecialty), so board-certified pediatric neuropsychologists should have some degree of familiarity with adult disorders. That doesn't necessarily equal clinical experience or expertise, of course... but there are not yet any restrictions on how one can market oneself.

I work in a children's hospital, so it's a moot point for me. Lifespan, shmifespan!

EDIT: Thanks WisNeuro for the clarification. Yup- I was talking about the ABPP written exam, which skews towards adults (there is a separate peds exam for the subspecialty). You can choose to submit any two cases for the work samples, and you get a choice of adult or pediatric for the fact finding.
 
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Just clarifying, by ABPP exam, LETSGO is referring to the written exam. Which, while it has questions that spans the lifespan, definitely favors adult. The oral portion, however, is population specific, child or adult. Just for any of you students who are thinking about it some day. I imagine they will eventually go to a child or adult option on the written some day as well.
 
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There are a handful of clinicians I know that do peds and adults, but it is almost exclusively child to young adult maybe college, not cradle to grave. There is just too much to know to handle it all.
 
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