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Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Our program provides training consistent with Houston Conference Guidelines and is a member of APPCN

The Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple is a two-year APPCN accredited postdoctoral specialty-training program that provides advanced clinical, didactic and research training in neuropsychology. The program conforms to the Houston Conference Guidelines for Training in Clinical Neuropsychology.

After completing our program, fellows are board-eligible clinical neuropsychologists capable of independent practice and able to make substantive contributions to the clinical, professional and research domains of neuropsychology.

We accept one fellow per year.

Curriculum

Graduates of our program develop the following:

  • Advanced skills in neuropsychological assessment sufficient for independent practice and board certification in neuropsychology
  • Advanced skills in treatment recommendations and interventions for neuropsychological disorders sufficient for independent practice
  • Advanced skills in consultation with patients, families, and treatment teams sufficient for independent practice
  • Advanced knowledge of neuropsychology (e.g., etiologic mechanisms and processes)
  • Advanced knowledge of research issues and methodological issues in neuropsychology
  • Preparation for licensure for independent practice of psychology and board certification in neuropsychology

Refer to our training manual for a complete description of our program

Didactics are explicitly created to prepare students for ABPP/ABCN board certification. Consistent with APPCN guidelines, at least 50 percent of time is devoted to clinical work (generally closer to 80 percent), 10 percent to research and 10 percent to educational experiences.

In addition to the neuropsychology didactics, fellows are given the opportunity to attend interdisciplinary meetings when schedules allow such as the neuroradiology conference, brain tumor board, neurology residents’ didactics, brain cuttings with the pathology department and neurosurgery grand rounds.

Psychiatry grand rounds and psychology intern/fellowship trainings through the behavioral health clinic are also available depending on the fellows’ schedules and interest as well as availability within that separate clinic. Occasionally, interns, externs and residents rotate through the clinic. When possible, fellows assist in supervision/training of these students.

Training Experience Frequency Training Year
Neuropsychology seminar Weekly PGY1 and PGY2
Journal club Monthly PGY1 and PGY2
Fact finding Monthly PGY1 and PGY2
Case presentation Monthly PGY1 and PGY2
Professional development Monthly PGY1 and PGY2
Neuroradiology conference Monthly PGY1 and PGY2
Brain cuttings As available PGY1 and PGY2
Supervision Ongoing PGY1 and PGY2
Neurology rotation 1-2 weeks PGY2
Psychiatry rotation Weekly PGY2

Neuropsychology Seminar

Senior staff members take the lead presenting an integrated series of lectures on the phenomenology of neuropsychological disorders, clinical conditions and neuroanatomy of each domain of cognition through a combination of guided readings, formal didactics, outside lecturers and journal discussions.

Fellows present once per each topic domain as well (five presentations per year) under the supervision of the staff member leading the presentation.

Professional Development

This series rotates each week among journal club, interesting or challenging case presentations, ABPP exam style fact finding exercises and professional development conversations from topics generated by the fellows.

Fellows are scheduled for three outpatients per week at the neuropsychology clinic their first year and four per week their second year. Fellows are responsible for testing one patient each week when insurance restrictions permit. In addition, fellows work with senior staff performing inpatient consults (when they come up, usually less than one per month but this varies; this is not a primary emphasis of this site). Fellows’ clinical work will be supervised by one supervisor at a time for three-month rotations. On an as needed/as available basis, minor rotations may be arranged to allow exposure to a particular patient group or clinical services as needed and this structure is flexible to meet the unique training needs of an individual fellow or allow for other more specialized experiences.

Patients are referred from a broad range of referral sources within the medical center and the surrounding community. The population’s demographics are diverse in regards to age, education, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, although most patients are adults. Patients reflect the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition of the central Texas region. They are primarily Caucasian individuals from all socioeconomic levels. Hispanic individuals represent a significant proportion of the regional population while other racial/ethnic groups have lesser representation. Opportunities are available to assist in bilingual assessments with our bilingual staff members as well as working with translators on an as needed basis and as appropriate.

Clients present with a wide range of neurological and neurocognitive issues, such as:

  • Dementia
  • Stroke
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Tumors
  • Learning disorders
  • Psychiatric disorders
  • Traumatic brain injury

The neuropsychology division also provides specialized care for patients with brain tumors, movement disorders, and epilepsy, which allows the fellow to obtain exposure to these disorders.

Beginning the second year of fellowship, fellows are given the opportunity to shadow various other professionals in the medical center. At a minimum, fellows must spend a total of two weeks shadowing the inpatient neurology service, inpatient psychiatry service and various outpatient neurology specialty rotations. More focused or prolonged shadowing experiences in a particular neurological or interventionist clinic are arranged on an as needed or as available basis with the approval of the training lead.

Fellows are required to complete one research project of publishable quality each year. Typically, these projects are in line with the active research programs of the faculty, though every effort is made to accommodate a fellow’s individual research goals and experiences.

The research requirement can be accomplished through various means, including:

  • Literature reviews
  • Archival studies
  • Involvement within current research protocols
  • Train at one of U.S. News & World Report's top hospitals in Texas

    Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple is a 640-bed teaching and research hospital with a Level I trauma center.

How to Apply

Application Requirements

To be eligible, applicants must have completed all requirements of an APA/CPA accredited doctoral program in psychology and a one-year APA/CPA accredited clinical internship. Alternatively, individuals who have completed all requirements of a university-based APA-accredited program of postdoctoral education for retraining in clinical or counseling psychology are eligible. The individual's retraining program must adhere to the guidelines established by the APA Council of Representatives.

The following materials should be emailed directly to our program:

  • Cover letter
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Two sample reports (de-identified)
  • Three letters of reference emailed directly to the program or mailed in sealed envelopes
  • Official transcript sent directly via mail or electronically from the graduate institution

Deadline for application is January 5.


Interview and Match

Applications will be reviewed and interviews will be scheduled towards the end of January. All interviews will be virtual this year. We are participants in the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) Resident Match Program, program number 8072.


Learn more about Baylor Scott & White's housestaff appointment eligibility, including guidelines for international medical graduates.

Contact Us

Richard Phenis, Psy.D., ABPP-CN
Richard.Phenis@BSWHealth.org

Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Baylor Scott & White Health
2401 S. 31st. St.
Temple, TX 76508

Working at Baylor Scott & White Health

Compensation and Benefits

In addition to competitive stipends, we offer our fellows a full menu of employee benefits. We help offset the cost of many of these benefits; others are options you can choose to pay for yourself.

Life in Temple

Temple uniquely offers a combination of access to big-city conveniences while maintaining a small-town atmosphere. Temple has also been ranked among the Top 20 Fastest Growing Cities in Texas and one of America's most affordable places of 2015.

Why Baylor Scott & White

As the largest not-for-profit health care system in Texas and one of the largest in the United States, Baylor Scott & White Health includes 48 hospitals, more than 900 patient care sites, more than 6,000 active physicians and more than 40,000 employees.

Check out all of our programs in North and Central Texas