You are admitted to one of three specialty practice programs in the Medical Psychology Fellowship. In each specialty, you will receive advanced, focused, and in-depth training opportunities encompassing assessment, psychodiagnostics, research, and evidence-based clinical practice.

Our Medical Psychology Fellowship has seven core training objectives:

• Integration of Science and Practice
• Ethics and Legal Standards
• Individual and Cultural Diversity
• Professional Values and Attitudes
• Management/Administration and Leadership
• Assessment
• Intervention

Fellows in each specialty are expected to possess knowledge and demonstrate specific skills in these competencies.

Clinical training

Our Medical Psychology Fellowship offers you a unique opportunity to gain the skills and experience necessary to independently evaluate and treat complex psychological problems within a multidisciplinary team setting. You will work in close collaboration with our physicians to provide consultative recommendations and interventions.

Mayo Clinic offers a unique interprofessional practice environment in which you are intimately involved in clinical decision-making, with many opportunities to develop your assessment and intervention skills. We emphasize the integration of science and practice with training in empirically supported interventions.

Rotations

You may rotate through inpatient and outpatient experiences. The duration of rotations and other educational experiences depends on how central a rotation is to your specialty program and your previous background and experience.

A number of primary clinical rotations and supplementary educational experiences are available. Each specialty program has rotations specific to the program. You may also elect to have clinical experiences in another specialty program to broaden or enhance your skills. In each substantive specialty practice area, you will devote more than 50% of your time to clinical and consultative activities and 30% of your time to research.

Opportunities for experience in other clinical settings are available, based on your educational and training needs. You may complete rotations with other departments when they are consistent with your training goals, for example, neurology, wellness, and medical oncology. External rotations may be arranged at Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona or Florida, when consistent with your individual training goals and plan.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, and one-on-one supervision are an integral part of our Medical Psychology Fellowship. Our Medical Psychology Seminar Series for fellows across the three specialties is held monthly, with a focus on professional development, diversity, and research issues. Additionally, each specialty program has a didactic series, case conference, or journal club.

Psychiatry and Psychology Grand Rounds are held weekly at noon. We encourage you to attend grand rounds in other medical specialties, too, such as pediatrics, neurology, and oncology, as time allows. During your second year of training, you will give a presentation on your research or a pertinent clinical topic at grand rounds.

Grand Rounds

Weekly Department of Psychiatry and Psychology Grand Rounds include such topics as:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Brain stimulation
• Suicide
• Child and adolescent disorders
• Geriatrics
• Women's health
• Addiction
• Mood disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Somatoform disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Eating disorders
• Psychopharmacology
• Psycho-oncology
• Genetics
• Neuroimaging
• Cross-cultural issues

Speakers are interdisciplinary colleagues selected from within Mayo Clinic and national and international institutions.

Administrative experience through committee membership

You are welcome to join departmental committees, which offer professional development opportunities through experience with administrative activities. Available committees include, but are not limited to, the Research Committee, Grand Rounds Planning Committee, and Diversity and Inclusion Committee, as well as practice area workgroups.

Research training

Research opportunities at Mayo Clinic are outstanding. Due to a wealth of patient data, prospective or retrospective investigations in either basic science, or clinical studies are possible.

As a fellow, you have the opportunity to work with established clinical researchers on ongoing projects as well as develop independent research projects. Several faculty members are involved in externally funded research projects. You select a research mentor and are encouraged to participate in the development of at least one research project, which results in at least two presentations at national meetings and two manuscript submissions (at least one in a peer-reviewed journal) by the end of the fellowship.

Workshops focusing on grant writing and publishing are offered during the fellowship. Several fellows in the Medical Psychology Fellowship have received internal or external grant funding for their research applications.

If you desire a more intensive research experience following your postdoctoral training, a Clinician-Investigator Training Program is available.

Teaching opportunities

You may have the opportunity to teach psychiatry residents through clinical instruction or the psychiatry residency didactics. You may have the opportunity to provide didactics to medical residents in other specialties such as pediatrics or neurology.

Interested fellows may also supervise or provide consultation to psychiatry residents in learning and delivering evidence-based psychotherapies, under the supervision of clinical faculty. You may also have the opportunity to provide didactics to medical residents in other specialties such as pediatrics or neurology.

Opportunities to collaborate with department faculty teaching at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine are also available.

Career development

You meet periodically with various faculty members, your specialty track director, and the program director to discuss your career goals and ways your fellowship training can be tailored to help you achieve those goals.

Evaluation

To ensure you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during this fellowship. You are formally evaluated by supervising faculty members after each rotation and at least semiannually by your specialty track director and the Medical Psychology Fellowship director.

In addition, you regularly evaluate the fellowship program and the faculty to confirm your educational needs are being met.