The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) offers practicum training in
Clinical Health Psychology. Contact
Dr. Jeff Baker for program information.
UTMB has a long history of training psychologists including
internships and postdoctoral training. Currently, no APA accredited
programs are available with the hope and expectation those will return
some day. At this time practicum training is offered to select
individuals in a variety of clinical training settings. It is expected
all psychology trainees will have been exposed to the biological,
cognitive-affective, social, and developmental bases of behavior.
The University of Texas Medical Branch has, as a component of its
educational mission, the preparation of health care professionals for
entry into internship and post doctoral education for a career as a
clinical health psychologist offers a practicum student extensive
experience in clinical opportunities. The program provides services to
UTMB outpatients typically focusing on patients with chronic medical
conditions (rehabilitation and disability) through a variety of clinical
rotations including Anesthesiology Pain Clinic, Texas Transplant Surgery Center, and the Shriners Hospital.
This practicum training includes both training for the advanced
practice of clinical health psychology and also provides some limited
research opportunities that relates to patient care and also includes
providing consultation to patients, program development and training in
supervision. This mission in psychology training not only assists in
providing adequate numbers and diversity of psychologists for the State
of Texas, but also provides role models for the various students
enrolled in the professional schools at The University of Texas Medical
Branch. The mission in psychology education at The University of Texas
Medical Branch at Galveston is therefore seen as more than the clinical
training of practitioners. It is, in fact, the development of future
faculty and researchers as well. Knowledge and skills in implementing
empirically supported interventions is practiced with different health
problems. Part of the mission statement of UTMB is to provide care to
the under served populations of Texas and the psychology trainee is able
to be part of this mission through a continuous exposure to training
and research in a sequential, cumulative and graded in complexity model
of training that is primarily experiential in nature and is aimed at
preparing psychologists for professional psychology practice at the
beginning competency level in clinical health psychology.