Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

06 Nov 2023    

The Behavioral Science Division at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is pleased to announce the availability of a year-long fulltime Postdoctoral Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) starting August/September 2024. 

Behavioral Health Fellowships | Children's Hospital Pittsburgh (chp.edu)

The Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is designed to prepare individuals for a career in academic medicine, with a focus on clinical care for children and families with acute and chronic medical conditions. The program provides the postdoctoral training experience necessary to meet clinical hours and supervision requirement for licensure in the state of Pennsylvania.

This position is a 1-year subspecialized fellowship focusing on blood disorders, malignancies, and diseases requiring blood and marrow transplantation and/or cellular therapies. Our fellowship is offered from August/September 2024* through 2025. *flexible start pending internship completion date

Preferred applicants will have completed an APPIC internship in pediatric psychology with experience in inpatient medical settings. Prior experience in Hematology/Oncology/BMT is desired, but not required for candidacy.

Trainee experience will support understanding of the emotional and behavioral needs of individuals diagnosed with the following conditions:

-Sickle cell disease

-Benign hematological conditions

-Bone marrow failure conditions

-Blood cancers

-Solid tumors

-Brain tumors

-Blood and marrow transplantation inclusive of children with:

• Cancers
• Neurodevelopmental and rare diseases
• Immunodeficiencies
• Autoimmune diseases

Other opportunities may be available pending trainee interest and faculty availability.

The post-doctoral fellow will operate as part of a larger psychosocial team and of larger medical teams. The fellow will gain extensive experience caring for patients across the developmental and illness trajectory. Clinical care responsibilities include:

·  Inpatient consultation and follow-up

·  Outpatient consultation and follow-up

·  Psychotherapy (estimated 4-6 cases per week)

·  Neurocognitive screening assessments (8-10 per training year)

·  Pre-transplant psychosocial risk evaluations

In addition to clinical care and supervision requirements, the fellow will participate in weekly didactic training seminars alongside Hem/Onc/BMT and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. The fellow will complete a fellowship project focusing on programmatic development and/or quality improvement.

Supervision will be provided by two staff members within the Behavior Science Division who act as the embedded psychologists for the above patient populations. The fellow will be provided with at least two hours of individual supervision per week, as well as direct observation and consultation during regularly scheduled rotations. The fellowship utilizes a developmental model of supervision which focuses on helping trainees to progress through the developmental trajectory toward independent practice. Supervision needs are tailored to the individual fellow.

Applications will be reviewed upon receipt with the final deadline for all application materials on Friday, December 1, 2023.   Virtual interviews for selected applicants will take place in January 2024.

Applications should include: 

1.       A letter of interest describing training experiences, desired postdoctoral training objectives, and professional goals

2.       A current curriculum vitae

3.       Three letters of reference, with at least two from individuals familiar with the applicant’s academic and clinical training

4.       An official copy of graduate transcripts 

5.       A letter from the dissertation chair stating progress toward defense and anticipated defense date; trainees are expected to defend and have their doctoral degree conferred prior to the fellowship start date of 8/1/2024.

Application materials should be directed to:

Kaycee Weir, PhD
Director of Training, Behavioral Science Division
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
BH_trainingcommittee@chp.edu
412-692-7547

All application materials should be submitted electronically to the above email address, in a word or pdf file.

If the applicant is unable to send a transcript electronically, please send them to:

Attn: Kaycee Weir, PhD
UPMC CHP-Behavioral Science Division
Lawrenceville Medical Building, 3^rd Floor
4117 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Any questions regarding the fellowship or application process can be directed to our training committee by email at BH_trainingcommittee@chp.edu or by phone at 412-692-7547.