Postdoctoral Fellowships in Clinical Health Psychology Pediatric Primary Care and Neurodevelopmental Disorders tracks

04 Dec 2023    

MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio are pleased to invite applications for one to two-year Postdoctoral Fellowships with emphasis in Integrated/Primary Care Pediatric Psychology, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities/Pediatric Neuropsychology or Adult Health Psychology starting on 9/1/2024. All fellowships are designed to prepare future psychologists for an academically- oriented career in an integrated care setting by focusing on clinical and research training with an underserved population. The specific experiences can be individualized to meet fellows’ training and professional goals.  

o    50% of the time will be spent in direct clinical care of patients from underserved populations. Depending on the rotations and training clinics, opportunities may include: working with interdisciplinary teams, individual and/or group psychotherapy, working directly with patients and families) and psychological assessment  

o    50% of the time will be spent in academic activities:  

§  Teaching: including educational presentations to psychology and/or medical residents 

§  Umbrella supervision of   psychology interns and/or practicum students 

§  Research: including., recruitment and data collection, grant writing, manuscript preparation, mentored journal reviews), and  

§  Professional development (e.g., didactics, professional development seminars, grand rounds, administrative time, and supervision).  

For more than 170 years, MetroHealth has provided quality health care to a diverse patient population. The MetroHealth System is one of the largest, most comprehensive health care providers in Northeast Ohio. MetroHealth, Cleveland's first hospital and a principal teaching center of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU), is the flagship unit of The MetroHealth System and includes a Level I trauma center, a regional burn center, and Metro Life Flight, the country's second busiest emergency air transport system. 

MetroHealth is located on the near west side of Cleveland, Ohio. Situated on Lake Erie, Cleveland is a mid-sized city that is experiencing a renaissance that began with sports venues downtown and continues with revitalized historical neighborhoods on the west side and a burgeoning corridor between the city's center and the east side. Cleveland boasts numerous Colleges and Universities, Art Museums and Theaters. Cleveland is surrounded by the Emerald Necklace, an extensive system of nature preserves and parks. The various reservations, which largely encircle the city of Cleveland, tend to follow the rivers and creeks that flow through the region.  

PEDIATRIC INTEGRATED CARE (2 Positions) 

Pediatric fellows provide consultation and brief intervention in primary care and specialty care clinics (e.g., weight management, transgender youth, developmental disabilities/autism, traumatic brain injury, foster care, neuromuscular disorders, GI, diabetes/endocrine, adolescent health, sleep medicine, NICU follow-up, pain management). Fellows participate as integral members of the multidisciplinary, integrated care teams. Clinical opportunities are tailored to the fellow’s interests and goals, and there are opportunities for fellows to develop clinical programs and/or further psychology’s integration/role in clinics. For Spanish-speaking applicants there is opportunity to work with directly with Spanish-speaking patients as a member of the Hispanic Clinic team.  

PEDIATRIC NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS (2 Positions with option for 1- or 2- year fellowship) 

The Neurodevelopmental Disability (NDD) fellowship is intended to be tailored to meet the training needs of two types of fellows- those interested in pursuing a career in pediatric neuropsychology or those dedicated to providing assessment services and therapy to individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorder. The fellow primarily provides services in our interdisciplinary Autism and Neurodevelopmental Clinic where we serve a diverse patient population with varied presenting concerns (e.g., ASD, ID, FASD, Lead Toxicity, head injury, seizures, craniofacial conditions, genetic disorder, etc) across the lifespan. Supplemental didactic experiences including a regional neuropsychology journal club, interagency ASD training opportunities, and shadowing of neurosurgery and brain cuttings are available for fellows on this track. 

For both types of fellows, the primary focus of training is on culturally sensitive assessment for patients from birth to adulthood. However, the balance of assessment, therapy, and research demands is adjusted to meet the training goals of each fellow individually. Assessment opportunities include traditional neuropsychological and psychological assessment and participation on interdisciplinary ASD assessment teams. Opportunities for therapy provision, including parent training, social skills groups, and treatment of mental health conditions in ASD, are included in the training plan as appropriate. Assessment and consultation opportunities in adult ASD evaluation, integrated care outpatient clinics and inpatient assessment experience can be available to interested fellows. Our clinic is rapidly expanding, making opportunities available for program development in areas such as transition age care, adult developmental disability services, and treatment of variety of developmental conditions.  

·         Successful applicants will have completed all requirements at their APA-approved doctoral graduate program in pediatric/child clinical or health psychology by the start of fellowship (including completion of dissertation defense) and will have completed an APA-accredited internship.  

·         Salary is competitive with full benefits provided (medical and dental, vacation, and standard holiday/sick leave).  In employment, as in education, the MetroHealth System and Case Western Reserve University are committed to Equal Opportunity and World Class Diversity.  

·         The deadline for completed applications is 12/08/2023 for the 2024-2025 training year. All materials must be received by this date to be considered.  Except under very unusual circumstances, all application materials must be submitted through the APPA CAS. 

Please see APPIC for more information about the positions
https://www.appic.org/Postdocs/Universal-Psychology-Postdoctoral-Directory-UPPD 

Please contact us by telephone or email if you have further questions. Amanda Burger, Ph.D. (Fellowship Director) c/o Katherine Atkinson (Educational Coordinator) at katkinson1@metrohealth.org.