UH College of Medicine - Postdoctoral Fellowship

07 Feb 2024    

Job Description: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Organization: Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, UH Health Family Care Center 

Description: The Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine is offering a full-time Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (CCAP) Postdoctoral Fellowship position for the 2024-2025 training year. Fellowship training will begin September 1, 2024, and continue on a full-time basis for one year, ending on August 31, 2025. This is a clinical fellowship position with the major area of training emphasizing evidence-based, culturally informed outpatient intervention services for children, adolescents, and their families. Minor rotation training will also be available in pediatric integrated primary care and community-based outreach and education. Clinical training activities will take place within the UH Health Family Care Center, a community-based primary care center (aspiring to FQHC prior to fellowship) staffed by college of medicine faculty that also offers dedicated specialty mental health care.

Clinical Child and Adolescent Outpatient Mental Health Interventions (Major Rotation)

This 12-month major rotation provides training and clinical experiences for treating children, adolescents, and their families who are referred for specialty care internally from our primary care providers and externally from community liaison’s, school wraparound specialists, and community pediatricians. The CCAP Fellow will conduct clinical needs assessment evaluations, develop individualized treatment plans, and implement evidence-based practice principles for treating children with range of mental health conditions. The fellow will participate in clinics treating disruptive behavior disorders, internalizing conditions, as well as adolescent group skills training for third wave cognitive-behavioral interventions. Specific emphasis will be placed on the provision of trauma informed care and understanding the influence of social determinants of health in treating children, adolescents, and families from historically underserved populations. The fellow will receive direct supervision by licensed psychologists with expertise in clinical child and adolescent psychology and learn to work collaboratively with the larger FCC healthcare team. Training in tiered supervision is included in this rotation, providing opportunities for the fellow to supervise doctoral practicum students under the direction and training of their own supervising psychologist.

Pediatric Primary Care Behavioral Health Consultation (Minor Rotation)

This clinical training experience takes place within the primary care service at the UH Health Family Care Center, working directly with physicians in pediatrics, family medicine, OB/GYN, nursing, and care coordinators. Training in integrated services is prioritized applying the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) Model, where the fellow will gain opportunities to provide services for pediatric patients presenting behavioral health issues potentially interfering with their medical care. Consultation services will consist of warm handoffs and well child consultations, brief screenings, providing psychoeducation, parent consultation, brief intervention and problem prevention, as well as direct consultation with pediatricians and the medical team. The fellow will learn how to adapt evidenced-based behavioral health assessment and treatment models to meet the needs of a pediatric community clinic context. In addition to behavioral health service delivery, the fellow also gains experience tailoring services toward child clinical populations with emerging issues who are in need of prevention, early identification, or early intervention. The fellow may also contribute to the training of medical school student clinicians who are participating in pre-clerkship and clerkship rotations. Other professional opportunities will include contributing to or co-facilitation of physician psycho-educational seminars and dissemination of behavioral health resources. Opportunities for tiered supervision may also be incorporated, with the fellow providing some level of direct clinical supervision and training for advanced doctoral practicum students.

Community-Based Outreach and Education (Minor Rotation)

As part of a larger program initiative to improve access to and utilization of mental health services for traditionally underserved children, adolescents, and families, this minor rotation offers the fellow the opportunity to interact directly with community members through established clinic-school and clinic-community partnerships. Dedicated time and financial support will be provided for the fellow to achieve certification for delivering mental health first aid. The fellow will subsequently be able to provide school- and community-based trainings to improve stakeholders’ awareness and understanding of mental health issues arising in child populations. The fellow will also work closely with the college’s community health workers (CHWs) in community outreach efforts, particularly helping to facilitate interdisciplinary team activities for the Household Centered Care (HCC) Program. HCC enables student teams from fields of medicine, nursing, and social work to conduct home visits with community members to learn more about how social determinants of health affect their engagement in the healthcare system. The fellow may choose to provide independent outreach and educational presentations within their specific areas of interests, when requested by our many community partners.

Specific duties include the following:

• Provide outpatient mental health services to children, youth, and families, applying evidence-based practice principles, providing care that is culturally guided and trauma informed. 
• Collaborate with community health workers, schools, and medical team to coordinate access to care.
• Implement needs assessment consultations and develop treatment plans.
• Participate in a range of treatment programs including clinics for disruptive behavior, internalizing problems, dialectical behavior therapy, and other areas of established interests.
• Provide pediatric primary care behavioral health consultation within an integrated care team model
• Participate in community outreach activities.

Required Qualifications: 

• Completion of an APA accredited Ph.D. or Psy.D. program in clinical, counseling, or school psychology before 09/01/2023. Evidence of dissertation completion and conferral of degree are required.
• Successful completion of an APA accredited doctoral internship, with training in clinical child and adolescent psychology.
• Specialized training and/or clinical experience working with children, adolescents, and families.

Preferred Qualifications:

·         Training in the provision of health services in medical settings for children, adolescents, and families.

·         Competencies for providing evidence-based behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions for children, adolescents, and families.

·         Formal training in best practices for telebehavioral health services.

·         Bi-lingual in Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, and/or Chinese

Application

Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their current CV and a cover letter directly to our training committee, c/o Dr. David F. Curtis (dfcurtis@central.uh.edu). Cover letters should outline your specific training interests and confirm eligibility for postdoctoral training (i.e., APA internship completion date, current dissertation status, date degree will be conferred).

A preliminary review will be conducted by our training committee soon after applications are received. Qualifying applicants will then be invited to submit these materials and 3 letters of recommendation into the University of Houston human resource portal prior to interviewing.

Salary: $56k

Full-Time: 1 FTE (12-months/year), eligible for full-time staff benefits. 

The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution. Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Additionally, the University prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Notes to Applicant: Official transcripts are required for postdoctoral fellows and will be requested upon selection of the final candidate. All positions at the university are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check.