Fascinating Training Opportunities: After having served on the U.S. Senate staff for 38+ years (i.e., the legislative branch), it is a wonderful experience to now have the opportunity to serve within a university system and specifically, the
"The use of in vivo encounters with specially trained individuals, known as standardized patients (SPs), has become an established part of medical education in the
"The Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology at USUHS trains active duty military and civilian students to become the clinical psychologists practicing within the military and/or researchers in the field of medical/clinical psychology. Since the inception of the clinical psychology program 17 years ago, it has trained approximately 40 doctoral level clinicians who have gone on to serve the military in a range of clinical and leadership positions. One of the program's innovations has been to use SPs as a major component of the clinical training of the students, utilizing resources at the
"I currently direct the clinical skills courses in conjunction with Michael Feuerstein, the director of clinical psychology training. In the first year of clinical training, students are trained to conduct comprehensive psychological assessments through academic and practical instruction. They also receive instruction in the Foundations of Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Through the SimCenter, students simultaneously experience the practical application of the academic instruction they are receiving. In patient encounters with SPs at the SimCenter, students learn how to conduct Intake Interviews, to utilize the techniques of Motivational Interviewing, to perform formal psychological evaluations, and to give feedback to patients. They are observed in real time by teaching assistants and through videotape by their instructor, Clare Delabar, an adjunct faculty member and practicing psychologist, and they receive verbal and written feedback in supervision. The ability to review their taped encounters allows the students to observe themselves and to see and hear the specific areas highlighted in supervision.
"In the second year of clinical training, students begin their first practicum in the community and continue their academic and practical training in psychotherapy. In the past two years, we have radically revised the approach to teaching psychotherapy in order to expose the students to a wider range of theoretical approaches and techniques. Therefore in the second year of Clinical Skills Training, students take "The Art of Psychotherapy" with Leslie Cooper, another adjunct faculty member and a psychologist who works with cancer patients at
"The integration of hand-on-experience with didactic instruction in the risk free environment of the SimCenter allows the novice clinician to develop confidence and facility with the techniques of assessment and therapeutic intervention. It affords the clinical faculty the opportunity to assess the students directly and to adapt instruction rapidly to the needs of individual students. The realistic portrayal of the SPs, due to the skill of the actors and the training provided by the outstanding staff of the SimCenter, affords the students the opportunity to experience the challenges of clinical practice in a safe environment. That the SimCenter reflects a realistic portrait of clinical work was highlighted by one student who is assigned in the Washington VA Hospital for his first practicum. After a session in Brief Dynamic Therapy with the SP, the student, in supervision, stated: 'That's exactly the same session I had with a patient at the VA last Thursday and I didn't know what to do then either!' With the amazing technology available to the students and faculty at the SimCenter, the student was able to receive immediate feedback on a session that had direct relevance to his experience working with 'real world' patients."
As organized psychology addresses the complex professional issues surrounding telehealth and telepsychology, we would hope and expect that the profession will learn from the actual experiences of our colleagues within the federal sector, and especially those in the VA. Former U.S. Army Surgeon General (1996-2000) Ron Blanck, who is presently the Chair of the USUHS Board of Regents, noted over a decade ago that mental health/behavioral health professionals were the most frequent users of the Army's telehealth capabilities. As with the visionary SimCenter, psychologists in academia and the private sector can definitely learn from our federal colleagues. Our nation's health care environment of the future will be patient centered, feature interdisciplinary and/or integrated care, and affirmatively utilize the incredible potential inherent in the advances occurring with communications and technology fields.
A More Personal Perspective: While transiting to a new career, I have become particularly interested in the views of respected senior colleagues who also decided to "retire."
