Clinical Psychology Fellowship Program

The University of Chicago Medicine
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience
Clinical Psychology Training Program

As of 2/24/20, we still have one open Adult Clinical Health Psychology Fellowship slot and one open Pediatric Neuropsych slot.  Read on for application instructions. 

October 30, 2019

Dear applicants:

Congratulations on being at this point in your graduate training! Thank you for your interest in the Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at the University of Chicago Medicine. We are pleased to provide you with our updated 2019-2020 information. We are listed in the Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory (https://www.appic.org/Postdocs/Universal-Psychology-Postdoctoral-Directory-UPPD) and will abide by APPIC guidelines for the 2020-2021 training year. Materials should be submitted through APPA CAS.

Our clinical psychology fellowships are a component of the larger Clinical Psychology Training Program based in the Adult and Child Sections of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Our training program includes psychology externships in many different areas, an APA accredited clinical psychology doctoral internship, and most recently, postdoctoral fellowships in psychology. Thus, clinical psychology has been an important component of departmental training for many years, and is integrated within the interdisciplinary educational mission of the Department and the larger Medical Center. Our fellowships are designed to train health service psychologists for entry level practice in academic settings in the specialized areas of clinical health psychology and pediatric psychology. The hallmarks of our program include evidence-based approaches to assessment, consultation, and intervention and the integration of science and practice. While our programs do include some specific requirements, we attempt to meet our fellows’ specific training goals in order to best prepare for an academic clinical career. Ample supervision is available with opportunities to attend didactics with other trainees. We believe that we offer a challenging and supportive setting for obtaining fellowship training in Clinical Psychology.

For the 2020-2021 training year, we will offer four postdoctoral fellowships in clinical psychology. Our Adult Clinical Health Psychology track will have one position and applications should be addressed to Dr. Shona Vas. Our Pediatric Psychology fellowship track will have one position and applications should be addressed to Dr. Tina Drossos. Our Trauma Fellowship will have two positions and applications should be addressed to Drs. Brad Stolbach and Sonya Dinizulu. Our Pediatric Neuropsychology fellowship will have one position and applications should be addressed to Dr. Scott Hunter. Our annual stipend is consistent with NIH salary guidelines for postdoctoral training and is offered as part of a comprehensive package of benefits.

Our application deadline is Tuesday, January 1, 2020 (11:59 CST). You will be contacted by email if you are selected for an interview. Interviews will occur on Thursdays, January 16th, 23rd, and 30th, 2020. Applications for positions open after 2/24/20 will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled.

Before deciding to apply to our program, please review our materials very carefully. You might also find it useful to review our internship brochure to learn more about our department, our training philosophy, our faculty, and available didactics. We want you to fully appreciate the structure of our clinical psychology training program and what we have to offer. We hope that you will apply to our fellowship because you believe it is a “great fit” with your long-term career goals. We will provide you with appropriate supervision, mentorship, and support for your professional development as a health service psychologist who is able to integrate science and practice in an academic environment.

We wish you luck as complete your degree! We look forward to reviewing your application and possibly meeting you in person. Feel free to contact us by email if you have further questions.

Shona Vas, PhD

Director, Clinical Psychology Training
Director, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Program
Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience

Contact Information: svas@bsd.uchicago.edu

UPDATE: As of 2/24/2020, we have one unfilled Adult Clinical Health Psychology Fellowship position. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To apply, please send a CV, cover letter, and unofficial transcript to Dr. Shona Vas (svas@bsd.uchicago.edu) and ask that three references be emailed directly. We will also need a statement from your internship director that you are in good standing to complete your internship on schedule. We will conduct Zoom interviews for this phase of the process. 

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology

The Adult Section of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago is offering a 1 year postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology. The successful candidate will spend 50% of time delivering evidence-based treatment to patients in our outpatient clinics providing assessment and psychotherapy. Patients present with a range of diagnoses and severity and may also have some medical comorbidity.  The remainder of the fellow’s time will be spent in our integrated primary care clinics in the Department of Medicine where diverse patients receive assessment, intervention and consultation services. The fellow’s caseload in both domains may be curated to address areas of interest and expertise (e.g., women’s health, pain, weight management, hypertension, anxiety, depression, etc.).  The exact nature of the fellow’s responsibilities will be individually determined based on interest, skills, and future career goals. 

In addition to several hours of individual supervision, the fellow may attend didactics with other psychology and psychiatry trainees within the department as well as in other departments/sections of the institution. Opportunities are available to develop teaching/training skills by participating in provision of supervision to psychology externs and working on program development and evaluation. Further, one half day may be devoted to research on an existing data set or a new project developed by the fellow. These experiences will meet the criteria for license eligibility in Illinois. The development of clinical, educational, and research skills in a multidisciplinary environment will prepare the fellow for a career in an academic medical center. Please note that your university-based graduate program in clinical psychology and your psychology internship must be accredited by the American Psychological Association.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please send an updated CV, a cover letter, and an unofficial transcript to Dr. Vas (information below).  Three letters of recommendation should also be sent to Dr. Vas under separate cover. One letter should be from your academic mentor/dissertation director and two letters should be from clinical supervisors. A separate letter from your Internship Director of Training commenting on your readiness to graduate is also required. If your DOT is one of your existing references, this issue may be addressed in the recommendation letter. Preferred start date is July 1, 2020 but can be flexible.  The position comes with a stipend of $52,704 and a package of other subsidized benefits. A zoom interview with faculty will be conducted unless the candidate prefers to visit.  

Shona Vas, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

— View full profile

svas@bsd.uchicago.edu
Director, Clinical Psychology Training & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Program
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 3077
Chicago, IL 60637

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Psychology

The Child and Adolescent Section of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at The University of Chicago is offering a 1 year postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Psychology.   The post-doctoral fellow should have a strong skill set in child and adolescent health psychology to meet the clinical demands of this position.  The fellow will also need to have a strong research background in areas related to pediatric psychology and be interested in receiving training towards building an academic clinical career in pediatric psychology.  The successful candidate will spend a portion of their time supporting the current integrated care collaborations between the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics.  Specifically, the fellow will be embedded in The Kovler Diabetes Center, conducting brief psychological screenings and interventions for patients and their families.   Additionally, the fellow will support psychosocial needs of the Adolescent/Young Adult (AYA) program within the Section of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.  The fellow will also be responsible for delivering evidence-based assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation services to patients in Child Psychiatry outpatient clinics. Our diverse patient population includes a range of diagnoses and severity, including medical comorbiditites.  The successful candidate will also pursue research interests; the exact nature of the research will be individually determined based on skills and future career goals. In addition to several hours of individual supervision, the fellow may attend didactics with other psychology and psychiatry trainees within the Department as well as in other Departments/Sections of the institution. Opportunities are available to develop teaching/training skills by participating in provision of supervision to psychology externs and working on program development and evaluation.  These experiences will meet the criteria for license eligibility in Illinois. The development of clinical, educational, and research skills in a multidisciplinary environment will prepare the fellow for a career in an academic medical center.   Please note that your university-based graduate program in clinical psychology and your psychology internship must be accredited by the American Psychological Association.

Applications are due by January 1, 2020 using APPA CAS and should include an updated CV, a cover letter, an official transcript, and three letters of recommendation addressed to Dr. Drossos (information below).  A separate letter from your Internship Director of Training commenting on your readiness to graduate is also required. If your DOT is one of your existing references, this issue may be addressed in the recommendation letter. Preferred start date is July 1, 2020 but can be flexible.  An on-site interview with faculty, staff, and trainees will be required.

Tina Drossos, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

— View full profile

tdrossos@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 3077
Chicago, IL 60637

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychology 

The University of Chicago Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience announces the availability of a Postdoctoral Fellowship position in Pediatric Neuropsychology, starting in July or September 2020 (based on the start date availability of the candidate given their completion of their dissertation and predoctoral internship). This is a two-year position, that will meet Houston Guidelines for postdoctoral specialty training in Lifespan Developmental Neuropsychology, with a focus in Pediatric Neuropsychology.

We are seeking a candidate who has completed appropriate Child/Pediatric Psychology and Pediatric Neuropsychology training as a graduate student in an APA/CPA approved University-based doctoral program in Clinical Psychology and an APA/CPA approved doctoral internship in Pediatric Neuropsychology (or combined Adult/Pediatric Neuropsychology internship). The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to rotate among strong collaborative clinical programs addressing the impact of neurocognitive and behavioral sequelae of medical (e.g., HIV; Hematology/Oncology; Pediatric Neurology; Pediatric Neurosurgery; Pediatric Endocrinology) and neurodevelopmental (e.g., ASD and ID; complex trauma) etiologies, in addition to completing outpatient evaluations of children, adolescents, and emerging adults referred from Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, and General Pediatrics. A required rotation within the Adult Neuropsychology program will also be completed. Outpatient psychotherapy and collaborative care opportunities are also available for the fellow, in addition to expectations for research productivity (including conference presentations and development of a peer-reviewed publication). Supervision of pediatric neuropsychology externs and interns will be required, under guided mentorship.

Principal mentorship for the postdoctoral fellowship will be provided by Scott J. Hunter, PhD, Director of Neuropsychology. Supervision and support for both clinical and research opportunities will be based on the fellow’s goals and interests, and will include a range of clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist and physician faculty members affiliated with the program and broader medical center. Faculty associated with the program who will be involved in training (apart from Dr. Hunter) include: in Adult Neuropsychology, Maureen Lacy, PhD, Sarah Keedy, PhD, and Joseph Fink, PhD, ABPP-CN; a to be hired pediatric neuropsychologist joining by Fall 2020; and in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Karam Radwan, MD, Tina Drossos, PhD, Sonya Mathies Dinizulu, PhD, and Matthew Young, PhD. Research and clinical collaborators from Comer Children’s Hospital include faculty in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Pediatric and Adult Infectious Disease, and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

Individuals interested in being considered for the postdoctoral fellowship should send their CV, graduate transcript, a sample de-identified neuropsychological report, and three letters of reference (including one from their current internship mentor) to Dr. Scott Hunter at shunter@uchicago.edu. Salary is competitive (at NRSA rate), with associated benefits. Applications from women and underrepresented minorities, including those who are bilingual) are strongly sought for this position. Recruitment will remain open until the position is filled.

Scott Jay Hunter, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

— View full profile

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Child & Adolescent Trauma

The Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) is offering a 1-year postdoctoral fellowship in Child & Adolescent Trauma Psychology for two fellows. The postdoctoral fellows should have a strong skill set in child and adolescent trauma to meet the clinical demands of this position and express interest in building a career in trauma psychology.  The successful candidates will spend a portion of their time providing trauma-informed interdisciplinary assessments, and trauma-informed or evidence-based treatments.  The candidates must demonstrate a past and current interest in and commitment to serving urban African American or ethnic minority populations living in low resourced communities.  The candidates must also engage in scholarship and research activities, which includes using an existing data set, or supporting development of existing projects, and development of a new project by the fellows.  

The fellows will be key personnel for the Block, Hassenfeld, Casdin (BHC) Collaborative for Family Resilience to help youth and their families’ recovery from immediate and long-lasting effects caused by trauma and violence and will work in collaboration with program partners, including Healing Hurt People-Chicago, the UCM Violence Recovery Program, the Comer Hospital Pediatric Medical Mobile Unit, U-STAR, the REACT Program, and Project FIRE. The responsibilities for the fellows are:  provide direct trauma-focused assessment, and psychotherapy; collaborate with psychiatrists to help address the psychiatric needs for children and families affected by violence and trauma; provide trauma-focused outreach, support and psychoeducation services in the hospital and in community settings; participate in National Child Traumatic Stress Network collaborative activities, including travel to NCTSN meetings and professional conferences; participate in U-STAR, REACT and Healing Hurt People trauma programming – e.g., case conferences, and staffings. The exact nature of the research will be individually determined based on skills and future career goals.

Opportunities are available to develop teaching/training skills by participating in provision of supervision to psychology externs and working on program development and evaluation.  The fellow may attend didactics with other psychology and psychiatry trainees within the department as well as in other departments/sections of the institution. These experiences will meet the criteria for license eligibility in Illinois. The development of clinical, educational, and research skills in a multidisciplinary environment will prepare the fellows for a career in an academic medical center with emphasis in trauma psychology.   Please note that your university-based graduate program in clinical psychology and your psychology internship must be accredited by the American Psychological Association.

Applications are due by January 1, 2020 using APPA CAS and should include an updated CV, a cover letter, an official transcript, and three letters of recommendation addressed to Drs. Stolbach and Dinizulu.  A separate letter from your Internship Director of Training commenting on your readiness to graduate is also required. If your DOT is one of your existing references, this issue may be addressed in the recommendation letter. Preferred start date is July 1, 2020 but can be flexible.  An on-site interview with faculty, staff, and trainees will be required.

Bradley Stolbach, PhD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

— View full profile

bstolbach@uchicago.edu
Department of Pediatrics
Comer Children's Hospital
5721 S. Maryland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637

Sonya Mathies Dinizulu, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience

— View full profile

sdinizulu@uchicago.edu              
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience
The University of Chicago
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 3077
Chicago, IL 60637   

Explore Psychiatry