Mission

To produce Army clinical psychologists who exercise strong ethical decision making, sound clinical judgement, respect for diversity factors, and exemplify Army values.

Vision

To prepare post-doctoral military psychology residents to become independently licensed practitioners within the Army community and be prepared to work in a variety of military settings.

Aims

To train Army clinical psychologists for independent practice in the military environment, with an emphasis on preparing them for leadership roles and as subject matter experts in risk mitigation, medical readiness, health promotion, and healthcare delivery.

Residents will receive didactic training through weekly training blocks between rotations, to include, but not limited to: leader professional development, advanced military assessment, supervision, evidence-based treatments, psychopharmacology, journal club, ethics and legal standards, intervention and consultation, and other specialty didactics as available. Residents may also attend workshops offered by other programs like Wilford Hall Medical Center, South Texas Veteran’s Health Clinic, or the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Residents will participate in five rotations throughout the training year. Four of the rotations will last approximately three months each, with the fifth Evidence-Based Treatment Rotation, lasting the entire year (except while on the external BHO rotation).

Administrative Rotation (three months):

Residents on this rotation will be exposed to the inner workings of healthcare administration and the integrated systems of the Defense Health Agency and the San Antonio area. This rotation prioritizes leadership through healthcare administration, policy, and procedures. Residents will be active participants in clinical operations through attending clinic, department, installation, and market level leadership meetings and process improvement initiatives. Students will learn how to write standard operating procedures, memorandums for record, and other forms of formal correspondence required of clinic leadership. Residents will also collect direct patient contact hours through various assessments and evaluations.

Advanced Military Assessment (three months):

Residents will work directly with various Department of Behavioral Health assessment providers during this rotation. They will learn to conduct military specific psychological assessments including aeromedical evaluations, sanity boards, security clearance evaluations, White House evaluations, Command Directed Mental Health Evaluations, evaluations for specialty assignments, etc. Specific requirements for which assessments and how many to be completed will be determined and discussed with the resident at the beginning of their rotation. Exposure to specific evaluation experiences is dependent upon demand at any point in time. Students will learn how to refine diagnostic questions, conceptualization, written communication, consultation with command, and conduct a myriad of third-party assessments.

External Rotation (three months):

Residents will spend up to three months at an Army Installation. Specific sites will be selected based on availability of supervision, military clinical experiences available, and military and resident need. Rotation locations will be within Southern Regional Medical Command area. The purpose of this rotation for the Clinical Psychology Residents to gain first-hand experience into the role and responsibilities of a Behavioral Health Officer by serving in the footprint of the Outpatient Behavioral Health teams and the FORSCOM unit. The rotation is intended to provide authentic and realistic training regarding the foundations of Army Psychology that include but are not limited to risk mitigation, mission readiness, and health promotion. As available, residents will support and perform key tasks related to each above-mentioned domain to further enhance their military specific clinical training.

Evidence-Based Treatment and Supervision (12 months):

Throughout their training year, residents will spend one to two days a week conducting evidence-based treatment with patients selected specifically to advance their clinical skills. Residents will be supervised in evidence-based protocols for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, insomnia/nightmares, and other disorders as they are available to be trained. Within this rotation, residents will clinically supervise pre-doctoral interns conducting evidence-based treatments. The goal is for the residents to learn to be effective supervisors. Residents will be part of triad supervision teams where a licensed behavioral health supervisor familiar with the treatments will oversee the resident and pre-doctoral intern pair. Residents will be expected to conduct individual supervision to ensure protocol compliance, answer clinical questions, and oversee administrative documentation.

On these rotations, residents will learn how to apply their psychology skills in an alternative setting while working with other medical providers. The resident and program director will choose one of three medical clinics, services, or wards for the completion of this rotation.

Pediatric Treatment/Consultation (three months):

During this rotation, the resident will work in pediatric behavioral health and medical clinics and wards. The rotation may also include foundational clinical child psychology experiences dependent on the resident’s experience. The goal for this rotation includes, increase work with children and families, provide behavioral health intervention within pediatric clinicals and wards, and learn to function as a Behavioral Health Clinician within the broader medical environment.

Institute of Surgical Research Burn Unit (three months):

During this rotation, residents will work on multidisciplinary teams and learn about wound care at the Burn Unit. The goal for this rotation includes providing behavioral health intervention within the primary care setting, develop skills in brief behavioral intervention for medical and mental health problems, and provide consultation with other medical and allied health professionals.

Intensive Outpatient/Inpatient Treatment Consultation (three months):

During this rotation the resident will provide care and consultation across the level’s behavioral healthcare. They will learn to assess for acute behavioral health issues, determine the appropriate level of care needed when patients first enter the care system, provide consultation to providers across the spectrum of care, and provide treatment in the inpatient and/or intensive outpatient setting. In addition, the resident may aid with program development and program improvement. The goals of this rotation are to provide consultation, assessment, and treatment areas of behavioral health care outside of the traditional outpatient setting, to improve the understanding of available levels of mental health care and improve the understanding of appropriate work levels of acuity for each level of care.

Neuropsychology/Consultation (three months):

The Neuropsychology Rotation is a consultation service that receives referrals from various sources, including Primary Care, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neurology. Residents will build on their internship experience in neuropsychological assessment of adult, child, and geriatric patients with acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, epilepsy, neoplasm, and other neurological conditions. Residents may have the opportunity to rotate through the Brooke Army Medical Center Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service performing group and individual interventions (as available). Residents will regularly provide consultative education to patients and families as well as case managers and health care administrators. The goals of this rotation are to conduct one to two supervised neuropsychological assessments per week and be involved in one interventional program for patients with neurological illnesses, depending upon the level of experience and training needs and to expand different diagnosis of neuropsychological syndromes and disorders at a level appropriate for fellowship entry.

We offer multiple avenues of military unique curriculum to include the Aeromedical Psychology Training Course, Basic Officer Leadership Course, Officer Evaluation Report development, and shadowing opportunities with other military officers in various roles. Various briefs are also offered from unique resources like family advocacy, public health nursing, Vogel Resiliency Center, and Pastoral Care.

Residents will be required to complete training in Aeromedical Psychology Training Course (pending full clearance), Traumatic Event Management, and Combat Operational Stress Control.

Our institution provides areas of medical simulation to enhance, and augment graduate medical education programs by integrating simulation-based curriculum. The goals of our simulation curriculum include:

• Provide hands-on learning through practical experience and confidence building.
• Enhance trainee’s competencies through developing skill proficiency and standardized training.
• Provide immediate performance feedback through real-time assessment and reflective learning.

All residents will engage in staff officer and administrative projects and participate in monthly meetings with other behavioral health officers. Residents will gain a unique experience to understand clinic dynamics, military policies, and procedures, and how to effectively deliver patient care with various resources and constraints.

Residents are encouraged to participate in any research and scholarly activity. Joint Base San Antonio provides a unique and robust platform for psychological research. The Department of Behavioral Health’s education division oversees approximately 40 research projects to include collaborations with agencies such as the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, South Texas Research Organizational Network Guiding Studies on Trauma and Resilience (STRONGSTAR), U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity, the Henry Jackson Foundation, and the University of Colorado. Residents will have the opportunity to work and collaborate with our Chief of Research and Program Development, with the program director’s approval, to further support scholarly research.

All residents are required to complete Quality Improvement and Patient Safety training, to ensure patient safety is met. The program also incorporates student and faculty feedback to ensure that all needs and demands are being discussed.

Our resident program is dedicated to empowering future leaders in military psychology. Residents will have access to many online courses, didactic workshops, and mentorship opportunities to aid their professional development.

• Fort Cavazos, Texas: A unique opportunity to participate in a 90-day temporary duty rotation to work under the direct supervision of a Behavioral Health Officer. Residents will learn how to effectively provide communication and work with their enlisted behavioral health counterparts.
• Institute of Surgical Research: Located in San Antonio, Texas, residents may elect to participate in a 90-day/three-month rotation with the ISR’s Burn Unit.

The Clinical Psychology Residency Program at BAMC is not accredited by the APA; however, the program adopts the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers Postdoctoral admission requirements (Clarification Revised September 2016) for acceptance and entry into the CPRP. This includes the completion of all professional doctoral degree requirements from an APA-accredited program and completion of an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship program.

Clarification on degree completion:

Postdoctoral Residents must have completed a doctoral degree (Psy.D. or Ph.D.) before beginning their postdoctoral training. This is defined as having on the first day of the residency either the diploma in hand to be provided to the Director of Training or a letter from the Director of graduate studies verifying the completion of all degree requirements pending an institution graduation ceremony. Transcripts from the graduate institution indicating degree completion will also be accepted. If submitting a letter from a graduate program in lieu of a diploma, it should state the effective date student met all degree requirements.

Clarification on internship completion:

Postdoctoral Residents must have completed an APA-accredited Internship program before beginning their postdoctoral training. This is defined as having on the first day of the residency either the internship diploma in hand to be provided to the Director of Training or a letter from the Internship training director verifying the completion of all internship requirements and the date these were completed.

Clarification of criteria for moving from US Army Internship to Residency Programs:

For all students who have previously completed a US Army Clinical Psychology Internship Program, the Clinical Psychology Consultant to the Surgeon General and National Training Coordinator have specified that those who request residency training have until December 1st of the year that internship ends to complete all internship requirements, to include dissertation/CRP completion, to be eligible for residency. In accordance with Department of Army Pamphlet DA PAM 611-21, interns who have graduated internship but have not completed their dissertation have 180 days from the date of internship graduation to complete their dissertation. Graduated interns may request an extension an additional 180 days from the Psychology Consultant. If the request for an extension is denied, the student may be subject to reclassification to another AOC based on the needs of the Army. For the BAMC CPRP, students must have met all graduation requirements from their doctoral program by the first day of residency (see: clarification 1).

It is incumbent on the student wishing to enter the clinical psychology residency program to provide the Director of Training with a copy of their diploma, transcript, or letter from their director of graduate studies verifying program completion requirements. Students who do not meet this criterion and do not provide verification will not be allowed to participate in the postdoctoral residency program and will be removed from the program if it is later determined that they did not meet the initial entry criteria.

Once documentation confirming entry requirements have been provided, the program director will conduct a final review and will provide an email confirmation that the student has been accepted into the residency program.

Interested applicants should reach out directly to the SAUSHEC Army CPRP Director for current interview guidance.

Clinical psychology residents will have the opportunity to train and mentor other students within their rotations and didactic trainings.

Our faculty are well trained and well educated to include subspecialities in forensic psychology, neuropsychology, health psychology, psychopharmacology, organizational psychology, operational psychology, aeromedical psychology, and SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) psychology.

All residents are encouraged to seek out mentorship both within and outside the department, to foster a diverse support network and enhance each resident’s personal and professional growth. Each resident, at minimum will receive two hours of individual clinical supervision per week.

The residency program prioritizes the well-being of all residents by created a psychologically safe space, promoting self-care, and preventing burn out. Initiatives include regular check-ins, mentorship opportunities, team building events, morale days, and workshops on resilience and self-care.