Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Fellowship

The aim of the fellowship is to provide licensed psychologists with advanced competence for independent practice in the specialty of clinical neuropsychology.  Graduates of the program will be well-prepared to provide well-rounded clinical neuropsychology services in complex medical settings, working with patients across the adult lifespan who present with a broad range of neurologic, medical, and psychiatric disorders, as well as a broad range of referral considerations. Graduates of the program will be prepared to seek board certification in clinical neuropsychology. 

Eligibility

Applicants must be U.S. citizens and have graduated from an APA-accredited, CPA-accredited, or PCSAS-accredited doctoral program in Clinical Psychology and an APA-accredited CPA-accredited, or PCSAS-accredited internship in Clinical Psychology prior to start of the fellowship year. A certification of registration status, certification of U.S. citizenship, and drug screening are required to become a VA postdoctoral fellow.  The Federal Government requires that male applicants to VA positions who were born after 12/31/59 must sign a Pre-appointment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration before they are employed. All postdoctoral fellows will have to complete a Certification of Citizenship in the United States prior to beginning the fellowship. VA will not consider applications from anyone who is not currently a U.S. citizen. VA conducts drug screening exams on randomly selected personnel as well as new employees. Postdoctoral Fellows are not required to be tested prior to beginning work, but once on staff they are subject to random selection, as are other staff. Postdoctoral Fellows are also subject to fingerprinting and background checks. Selection decisions are contingent on passing these screens.  All trainees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Diversity Recruitment

The BVAMC adheres to Equal Employment Opportunity policies and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The BVAMC highly values individual and cultural diversity and strongly encourages qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply.  No applicant will be discriminated against on the basis of race, gender, color, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age, physical ability, or other cultural/individual differences. Applicants of diverse cultural and individual backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Stipend

Stipends are set nationally by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations. For 2024-2025, the first-year fellowship stipend is $53,073, and the second-year stipend is $55,941. Stipend for the 2025-2026 training year will be set in January 2025, and will be updated.

BVAMC Psychology Service falls under the Mental Health Service Line (MHSL).  The MHSL is one of the largest outpatient clinics in facility with over 140 healthcare providers, administrative officers, and administrative support staff. The MHSL provides a wide range of services and specialty clinics throughout the facility.  There are 36 licensed psychologists in the MHSL, all of whom are members of the Medical Staff.  Psychology Service is but one component of the MHSL, with other services including Psychiatry, Social Work, Pharmacy, Nursing (e.g., Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Licensed Professional Nurses), Primary Care, and Peer Support Specialists. 

Psychology Service is dedicated to contributing to best practices guidelines, adhering to ethical standards, incorporating clinical research into clinical practice, and providing exceptional care to Veterans. The service is well-respected in the facility, with psychologists serving as chairs and members of numerous medical center committees, including major committees such as the Ethics Committee, Medical Center Records Committee, Disruptive Behavior Committee, and Racial Acknowledgement Committee.  Clinics covered by Psychology Service include the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Clinic, General Mental Health Clinic, Substance Treatment and Recovery Clinic, Mental Health Neuropsychology Clinic, Pain Rehabilitation Outpatient Program, Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Clinic, Primary Care – Mental Health Integration, Tele-Mental Health Team, Home-based Primary Care, Behavioral Sleep Medicine, and Southeastern Blind Rehabilitation Center. 

Staff psychologists are highly involved in clinical service and training of doctoral students, interns, and psychiatry residents. Many are involved in didactic teaching in the facility and throughout the UAB campus.  Evidence-based approaches are strongly emphasized and utilized by staff psychologists. MHSL psychologists are nationally certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (for Depression, for Insomnia, and for Chronic Pain), Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy, and Interpersonal Therapy for Depression, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, and Skills Training in Affect and Interpersonal Regulation.  Three staff psychologists are national VA consultants for Evidence-based Psychotherapies (one for CBT-Insomnia and two for Interpersonal Therapy-Depression), and two are in training to become consultants for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy for Depression . 

MHSL Leadership:

Megan McCarthy, Ph.D.

Dr. McCarthy is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Chief of the Mental Health Service Line. 

Chebon Porter, Ph.D. 

Dr. Porter is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as Chief Psychologist for the Mental Health Service Line. 

Psychology Training Program Leadership

 Sean Hollis, Ph.D., ABPP-CN is the Fellowship Director. Misti J. Norton, Ph.D. is the Director of Psychology Training for BVAMC. She is assisted by  Anna Grace Cooper, Psy.D., ABPP, who serves as Assistant Training Director for BVAMC’s internship and practicum programs. 

The BVAMC Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship in clinical neuropsychology was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) beginning in 2014.  The fellowship formally began in August 2015. 

The BVAMC is well-equipped with the infrastructure to facilitate a supportive and advanced learning program for the fellow. The fellow has a private office equipped with a telephone, printer, and networked PC, as well as access to patient care databases and electronic charting system, online mental health testing instruments, internet access, and access to online library databases and materials.  The fellow has access to numerous hard-copy neuropsychological and psychological testing instruments, scoring protocols [both hard-copy and electronic], and a library [both hard-copy and electronic] of evidence-based treatment manuals, self-help materials, and other treatment resources. Funding is available through the BVAMC Mental Health Service (MHSL) for additional materials as needed.  The fellow also has access to service line clerical support staff, office supplies, fax machines, voicemail, and copy machines. 

The fellowship provides a wide range of assessment instruments, including testing equipment specifically purchased for the fellowship.  Among the instruments used in the fellowship are:   Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence – Second Edition (WASI-II); Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR); Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status – RBANS; Wechsler Memory Scale – Fourth Edition (WMS-IV); California Verbal Learning Test – Third Edition (CVLT-3); Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV); Controlled Oral Word Association (COWAT; FAS and Animals);  Trail Making Test, Parts A &B; Executive Clock Drawing Task (CLOX); Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST); Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), Grooved Pegboard; Bosting Naming Test (BNT); Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition (BDI-II); PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Dementia Rating Scale – Second Edition (DRS-2), Multilingual Aphasia Examination – Third Edition, The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination – Third Edition, Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), and Delis Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS).

Faculty:  The following faculty list represents the core fellowship faculty members. Fellows also have the opportunity to work with other staff psychologists via minor rotations (1 day per week) in clinics such as the PTSD Clinical Team, Telehealth Team, Pain Rehabilitation Outpatient Program, and the Southeastern Blind Rehabilitation Center. 

Sean Hollis, Ph.D., ABPP-CN

Dr. Hollis is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been certified in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He serves as the neuropsychologist for the Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Clinic. He has been active in clinical research on neuropsychology. He serves as the Alabama state representative to APA division 40 for early career psychologists. He is also the chair of the National Academy of Neuropsychology’s membership committee. He is highly involved in clinical training of doctoral students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows. He is associate director of the BVAMC/UAB neuropsychology didactic series for interns and graduate students.

Angela Dupont, Ph.D.

Dr. Dupont joined the Birmingham VAMC in August 2023. She completed her internship at the Loma Linda VAMC and her postdoctoral fellowship at BVAMC. She serves as the neuropsychologist for the Mental Health Neuropsychology Clinic. She provides clinical supervision of interns and practicum students in addition to fellowship supervision.  She is pursuing ABPP certification in clinical neuropsychology. 

Misti J. Norton, Ph.D. 

Dr. Norton became Director of Psychology Training in February 2020, following Dr. Porter’s promotion to lead psychologist. She is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been active in clinical care and supervision within BVAMC for over 10 years, initially as part of BVAMC’s PTSD Clinical Team and later as the founder of BVAMC’s Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program. She is nationally certified in both individual and group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, as well as Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure Therapy.  She is a national VA CBT-I consultant. She directs the BVAMC’s psychology internship program and offers an internship rotation in Behavioral Sleep Medicine.  In addition, Dr. Norton coordinates and supervises practicum training opportunities in the BVAMC for doctoral students from APA-accredited clinical psychology programs, as well as serving on graduate student advisory committees. 

 Competencies: 

The fellowship is designed to be consistent with the competency model outlined by the APA in the Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology (2017).  These include: Level 1 competencies: integration of science and practice, cultural diversity, ethical and legal standards; Level 2 competencies: professional values and attitudes, communication and interpersonal skills, supervision, systems, professional development, and leadership; and Level 3: neuropsychological assessment of adults (including advanced knowledge of brain behavior relationships, differential diagnosis of neurological and psychological conditions, the assessment of those conditions, and advanced competence in report writing), feedback and intervention as related to the specialty of Clinical Neuropsychology (including effective written and verbal communication of results and provision of therapeutic feedback), consultation and interprofessional/interdisciplinary skills as related the specialty of Clinical Neuropsychology, teaching and supervision. The fellowship is designed with a particular focus on competencies in neuropsychological assessment and brain-behavior relationships, as well as cognitive rehabilitation. Consistent with the current implementing regulations, the fellowship adheres to competency-based training that demonstrates: consistency with professional value of individual and cultural diversity, consistency with existing and evolving body of general knowledge and methods in the science and practice of psychology, and training, expectations, and evaluations pertinent to the level of training as a fellow. By the end of their second year, fellows will be eligible for state or provisional licensure or certification for the independent practices of psychology and be eligible for board certification in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Goals and Objectives: 

The BVAMC is ideally suited for advanced training in clinical neuropsychology.  The facility heavily emphasizes interdisciplinary treatment team approaches and interdisciplinary training, which places the fellow in a collaborative learning environment routinely interacting with other psychologists, psychiatrists, other medical specialties (e.g., neurology, primary care, nephrology, surgery, optometry), nurse practitioners, social workers, peer support specialists, rehabilitation specialists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and physical therapists.  Moreover, the BVAMC is located amid a large university medical center, which houses innumerable clinics, didactic opportunities, and cutting-edge research laboratories.  This places the fellow in an active and challenging learning environment. Moreover, the structure of the fellowship and the breadth of training experiences in the facility provide the opportunity to advance specialty training in neuropsychology in multiple settings and populations.

The fellowship is structured to meet the Division 40 and Houston Conference guidelines for specialty training in clinical neuropsychology. The fellowship focuses on ensuring competency in neuropsychological assessment, consultation, and advanced understanding of brain-behavior relationships pertinent to effective diagnostic, intervention, and coordination of care practices in a wide array of psychological and neuropsychological syndromes.

Specific objectives include enhancing competency in provision of neuropsychological services in both inpatient and outpatient settings to include advanced expertise in administration, scoring, and interpretation of neuropsychological evaluations to a wide array of Veterans across the adult lifespan with myriad clinical issues, including [but not limited to], dementing conditions, vascular insult, TBI, age-related changes, degenerative neurological conditions, autoimmune disorders, vision loss, renal failure, PTSD, and depression.  Integral to these objectives is to fully integrate evaluative findings with the patient’s biopsychological and biomedical history, psychopathological, pharmacological, life span developmental issues, and cultural issues to provide accurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations.  Objectives also include demonstrating advanced knowledge of current research evidence and empirically-supported treatments [for referral and/or implementation] and rehabilitation strategies, and utility of applied research by participating in and/or conducting research pertinent to neuropsychology and rehabilitation.  The following clinics represent the core training areas for the aforementioned goals and objectives.

Core training clinics are the Mental Health Neuropsychology Clinic and the Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Clinic, both at the Birmingham East VA Clinic. The fellow has designated office space at Birmingham East.  The fellow is also able to train in additional clinics via minor rotations. 

Mental Health Neuropsychology Clinic

Supervisor: Angela Dupont, Ph.D. 

The MH Neuropsychology Clinic is an ambulatory outpatient neuropsychology consultation-based clinic staffed by one full-time licensed clinical neuropsychologist.  The modal cognitive complaint of referred veterans is forgetfulness/poor recent memory functioning, and the primary reason for referrals to the clinic is to rule out a dementing disorder (e.g., Alzheimer’s type dementia).  The clinic serves Veterans of all ages per referral from all outpatient mental health clinics, Neurology, Geriatrics, and Primary Care.  Veterans are often seen within the context of a larger dementia work-up that routinely includes brain imaging and comprehensive blood work.  In addition to individuals with various subtypes of dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s type, vascular, frontotemporal, Lewy-body, Parkinson’s-related, and those due to atypical Parkinsonism), the clinic routinely performs evaluations on Veterans with memory and cognitive dysfunction secondary to chronic mental health disorders (e.g., PTSD, major depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders), medical conditions with associated cognitive dysfunction (e.g., chronic pain and untreated sleep apnea), and age-related changes in cognition.

Fellowship activities in this clinic include neuropsychological assessment/evaluation of referred Veterans and follow-up feedback of test results and diagnostic impressions to Veterans and family members.  Embedded in this experience are assigned readings, review of relevant research literature, integrated report writing, and provision of verbal feedback to Veterans and their families, as well as verbal consultation/feedback with referring physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and psychologists.  The Mental Health Neuropsychology Clinic also serves as a major hub for psychology intern and doctoral student training.  Thus, in addition to training in direct patient care services, the fellow assists in supervision of junior-level trainees. 

Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Clinic

Supervisor: Sean Hollis, Ph.D., ABPP-CN

The Rehabilitation Neuropsychology clinic is a consultation-liaison service, specializing in the interface between medicine and rehabilitative neuropsychology and is staffed by one full-time-licensed clinical neuropsychologist. Referrals/consults are received from throughout the medical center, including PM&R TBI and SCI clinics, Neurology (Stroke Clinic, Memory Disorders Clinic, and other services), Mental Health, Geriatrics, and Primary Care.  Veterans who have a history of TBI [due to combat and non-combat related events], CVA, SCI, and autoimmune disorders (e.g., Lupus, ALS, and Multiple Sclerosis) comprise the main referral base to the RNC. The majority of patients range in age from 20-40 and are OEF/OIF Veterans who have sustained mild, moderate, or severe TBIs secondary to blast injuries and/or motor vehicle accidents during their time in combat. The neuropsychological evaluation for such individuals is part of a comprehensive assessment conducted by the multi-disciplinary TBI Team, including physician and nurse practitioner service, social work, physical and occupational therapy, and neuropsychology.  Co-morbid conditions, such as PTSD, depression, substance use disorders, and pain disorders are common.  This clinic also serves Veterans of all ages with other rehabilitation needs.  It is not uncommon for an evaluation to be focused on a) differential diagnosis of dementia (in elderly patients with a history of TBI or stroke), b) identification of cognitive issues in those with chronic medical and/or mental health disorders, and c) pre-surgical neuropsychological assessment for deep brain stimulation candidates.  Because many Veterans who are seen on this service have multiple co-morbid medical and psychiatric disorders and present without clear neurological findings, the neuropsychological assessment assists in determining the presence, pattern, and severity of cognitive impairment, which is often complex and challenging. 

Additional Activities

The fellow participates in a number of didactics. These include: a) weekly attendance at the UAB Department of Neurology Grand Rounds, b) attending/presenting at the weekly UAB-BVAMC neuropsychology seminar, which includes case conferences, fact finding, journal club, and board review information, c) brain cuttings in the UAB Department of Pathology, and d) the BVAMC weekly neuropsychology fellowship didactic seminar. Additionally, the fellow has access to auditing classes in the UAB School of Medicine, when such additional education is considered pertinent to the fellow’s training agenda. The fellow will also be tasked with developing a quality management project in one of three clinical domains of fellowship service (i.e., memory group recruitment and retention, acceleration of neuropsychology in PCMH, and assessment guided learning/teaching accommodations in the SBRC.)

Training Schedule

The fellowship begins and ends in early August. The fellow’s default tour of duty (TOD) is 7:30am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday, 40 hours/week for 104 weeks of service. Requests for a change in TOD will be considered and must be brought to the Fellowship Director and the Director of Psychology Training and must be approved by all relevant training supervisors. The fellowship is designed to include all training duties within the TOD. In addition to the in-clinic training schedule, the TOD incorporates time for administrative and organizational tasks and writing/charting, as well as pertinent didactic training and supervision. A personalized training plan for each fellowship year is developed within the first two weeks of the training year in collaboration with the Fellowship Director.

Training Methods and Supervision

The fellowship is based on a mentorship model of supervision in which the fellow functions as a junior colleague under the direct supervision of fellowship faculty. Specific training and teaching modalities include modeling in interdisciplinary treatment team meetings, use of guided readings in the pertinent areas of interest, review of VHA administrative and policy issues, and regular participation in educational opportunities such as Grand Rounds, training workshops, classroom instruction (i.e., the fellow has the opportunity to audit UAB classes in the areas of neuropsychology and neuroscience), professional conferences, neuropsychology case conference, and brain cuttings. The fellow participates in supervised clinical care in multiple clinics with a minimum of three hours of individual, face-to-face supervision per week. Clinical supervision includes review of test administration, scoring, and interpretation, report writing, patient/family feedback, psychotherapy, and all other patient contact. Supervision techniques include individual supervision, group supervision, clinical case presentation, and co-leading of groups. The fellow also provides supervision to clinical psychology doctoral students and interns in layered supervision format that is addressed with the attending psychologist in each of the above clinics. Finally, the fellow participates in a regularly scheduled supervision and guided learning/reading meeting with Dr. Amy Knight Ph.D., ABPP-CN, who serves as the licensed clinical psychologist who has been certified in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. In total, the fellow receives a minimum of 4 hours of training and supervision per week with at least three of these hours involving supervision with a licensed clinical psychologist.

Authorized Absence

The fellow may be granted Authorized Absence (AA) for educational and professional activities outside the medical center, including attendance at training workshops, seminars, and professional conferences.

Annual Leave and Sick Leave

The fellow accrues up to 104 hours of Annual Leave (AL) and 104 hours of Sick Leave (SL) over the course of each fellowship year.

Collecting Personal Information

Personal information is not collected on the Training Program website.

Self-disclosure

An area of professional competence assessed by the Psychology Postdoctoral Evaluation Form is the fellow’s ability to effectively manage stressors in the workplace, so as to minimize the potential for negative impact on his or her professional relationships. These factors are addressed in terms of the fellow’s preparation for supervision, response to supervision, and overall utilization of supervision, awareness of personal characteristics and impact on the workplace environment and professional relationships, and professional conduct. The fellow is expected to be able to sufficiently cope with work-related stressors, new responsibilities, and patient-care issues and to demonstrate awareness of any personal or professional issues that may impact his/her ability to practice. The fellow is encouraged and expected to seek supervision on all matters that may have an effect on professional conduct. The fellow is expected and encouraged to address these issues throughout the supervisory process in a manner than is non-defensive and open to feedback.

To successfully complete the fellowship, the fellow must demonstrate competency in all core areas identified on the Psychology Postdoctoral Evaluation Form. If the fellow’s performance falls below the required competency standards, the procedures outlined in the Psychology Training Program Manual [see sections: Postdoctoral Evaluation and Postdoctoral Fellowship Due Process Procedures] are followed. The fellow must meet all required competency standards by the end of the fellowship. In addition, the fellow must complete the equivalent of two consecutive years of a full-time training. This is a two-year fellowship in which the fellow must complete a minimum of 3,584 hours. Authorized Absence counts toward the 3,584 required hours. Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Leave Without Pay, and Federal Holidays do not count toward the 3,584 training hours.

Candidates are eligible for VA training programs if they have attended institutions accredited by the following:

American Psychological Association (APA)

Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) 

Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) 

The following criteria are required for all VA Health Professions Trainee appointments: 

1.  U.S. citizenship. 

2.  Applicants who are male-assigned at birth born after 12/31/1959 must have registered for the draft by age 26. 

3. Residents are subject to fingerprinting, background checks, and random urine drug screens. Please be advised: Although the recreational or medical use of marijuana is legal in certain states, it is not legal at federal facilities. Thus, we cannot employ anyone who tests positive for marijuana.

4. TQCVL. To streamline on-boarding of HPTs, VHA OAA requires completion of a Trainee Qualifications and Credentials Verification Letter (TQCVL).   Your VA appointment cannot happen until the TQCVL is submitted and signed by senior leadership from the VA facility.  This document requires that you confirm the following health information and required vaccines for healthcare workers:

• Evidence or self-certification that you are physically and mentally fit to perform the essential functions of the training program
• Evidence of tuberculosis screening and testing per CDC health care personnel guidelines
• Evidence or self-certification of up-to-date vaccinations for healthcare workers as recommended ty the CDC and VA to include: Hepatitis B, MMR (Measles, Mumps, & Rubella), Varicella (Chickenpox), Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis), Annual Flu vaccine, and COVID-19 vaccination. Per BVAMC policy, COVID-19 vaccination exemptions are NOT permitted for health professions trainees.

**Health Professions Trainees (HPTs) are appointed as temporary employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. As such, HPTs are subject to laws, policies, and guidelines posted for VA staff members.  There are infrequent times in which this guidance can change during a training year which may create new requirements or responsibilities for HPTs. If employment requirements change during the course of a training year, HPTs will be notified of the change and impact as soon as possible and options provided. The VA Training Director will provide you with the information you need to understand the requirement and reasons for the requirement in timely manner.**