Clinical Neuropsychology at East Carolina University:

 

The Department of Psychology at East Carolina University offers the PhD in Health Psychology. Students who are admitted to the Health Psychology program are specifically selected for one of the three areas of Clinical Health, Pediatric School, or Occupational Health. Students who desire to pursue clinical neuropsychology as a specialty, are admitted into the Clinical Health program, which is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (in Clinical Psychology), with the next site visit to occur in 2019.

 

The program in clinical health psychology at East Carolina University is structured such that it meets the APA Division 40/Houston Conference Guidelines for doctoral-level training in clinical neuropsychology for students who desire to pursue this pathway. Students who pursue this pathway are primarily mentored by D. Erik Everhart, PhD, ABPP, who is board certified in clinical neuropsychology and board certified in behavioral sleep medicine. There are ample opportunities for training in clinical neuropsychology, as East Carolina University also has an established medical school (Brody School of Medicine) with Departments or Psychiatric Medicine, Rehabilitation, and most recently, Neurology within the Department of Internal Medicine. East Carolina University is also affiliated with Vidant Medical Center, which is a large teaching hospital.

 

A representative example of the success of recent clinical neuropsychology students is as follows:

·      Alicia Moran, PhD (clinical neuropsychology internship at University of Florida, postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the University of

Pittsburgh Medical Center; now faculty at UPMC)

·      Katie Lehockey, PhD, ABPP (clinical neuropsychology internship at Buffalo VAMC, postdoctoral fellow at MedStar, current training director in

neuropsychology fellowships at MedStar NRH in Washington DC)

·      Jonathan Highsmith, PhD (clinical neuropsychology internship at Memphis VAMC, postdoctoral fellow at Southwest Texas Veterans Healthcare System in San Antonio, TX, Supervisor at STVHCS)

·      Eric Watson, PhD (clinical neuropsychology internship at Mount Sinai Hospital, postdoctoral fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital, Instructor in Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital)

·      Ansley Corson, PhD (clinical neuropsychology internship at Salem VAMC; current postdoctoral fellow at Salem VAMC)

·      Emmi Peel, PhD (clinical neuropsychology internship at Salem VAMC; postdoctoral fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina)

 

Other students from Dr. Everhart’s laboratory (not neuropsychology): 

·       James Loveless, PhD (internship at Augusta University/Charlie Norwood VAMC Consortium; postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at the University of Virginia; Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University).

 

Coursework in Neuropsychology or related:

 

Coursework: The following courses that are specific to clinical neuropsychology are offered for graduate credit:

PSYC 7413 - Pediatric Clinical Neuropsychology (3 hours)

P: Consent of chair. Basic procedures for assessment and intervention of neuropsychological syndromes in children.

 

PSYC 7414 - Adult Clinical Neuropsychology (3 hours)

P: Consent of chair. Research, theory, and basic procedures for assessment of neuropsychological syndromes in adults.

 

5250 - Topics in Psychology: Neurophenomenology (3 hours)

May be repeated with change of topic for a maximum of 6 s.h. P: Minimum of 9 s.h. in PSYC. Selected topics at advanced level. Topics vary. This section is devoted to discussion and study of neuro phenomenon including atypical clinical neuropsychological syndromes such as agnosia, apraxia, alexia, aphasia, neglect, anosognosia.

 

Other Related Coursework: The following courses are related to neuropsychology, either due to the assessment content or the neurobiological bases of behavior.

 

PSYC 6484 - Cognitive Assessment (3 hours)

Introduction to the process of cognitive assessment and the administration, scoring, and interpretation of major

intelligence tests.

 

PSYC 6485 - Clinical Assessment (3 hours)Selection and use of appropriate psychological assessment procedures leading to integrated report of findings for evaluation of emotional disorder and personality functioning with a wide variety of presenting problems.

 

PSYC 7412 - Advanced Behavioral Neuroscience (3 hours)

P: Consent of chair. Advanced study of research and theories on neural mediation of behavior and cognitive functions.

 

PSYC 6414 - Biological Basis of Behavior (3 hours)

P: Consent of chair. Biological explanation for behavior and mental processes (physiological, ontogenetic, evolutionary, and functional).

 

PSYC 6428 - Cognitive Psychology

P: Consent of chair. Research and theory in cognition. Research and theory in cognition. Attention, memory, imagery, language, conceptual behavior, and problem solving.

 

PSYC 6315 - Neuroscience: Literature and Laboratory Experience

May be repeated. May count a maximum of 12 s.h. 1 hour seminar and 8 hours lab per week. P: Consent of chair. Recently published research and participation in ongoing research.

 

PSYC 6320 - Behavioral Pharmacology Seminar

P: Consent of chair. Behavioral and neurophysiological effects of psychoactive drugs in experimental animal and clinical populations.

 

Didactic Experiences: The following experiences are available to clinical neuropsychology students at East Carolina University through the Department of Psychology and the Brody School of Medicine

 

·       Neuropathology: Weekly brain cuttings and histopathology, supervised by Don Price, MD

·       Neurology Grand Rounds (various topics)

·       Psychiatry Grand Rounds (various topics)

·       Neuroscience Journal Café (various topics)

·       Neuroscience Symposium (annual)

 

Association for Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST): 

East Carolina University also has a local chapter of Div 40’s Association for Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST) that students may elect to participate in. The website is located here: http://ecuanst.weebly.com

 

Available Practicum Experiences in Clinical Neuropsychology:

 

General Outpatient Neuropsychology (D. E. Everhart, PhD ABPP) at East Carolina University: Emphasis is placed on neuropsychological assessment of adults in an outpatient setting including Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular Dementia, Fronto-temporal Dementia, TBI, Stroke, seizure disorder, tumor, ADHD, LD. This training experience occurs within the context of a large neurology group. Pediatric neuropsychology experience is sometimes available during this training experience, although it is minimal.

 

Outpatient/Inpatient Neuropsychology (M. Philips, PhD, Affiliated Faculty) at Vidant Medical Center: This experience has focus on general inpatient and outpatient assessment and evaluation. Students also have the opportunity to participate in Vidant Medical Center’s inpatient head injury rehabilitation program. Students who have practicum in inpatient settings also gain additional experience in brief cognitive assessments.

 

Adult Neuropsychology (Steve Erickson, PsyD) at Greenville Health Care Center (Vet Center).

 

Outpatient Neuropsychology Practicum Opportunities: Students in the past have also been able to acquire practicum hours in clinical neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at Brody School of Medicine. The neuropsychologist associated with this site retired, but the position is in process of being filled. This opportunity remains for students who are interested.

 

Related Practicum Experiences: Clinical Neuropsychology students also typically complete practica in primary care psychology located within Family Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine. They are supervised by Marissa Erickson Carraway, PhD. During this training rotation, students typically have ample experience with brief cognitive assessment. Likewise, some previous students (i.e., Alicia Moran, PhD, Alex Nicoletta, MS and Taylor Zurlinden, MA), have gained additional experience within Sports Medicine (at Brody School of Medicine) with pediatric sports concussions and neuropsychological assessment (co-supervised by D. Erik Everhart, PhD, ABPP).