The doctoral externship program in the Center for Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment (CNaP; formerly known as the Department of Neuropsychology) at the Kennedy Krieger Institute provides doctoral students with an opportunity to work with a diversity of patient populations, age ranges, and cultural backgrounds. CNaP has a commitment to excellence in training within our doctoral externship program, our APA-accredited internship program, and our post-doctoral fellowships in Pediatric Neuropsychology and Child Clinical Psychology.
Doctoral externs will participate in one assessment day a week and will work toward participation in all aspects of the assessment, including interview, testing, scoring, feedback, and report writing.
The Child Clinical Psychology Doctoral Externship provides training in psychological assessment of children and adolescents presenting with a wide range of developmental, behavioral, and psychiatric concerns. Externship opportunities are available in the following outpatient specialty clinics within the Center for Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment:
Development and Early Learning Clinic:
In the Development and Early Learning (DEL) Clinic, fellows participate in evaluations of children 6 years of age and younger. Patients in this clinic present with developmental, and/or behavioral concerns. Participation in this clinic provides fellows with opportunities to learn about assessment procedures used with young children, and evidence-based intervention strategies for supporting young children with developmental disorders. Fellows also develop skills in differentiating between typical and atypical development in young children. To participate in training through the DEL Clinic, externs must be available every Tuesday.
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Clinic:
In the Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) Clinic, fellows participate in evaluations of children and adolescents presenting with a variety of behavioral and emotional conditions. Participation in this clinic provides fellows with opportunities to learn about assessment procedures used for clarifying conditions related to mood and behavioral disorders. To participate in training through the EBD Clinic, externs must be available every Tuesday.
Executive Function Clinic:
In the Executive Function (EF) Clinic, fellows participate in evaluations of children and adolescents with known or suspected neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and/or medical disorders that can be associated with executive dysfunction. Many of the individuals seen in this clinic have or are suspected of having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disorders. Participation in this clinic provides fellows with opportunities to learn about the development of executive function skills through early childhood and adolescence, common conditions associated with executive dysfunction across settings, special education law, and other school-specific information. To participate in training through the EF Clinic, externs must be available every Wednesday.
Pathways to Young Adulthood Clinic:
The Pathways to Young Adulthood clinic provides comprehensive evaluation, consultation and progress monitoring for older teens and young adults with developmental and/or or social-emotional needs. The mission of this clinic is to empower older teens and young adults to understand their learning strengths and needs, self-advocate, better manage self-care and know when and how to seek needed supports to work towards independence. To participate in training through the Pathways Clinic, externs must be available every Thursday.
Commitment
The externship position at the Kennedy Krieger Institute requires the ability to complete a 12-month externship and commitment of two full days (16 hours) a week. One day is usually assigned for face-to-face contact with patients and the second day is usually reserved for report writing, didactics, other clinical duties, and supervision. Externs are expected to be onsite for the full 16 hours each week. Externship placements are offered at our outpatient assessment clinics in Baltimore City and Columbia.
The training year begins on July 1 or September 1. Prior to a position being offered, doctoral students will indicate their availability. All days of the week are available; however, some training experiences are only available on specific days of the week.
Compensation
Externs are paid a stipend of $2,500/year.
Supervision
Doctoral externs receive, at minimum, one hour of individual and one hour of group supervision a week.
Didactics
Doctoral externs are also required to participate in at least one didactic experience a week offered through Kennedy Krieger Institute or Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Application Guidelines
For more information about the application process, including materials to submit, application deadline and the timeline for interviews, please see our position announcement.