Recent publication of results for the 187 clinical programs in North America on the EPPP exam, required of all graduates to enter the profession of clinical psychology, show us ranked very near the top, attesting to the very strong knowledge base of our graduates.
In
addition
to
continually
evaluating
the
program’s
success
in
reaching
its
goals
based
on
student’s
performance
in
courses,
clinic
work
and
research,
practicums,
and
internships,
we
also
maintain
periodic
contact
with our
alumni
to
collect
data
on
their
career
progress.
Among
the
recent
Ph.D.
graduates
from
our
program
(graduating
2017-2023),
all
are
registered
psychologist
or
in
the
process
of
becoming
registered.
A
quarter
of
recent
grads
(25%,
4/16),
are
teaching
in
universities,
such
as
the
University
of
Manitoba.
25%
(4/16)
have employment
in
institutional
settings
(e.g.
community
mental
health
centres,
hospitals,
and
medical
centres).
Roughly
69%
(11/16) of
our
graduates
work in
private
practice,
with
27%
(3/11)
of
these
graduates completing
this
work
while
also
working
in
another
community,
institutional,
or
academic
setting.
In
previous
surveys
of
alumni,
our
graduates
very
consistently
commented
that
their
experience
since
graduating
had
given
them
an
extremely
positive
impression
of
the
quality
of
education
they
received
in
the
program.
All
respondents
praised
the
thorough,
hands-on
clinical
training
they
had
received,
and
many
particularly
valued
its
broad,
generalist
perspective
(encompassing
children,
adolescents,
and
adults,
and
multiple
theoretical
perspectives).
Most
respondents
also
praised
the
program’s
integrative
balance
between
research
training
and
clinical
work,
and
they
particularly
valued
their
thorough
training
in
clinical
research
and
data
analysis.
Among the very positive responses of all the alumni, the following five examples illustrate the foregoing points:
- Overall, I believe that the clinical training at UW was second to none. The training in cognitive assessment, psychological assessment, and cognitive-behaviour therapy was exceptional. It was not until I went on my pre-doctoral internship and heard about the clinical experiences of students from other programs that I truly realized that UW’s clinical psychology program was so fantastic. In particular, the amount of direct clinical supervision (one supervision hour for every clinical hour) was outstanding and I think is quite rare among programs. The scientist-practitioner model stressed at UW has allowed me to be gainfully employed as both a clinician and a researcher. ... I am truly thankful for the privilege to have received my clinical psychology training at UW as it has afforded me the opportunity for a career that I find to be most satisfying and fulfilling.
- I had a wonderful graduate experience! I found the coursework in statistics and in CBT particularly useful, and I have grown to appreciate that the supervision provided by the core faculty is really unique (many of my interns have been shocked that I ‘actually listen’ to their therapy tapes each week). My research supervision was also outstanding – I felt very supported by my supervisor, my committee members, and the faculty as a whole.
- Generally speaking, I'm very happy with the training I received at UW: A huge strength of our program is the training in statistics and research methods, which is second to none. Our clinical training is very comprehensive (both didactic and experiential components). Highlights of the clinical training for me included the assessment training, which spanned the first 2-3 years and included both cognitive and personality components (the latter of which seems relatively unique). I also really valued the variety of clinical cases and theoretical orientations of supervisors. Having a solid background in a number of theoretical orientations was a huge asset when going on internship – I left our program feeling very competent in my ability to conceptualize cases from a number of perspectives and tailor interventions accordingly. Opportunity to supervise junior students (in the context of assessment, in my case) was also a valuable experience.
- I have no doubt that the Clinical Psychology Program provided me with superb clinical training that has well-prepared me for practice as a clinical psychologist. I feel fortunate that the program offers broad generalist training across the lifespan as this has led to many “open doors” within my career. The ability to work with children, adolescents, and adults makes a degree from the Clinical Psychology Program very valuable. Also, if I were to transition to a hospital-setting involving research, I would also feel well-prepared by the program. Another feature of the program that is tremendous is that amount and quality of clinical supervision received. I have learned that other programs do not offer even close to the same amount or depth of supervision.
- Especially useful aspects of the clinical program: Comprehensive coursework including many courses to cover breadth of clinical issues over the lifespan. Even for future clinicians not planning to work with children, I believe knowledge about difficulties in childhood often helps place adult difficulties into a better context, The fact that coursework and clinical supervision provided a breadth of theoretical perspectives (e.g. CBT; IPT; psychodynamic/object-oriented perspectives). Since graduating I have worked with many Ph.D.-level psychologists from other schools who have trouble conceptualizing a case from another perspective (e.g. other than from a CBT perspective), Intensive, one-on-one, hour-for-hour clinical supervision, Emphasis on research and statistics; understanding research design and how to interpret/think critically about research. Helpful in consuming research on an ongoing basis for clinical use, but also useful in understanding clinical assessment issues (e.g. appropriate tests/norms/procedures may be most justifiable to use when working with clients).