Course Schedule

	First Semester		Second Semester
First Year	PS 875 - Adult Psychopathology (4) PS 879 - Scientist Practitioner (4) PS 711- Statistics I (4) *PS 824 - Cognitive Psychology or Interviewing (4) [Recommend:  PS824 - Cognitive Psychology] **PS 951- Colloquium (register for no credit (NC) or 1 credit) 1st year research		PS 772 - Adult Assessment (4) PS 774 – Clinical Practicum-Assessment (4) PS 712 - Statistics II (4) PS 974 - Clinical Practicum- HD/General Req or Elective (4) PS 951- Colloquium (register for no credit (NC) or 1 credit) 1st year research
Second Year	***PS 874 - Psychotherapy (4) PS 829 Principles of Neuropsychology (4) PS 791 - Social Oppression (4) HD/General Req. or Elective or PS824 - Cognitive Psychology (4) [Recommend:   PS 546 Cognitive Development or PS 844 Theories of Development in either first or second semester- fulfills the HD Departmental Requirement and a General Requirement.  An elective may be taken in the other semester] PS 951- Colloquium (register NC or 1 cr.) 2nd year research		PS 880 – Empirically Support-Tx PS 761 - Social Psychology or HD/General Req. or Elective (4) [Recommend:  PS 761 - Social Psychology] PS 978 Research course (4) HD/General Req. or Elective or PS 761 - Social Psychology (4) PS 951- Colloquium (register for NC or 1 cr.) 2nd year research
Third Year	-PS 704 History and Systems PS 973 Case mgmt/ Clin Pract (4) PS 951- Colloquium (register for NC or 1 credit)		PS 770 - Ethics (4) Elective or HD/General Req. or PS761 –Social Psychology  (4) [Recommend Elective] PS 951- Colloquium (register for NC or 1 credit)
Fourth Year	PS 951- Colloquium (must attend but do not have to register) Dissertation		PS 951- Colloquium (must attend but do not have to register) Dissertation
Fifth Year	PS 979 - Internship		PS 980 - Internship
*BBC & General Requirement, HD & General Requirement, and Electives Students are required to fulfill departmental requirements, clinical program requirements and to take courses for licensure. Some of these requirements may be fulfilled within the same course.  All students in the clinical program are required to take a course in 3 “general” areas; cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and social psychology.  The cognitive psychology and developmental psychology courses that are recommended also fulfill the BBC and HD departmental requirements, respectively, for the department.  There are 2 electives that students may take.  One of these electives must be taught by a clinical faculty member.  The other elective may be in any area. Please note that there are 5 slots in the curriculum that are labeled, “PS 824 or HD/General or PS761 or Elective.”  In these 5 slots you will take 3 general requirement courses [listed below] and 2 electives [at least 1 taught by a clinical faculty member].  The curriculum outline provides recommendations for when you should take these courses but provides flexibility to accommodate scheduling conflicts. Courses comprising “General Requirements:  All students must take courses in these 3 areas #1  Cognitive and affective aspects of behavior:   PS824 Cognitive Psychology will be offered each year by Prof. Harris or a lecturer) NB:  This course fulfills the BBC Departmental Requirement and a General Requirement #2  Human Development:   PS 525 Cognitive Development;  PS844 Theories of Development; these course will be taught in alternate years by Prof. Keleman or Prof Ganea, Prof. Saudino,) NB:  Either one of these course fulfills the HD Departmental Requirement and a General Requirement #3  Social Psychology: PS761 Major Issues in Social Psychology (will be offered every year; in alternate years it will be taught by Prof. Palfai) ** You may not exceed 18 credits per semester. If you are registered for 18 credits (e.g., TF’s must register for PS 699 for 2.0 credits in addition to their 16 credits of coursework), you should register for PS 951 for no credit (NC). ***Additional therapy courses satisfy clinical elective requirements.

Course Requirements

The curriculum is structured so that you receive the breadth and depth of psychological education. Electives are included in the curriculum requirements so that you can fulfill licensing requirements as well as pursue specialized areas of interest. Your advisor will assist you in making appropriate course selections. While the curriculum can be completed in 3 years, students can certainly take courses over the summers and during their fourth years. In fact, this might be necessary as some clinical electives are not offered every year.

As an APA accredited doctoral program, the curriculum meets all APA requirements. By taking the courses outlined in the clinical program handbook, students will meet clinical program requirements. The only two areas of requirements in which students have choices to make are how to fulfill departmental requirements and how to fulfill licensing requirements.

The department requires at least one course from 3 of the following categories: clinical, BBC, HD, and "Other" program/department. We have been encouraging students to meet this breadth requirement by taking a BBC and HD course in the first year. Students also need to have the respective program directors sign off on the department form (found in the department handbook) indicating that the breadth requirement was satisfied. If a student has an "other" course, the Chair of the department makes the determination about whether it satisfies the breadth requirement.

The following information pertains to Massachusetts licensure following changes in the law that went into effect in July 1999. Requirements may change again and it is the responsibility of students to remain up to date on licensing requirements. We do our best to advise you of changes but it is to your advantage to be aware of the licensing law as well. Whatever licensing requirements are in effect when a person applies for licensure (typically 1-3 years post PhD), are the requirements that must be satisfied. Therefore, your coursework might currently meet licensing requirements but if a change occurs in the licensing requirements before you become licensed, you must meet the new requirement. There are no pending changes to the licensing regulations that will effect your course selection or training at this time.

The Board of Registration of Psychologists can be accessed at:

Phone: (617) 727-9925

Web: http://www.state.ma.us/reg

Mail:

239 Causeway Street,
Boston, MA
02114

The clinical program office tries to have a copy of a licensing application on file but these can also be requested for individual use.

If you think you will live in another state, you should check out that state's curriculum requirements for licensure. Directors of clinical programs in other states typically complain about Massachusetts licensing regulations so it appears that currently Massachusetts has more requirements than most other states. Our students have not had any difficulty in recent years in meeting the requirements in California or New York. Curriculum requirements are fairly standard across states although each state has slightly different regulations. For instance, California has previously required courses in sexuality and addiction so if you think you might become licensed in that state you should examine their specific regulations.

Massachusetts requires at least a 3 credit graduate semester course that appears on your transcript in each of these domains:

• Biological Bases of Behavior (e.g. neuropsychology)
  Cognitive Affective Bases of Behavior (e.g. learning, cognition, thinking, motivation, emotion)
• Social Bases of Behavior (e.g. social psychology, group processes, organizational and systems theory- courses such as family or group therapy do NOT satisfy this requirement)
• Individual Differences (e.g. personality theory, human development, abnormal psychology)
• Racial/Ethnic Bases of Behavior with a focus on people of color (e.g. cross cultural psychology, psychology and social oppression, racism and psychology)

The parenthetical descriptions come from the regulations and licensing application unless I have noted specific BU courses. One course can only satisfy one domain.

Additionally, students must demonstrate mastery of the following areas. This is most easily accomplished by a course on your transcript as well.

• Ethics
• History of Psychology (content in PS 704 Contemporary Trends in Psychology)
• Research Design & Methods (PS 978 Lab Research Practicum and PS 879 The Scientist Practitioner)
• Statistics and Psychometrics

Students are encouraged to keep ALL course syllabi to document course content. For licensing, if the course content is not readily identifiable by course title, a syllabus will be requested.

All students, including those with prior graduate studies and related masters degrees, must complete the required curriculum. A student can request to be waived from a course if s/he believes s/he has demonstrated mastery of the material through a previous graduate course. To be waived from a course, the student should speak to the professor who teaches the particular course and the professor then submits a letter for the student's file to the program coordinator indicating that a waiver was officially granted. All waivers are subject to the final approval of the DCT.

Beginning with the class entering in the 1999 academic year, all students (including those admitted post-Master's) are expected to take 20 graduate courses at BU. Students who waive out of courses will still be expected to take 20 courses while at BU and will be encouraged to substitute courses related to the waived course (i.e., Developmental Psychopathology for Adult Psychopathology.)

The program reserves Wednesdays from 1:30-3:00 p.m. for clinical program activities including colloquia and meetings. All pre-internship students are expected to attend.

Download the Handbook

For more information on Language Requirements, Applying for Internship, Recording Clinical Hours, Program Policy on Independent Private Practice, and more, download the Boston University Clinical Student Handbook student handbook.

		2007/08 Clinical Program Student Handbook (Microsoft Word Document)