About the Fellowship Program

In contrast to on-the-job training, this postdoctoral opportunity is an organized experience designed to provide a planned sequence of supervised, advanced training experiences in pediatric neuropsychology. While substantial self-directed learning and independent initiation of career development is the baseline for even minimum competence at this level, onsite supervision is provided for every clinical case, research opportunities, case presentations, didactics, and any professional issues that arise.

Training Overview

The Sutter Medical Foundation Fellowship program is a full-time (40 hours per week) training to be completed across 24-months. Postdoctoral trainees accrue 4000 training hours with the successful completion of the training program. This meets, and exceeds, the minimum number of hours required for licensure in California and other states of licensure within the United States.

The 24-month full-time duration with an estimated 4000 hours meets the expectations for hours of postdoctoral onsite supervision necessary for board certification in this specialty. The program begins each year in early September and ends two-years after the starting date. Minor negotiations around these dates are possible.

The fellowship is dedicated exclusively to the specialty area of pediatric neuropsychology. While the individual skills and professional direction of each trainee will likely vary, successful completion of this training experience will result in competence of a core skill set in professional clinical psychology and pediatric neuropsychology. Additional areas of training include early developmental clinic (birth-to-three concerns), Clinical consultation, ADHD and Autism diagnostics, craniofacial panel consultation, CNS tumor board consultation, and the epilepsy surgery program to name a few. Program development can be a part of the fellow’s experience as services are always evolving to meet the needs of our patient population and specialty providers. We are always working collaboratively with other professionals to meet the needs of our patients and doctors.

Training activities will account for a minimum of 10% of a trainee’s time, with the variety of available training activities and opportunities for cross-disciplinary consultation. A minimum of 50-80% of the training will be spent in provision of professional neuropsychological services. 

Ten percent of the trainee’s time will be dedicated to research-related activity. This could include participation in existing studies, conceptualization of additional studies, and presentation of results. Twenty percent of the remaining time will be spent in scholarly activities, including case presentation, journal club, grand rounds and didactics.

This specialty training site is dedicated to pediatric neuropsychological services with emphasis on outpatient assessment and consultation. However, in order to offer well-rounded professional development and diversity of experience, these services may include, but are not limited to, assessment; intervention; consultation; program and policy discussions; provision of mentorship to practicum students, as opportunity arises and skill permits; and, as noted above, clinical research.

The clinical training experience for each trainee will be well-rounded and in collaboration with other pediatric providers, neurology faculty and staff, as well as other presenters. This two-year specialty training occurs via coursework, seminars and didactics, individual study guided through supervision, and substantial experiential opportunities (e.g., following a neurologist in the OR, EEG tech in clinic, hallway consultations, formal outpatient evaluation, observation of surgical and imaging procedures, etc.).