Track Overview
The Behavioral Medicine track is designed to offer interns a comprehensive experience in the assessment and treatment of patients with various medical conditions and disease states. The Behavioral Medicine intern will primarily spend time in the Transplant Teams and Primary Care clinics in addition to minor electives that address a variety of patient presentations (e.g., eating disorders, bariatric surgery, adult consult and liaison, etc.). Collectively, this track offers interns the opportunity to work on multidisciplinary teams in a large academic medical center and gain experience working with individuals from diverse backgrounds who are pursuing evidence-based treatment for a variety of acute onset and chronic health conditions. Interns will have the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge about the intersection of medical morbidity and psychological intervention, consultation in an academic medical center, and evidence-based interventions that improve psychological functioning and quality of life. Trainees will also likely have opportunities to engage in training/education activities, if desired.
The Behavioral Medicine track is federally funded by an award from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA). To be eligible for this internship position, applicants must be a US citizen, national, or permanent resident.
Program Coordinator
Supervisors
John Taylor Freeman, PhD
APPIC Program Code
Clinical Rotations
The Behavioral Medicine – General Intern will complete one rotation with the Heart and Lung Transplant and Left Ventricular Assist Device Programs. They will join the Behavioral Medicine – Transplant intern for this rotation. On this rotation, trainees have the opportunity to perform inpatient and outpatient psychological evaluations of adult candidates being considered for lung, heart, or heart/lung transplantation and LVAD surgery. Interns will consult with the physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and the social workers on the heart and lung transplant teams and VAD teams. Interns can attend the multidisciplinary lung transplant and heart transplant/LVAD team meetings to present their impressions and recommendations. Interns will provide individual or couples therapy before and after transplantation and/or LVAD surgery. Interns will consult with patients waiting in the hospital for transplant and then provide supportive therapy as they wait for and then recover from transplant. Interns can participate in a structured group for lung transplant patients and/or co-lead an unstructured group for lung or heart transplant patients. Interns can shadow other professionals on the team (e.g., palliative care, cardiothoracic surgeon, pulmonologist) to gain an in-depth understanding of the transplant process. Interns will have the opportunity to supervise graduate students in mental health counseling who are completing practicum and internship with the transplant and LVAD programs.
Supervisor: Eileen J. Burker, PhD, CRC
This rotation will engage psychology interns to a variety of models of integrated care including co-located care, and interprofessional team-based models such as Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) and Collaborative Care (CoCM). The training sites offer a stepped-care approach to integrated behavioral health care to address diverse patient needs. The training sites also offer MAT for substance use concerns and psychology interns will have the opportunity to collaborate with DATA-waived MAT prescribers and patients in integrated care treatment approaches.
Training will build a solid foundation in understanding the interplay of physical illness and emotional well-being, knowledge of common chronic healthcare conditions, and knowledge of medical culture. A key element of this will be a focus on using tele-behavioral health modalities in effective ways to reduce barriers to access to care.
Interns will learn rapid psychological assessment strategies. This will include the integration of screening tools frequently used in primary care settings. Interns will learn skills in brief psychotherapy, single session work, motivational interviewing, health behavior change counseling as well as longer term individual therapy. Additional clinical skills in assessment, intervention (CBT, dialectical behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy), clinical consultation, as well as teaching will be included.
Supervisor: Linda Myerholtz, PhD
Additional Track Opportunities
We actively support the professional development of our interns. Interns are encouraged to co-author peer-reviewed journal articles and submit research to peer-reviewed national conferences (e.g., SBM, APS, APA). In addition, interns who want to pursue a career in academic medicine may have the opportunity to give lectures in the Department and/or supervise master’s-level trainees.
Interns are welcome to join our ongoing research or initiate new research projects in any of the areas/clinics listed above. Program Coordinator, Terra Rose is currently a co-investigator with Dr. Rebekah Nash examining Machine Learning in Psychiatry. This study is focused specifically on kidney transplantation candidates and recipients. Interns can easily join the research team for the training year, which will likely result in a minimum of one publication. There are other ample opportunities to engage in research in Heart/Lung Transplant, Eating Disorders, Primary Care and/or others.
