The Student Perspective of Psychology Practica Training

Competency-based pre-service education for clinical psychology training in low- and middle-income countries: Case study of Makerere University in Uganda

Reducing the global treatment gap for mental health conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) requires not only an expansion of clinical psychology training but also assuring that graduates of these programs have the competency to effectively and safely deliver psychological interventions. Clinical psychology training programs in LMICs require standardized tools and guidance to evaluate competency. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF developed the “Ensuring Quality in Psychological Support” (EQUIP) platform to facilitate competency-based training in psychosocial support, psychological treatments, and foundational helping skills, with an initial focus on in-service training for non-specialists. Our goal was to design the first application of EQUIP to implement competency-based training into pre-service education for clinical psychology trainees. With Makerere University in Uganda as a case study, we outline an approach to develop, implement, and evaluate a competency-based curriculum that includes seven steps: (1) Identify core clinical psychology competencies; (2) Identify evaluation methods appropriate to each competency; (3) Determine when competency evaluations will be integrated in the curriculum, who will evaluate competency, and how results will be used; (4) Train faculty in competency-based education including conducting competency assessments and giving competency-based feedback; (5) Pilot test and evaluate the competency-based education strategy with faculty and students; (6) Modify and implement the competency-based education strategy based on pilot results; and (7) Implement ongoing evaluation of the competency-based curriculum with continuous quality improvement. This approach will be formally evaluated and established as a foundation for pre-service training in other low-resource settings.

Exploring the Differences in Expectations Between Supervisors and Supervisees During the Initial Clinical Experience

The clinical experience is a major component of the curriculum for graduate degree programs in speech-language pathology. During this experience, the supervisor provides the student with the support needed to grow as a clinician. Both supervisors and students enter into the supervisory process with a variety of goals, skills, and expectations. In this article, the author presents the results of a survey in which the expectations of novice clinicians are compared to the expectations of their supervisors. Identification of the expectations of these groups assisted in determining the concerns of both supervisors and supervisees, and in assessing discrepancies, which affect the supervisor's ability to meet the student's needs. An analysis of the data revealed discrepancies in expectations of these groups. A review of expectations of novice clinicians in their first clinical experience revealed a limited understanding of the expectations of supervisors, while students entering their second clinical experience noted increased expectations for cooperative learning and supervisor feedback. Both first and second semester students expected supervisors to provide direct support throughout both clinical experiences. While supervisors expected to provide direct support to clinicians at the beginning of their first clinical experience, they anticipated moving to indirect support as the students progressed.