General Track
The General Track offers opportunities across the lifespan. Although there is a primary emphasis on adults, a diverse range of training opportunities with children and adolescents is also available. The extent of an intern's engagement with the child and adolescent population will be determined by their specific interests, clinical skills, and current institutional needs.
Clinical opportunities within the General Track include:
Consultation Liaison (CL)
CL Psychology provides evidence-based assessment, intervention, and behavioral consultation to patients, families, and healthcare teams to improve patient outcomes, reduce barriers to care, and support interdisciplinary collaboration. The CL Psychology program at JSUMC focuses on the care of patients with comorbid psychiatric and general medical conditions. Interns work closely with the psychiatric staff to improve their skills in the areas of diagnostic interviewing, psychopharmacology, and the medical-biological aspects of patient care. Consults come from a variety of referral sources throughout the hospital and include a range of service needs, including evaluation, treatment recommendations, supportive therapy (grief, trauma), behavioral issues, managing depression and anxiety symptoms secondary to medical issues and/or procedures, issues pertaining to bioethics, and familial support.
Specialty Populations Often Served
ICU/Critical care, trauma services, oncology, cardiology, pediatrics, women’s health, emergency department, palliative care and hospice.
Patient Assessment and Consultation
Diagnostic clarification; assessment of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and coping; behavioral assessment of treatment interfering behaviors; assessment of adherence and barriers to care
Brief Psychological Interventions
Adjustment to new medical diagnoses; coping with hospitalization; pain management; relaxation and mindfulness training; sleep interventions; grief and anticipatory grief support; crisis intervention following traumatic or unexpected medical events
Behavioral Medicine Services
Management of care-interfering behaviors; behavioral plans for agitation or aggression; addressing treatment refusal or poor adherence; staff coaching on behavioral management approaches
Family Services
Psychoeducation; support and goals-of-care discussions; caregiver support; helping families cope/adapt.
Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit
The psychiatric inpatient unit (Rosa 2) is a 29 bed unit with 26 voluntary beds and 3 Short Term Care Facility (STCF), or commitment beds, which treat adults with a variety of psychiatric disorders. On this rotation, interns are expected to actively participate in multidisciplinary rounds regarding patient care and treatment planning. Interns will also be expected to provide both individual and group therapy to patients, refining their skills in brief, solution focused interventions with an acute psychiatric population
Outpatient services (Davis Avenue)
Interns will maintain an active caseload of 6-8 therapy patients who they will see on an outpatient basis. Interns will also conduct intake evaluations for new patients. In this setting, interns will refine their case conceptualization skills in addition to developing treatment goals and planning and implementing interventions. Interns are also expected to learn to manage cases appropriately; to maintain consultation with psychiatrists and other team members, and community resources; to document services appropriately; and to refer to appropriate community resources.
Psychological Assessment
Interns will have the opportunity to conduct a variety of psychological assessments, including personality, diagnostic, functional skills/deficits, and intellectual functioning from multiple referral sources. Interns will also have the opportunity to conduct Comprehensive Health Evaluation for Children (CHEC), which identifies physical, developmental and mental health treatment needs for children entering out of home placements as a partnership between DCP&P and Medicaid evaluations. Interns are expected to complete a minimum of 4 comprehensive batteries each rotation.
Minor Rotations
New Jersey Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative (NJPPC): The PPC is a state funded grant program where Hackensack Meridian Health, Cooper University Health Care, and the Atlantic Health System partner to provide support, evaluations, and referrals for children with behavioral and emotional health issues. The program is available for children up to age 18 or older if the patient is still seeing their pediatrician who is registered with the NJPPC. The NJPPC is a regionalized system of psychiatric and behavioral consultation teams to assist pediatricians in managing their patient’s mental health needs. It brings pediatricians into the fold in a collaborative partnership with child and adolescent psychiatrists to broaden children’s access to evidence-based mental health care. The NJPPC is designed to educate pediatricians on mental health care, help them screen for and identify mental health concerns, and get timely access to a consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist. The psychology intern works alongside a psychiatrist to conduct evaluations and when clinically warranted, comprehensive psychological assessments to assist in diagnosis, emotional-social functioning, cognitive/intellectual functioning, etc. Alongside members of the PPC team, the intern will identify treatment needs and appropriate behavioral health treatment referrals.
Upper Extremity Trauma Clinic: The ARMS (Amputation Rehabilitation Medicine and Surgery) Clinic is an interdisciplinary team to assist individuals undergoing upper extremity surgery/reconstruction in acquiring appropriate aftercare services, including mental health services. Together, a team of experts work to provide comprehensive care to individuals who have been affected by limb loss or an amputation. They meet once a month (last Friday of the month) with patients from all over the country to provide a comprehensive, collaborative, integrated care environment composed of a surgeon, prosthetic team, physical therapist, nurses, physician assistant, and a behavioral health team. On average, the program will see between 10 and 15 patients each day. Interns will be responsible for screening individuals on several psychological domains and determining appropriate referral services. In addition, interns, along with a psychologist, will facilitate group therapy for patients to provide support, processing, and social engagement among the patients. Interns will also have the opportunity to see patients from the clinic for individual outpatient therapy. Interns will be part of the multidisciplinary team to ensure all aspects of the patient are accounted for following the procedure and throughout their recovery.
Project Heal: Project Heal is a grant funded program at Jersey Shore University Medical Center that helps people in Monmouth County who have experienced violence in their lives. Project Heal provides individuals who have experienced violence a space to heal in addition to a myriad of services that help an individual navigate needs. A dedicated team made up of case managers, counselors, and medical staff work together to provide counseling, case management, healthcare coordination. The intern will work alongside providers to assist in providing services to individuals who experienced violence, including individual and group therapy.
Emergency Psychiatric Services: A psychiatric emergency service for individuals who present with acute psychiatric crises. Individuals may be suicidal, severely symptomatic, and/or be a danger to self or others. Individuals are assessed for appropriate level of care, which may include hospitalization or referral to outpatient services. Interns will work closely with the Access Center staff to develop and refine skills in crisis assessment and intervention by conducting crisis evaluations, responding to hotline calls, and developing disposition plans for patients in acute psychiatric distress.