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would be sufficient amount of time to produce a document that included earlier decisions, and what appeared to have been agreed upon by most of the chairs and the delegates with respect to Question III A and B. The other chairs and the planning committee agreed to this procedure. Dr. Rourke and Dr. Hamsher set about this task using the overhead computer system to produce a document. Sixty minutes later, the document was produced and circulated to the rest of the chairs and planning committee. There was a palpable sense of relief that pervaded the subsequent discussions of the chairs and the planning committee when they reconvened, document in hand, to set the agenda for Saturday.
Saturday, September 6, 1997
PLENARY SESSION AND VOTE
The chair of the planning committee accepted responsibility for implementing
procedures that had worked well initially and in previous conferences but
were not successful in bringing about Consensus on the previous day with
respect to Question III A and B. An outline of the entire policy statement
including the parts already agreed upon, the answers to Question III A
and B which derived from the discussions of the breakout group chairs,
and comments pertaining to later sections was presented. The plenary session
was opened up for discussion of the policy statement by all delegates.
It was expected that issues surrounding Question III A and B and earlier
parts of the policy statement would be resolved by early afternoon and
the delegates would then move on to Question III C and D and additional
sections.
Concern was raised that the first paragraph of the Introduction,
section II, stated in an unequivocal way that the specialist in clinical
neuropsychology is a "scientist -practitioner," which might be said of
the majority of the delegates but has lots of surplus meaning in the professional
psychological community. While it was thought that training in clinical
neuropsychology should take place in a scientist-practitioner model, it
was also believed that the delegates could not specify that those who intend
to be specialists must be scientist-practitioners. A modification was suggested
that preserved the sense of the second sentence. It now stated that "the
model is predicated upon the view that the training of the specialist in
clinical neuropsychology must be scientist-practitioner based, but may
also lead to more purely academic or practice career paths." There was
no further discussion and the amendment carried unanimously. Later it was
suggested that the word "purely" be replaced with "primarily" and that
"primarily practice" come before "primarily academic." The motion carried.
There was some additional discussion of the meaning of scientist-practitioner
model and it was recommended that a reference to the conference on scientist-practitioner
education that took place in Gainesville (Belar & Perry, 1992) be included.
The motion carried. The first sentence of the third paragraph of the introduction
was questioned since it said that the document presents a competency-based
model based on integrated education. It was pointed out that it is not
a competency-based model. Many competencies are built into it, but you
cannot opt out at a competency -based attainment point anymore than you
can opt out of a neurosurgery residency by convincing someone that you
are a pretty good cutter. It was proposed that it be stated that the document
presents a model of integrated education and training in clinical neuropsychology.
In order to keep the idea of competency in the sentence, the sentence was
amended several times until it read as follows: "This document presents
a model of integrated education and training in the specialty of clinical
neuropsychology that is both ‘programmatic and competency-based."
The motion carried. The last sentence of the second paragraph of the introduction
mentioned doctoral and residency education specifically but not internship
education and training. The sentence was amended to include the word "internship",
and the word "persist" in the same sentence was changed to "continue."
The motions carried.
The delegates were reminded that section III had already been
approved but that a motion to make a change in it had been prepared. The
delegates were asked when they wanted to entertain this change and they
voted to do so when the entire policy statement was gone through. In spite
of this, it was suggested then that the title for section III be changed
from "Definition of a clinical neuropsychologist" to "What is a clinical
neuropsychologist." The author of this motion was reminded that an entire
substitute motion had been prepared and that the delegates had voted to
discuss changes later.
Section VIII on doctoral education was discussed next since it
was a new section. The last sentence of this section was modified to include
the word "doctoral" in the phrase "by the doctoral program." The first
sentence of the second paragraph had said: "It is desirable for all aspects
of the generic psychology program and most dimensions of the generic clinical
core be developed to a considerable degree." After considerable
discussion of various changes to the sentence, a motion was made to
change it to the following, wording: "All aspects of the generic psychology
and generic clinical cores should be completed at the doctoral level."
It was noted that in sections IX and X there were references
to APA and CPA-approved programs but not in section VIII. Some discussion
was requested as to whether doctoral education in clinical neuropsychology
should be done in an accredited program. The delegate was asked to clarify
whether, when he spoke about an accredited program, he meant a track within
an accredited program or a program specifically within the specialty of
clinical neuropsychology. The delegate said either. There was a request
for specific language with regard to this issue. It was proposed that wording
be included that referred to a regionally accredited doctoral program.
Eventually a motion was made to include the wording, "Integrated doctoral
education in clinical neuropsychology occurs at a regionally accredited
university." A point was raised that PsyDoc programs do not occur in universities.
The word "university" was replaced by "institution" in the sentence.
There also was concern that the beginning of the first sentence
of the first paragraph began with the words "Integrated doctoral education
in clinical neuropsychology ..." which could be interpreted as meaning
that the only acceptable route for doctoral education is a program in clinical
neuropsychology and would exclude programs that are clinical or other applied
programs which have tracks in clinical neuropsychology. In later editing,
the beginning of the sentence was changed to: "Specialization in clinical
neuropsychology begins at the doctoral level..."
It was suggested that the wording saying that "much of" the foundation
of brain-behavior relationships should be developed to a considerable degree
the doctoral level. The words "much of were removed.
There was discussion about the requirement of completing generic
psychology and generic clinical core at the doctoral level. One implication
of this requirement was mentioned. It implies that, if an individual does
not get the courses at the doctoral level and already has a doctorate,
that individual cannot get into clinical neuropsychology. It was explained
by other delegates that the implication was that such an individual would
have to re-tread, especially since such core courses are not offered at
the internship and residency levels anyway. It does not mean that the individual
has to get another doctorate. To clarify the sentence concerning this point,
the sentence was changed to read: "All basic aspects of the generic psychology
and generic clinical core should be completed at the doctoral level."
A motion was made to drop the last sentence of the second paragraph
in this section concerning variability in the degree to which foundations
of brain-behavior relationships and clinical neuropsychology practice are
emphasized at the doctoral level. It was thought to be necessary especially
since
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