A 2-Year Path to Competency: A Developmental Framework for Pediatric Psychology Training at the Yale Child Study Center

Abstract

The Yale Child Study Center offers a 2-year integrated predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship training sequence that emphasizes both child and adolescent generalist and pediatric specialty training. In this article, we outline how the various elements of the Yale Child Study Center Psychology Fellowship link directly to recommended core competencies recently published by the Society for Pediatric Psychology’s (SPP) Task Force on Competencies and Best Training Practices in Pediatric Psychology (Palermo et al., 2014). We review the manner in which our trainees are evaluated for achievement of these competencies and discuss how the 2-year developmental model enables graduating trainees to thrive as highly competent pediatric psychologists within a complex and constantly changing health care environment.