Research Network
CarePaths (www.carepaths.com) sponsors Practice Research
Networks (PRNs) through its collaboration with research and
clinical training organizations. Currently, CarePaths is sponsoring
a number of PRNs, e.g. the Association of Directors of Psychology
Training Clinics (http://adptc.clinicprn.org) and the Outdoor Behavioral
Health Industry Council (http://obhic.clinicprn.org) and now has agreed to
provide a PRN for Medical Psychology. Practice research networks offer a
group of organizations the opportunity to pool data for a variety of purposes,
including quality improvement and benchmarking, advocacy, and clinical
research. Borkovec, for instance, writes that PRNs are needed now
in clinical psychology because of the “increasing pressure to produce
evidence that therapies we provide are in fact beneficial” and to answer
“society’s questions about the effectiveness of psychotherapy.” A Medical
Psychology PRN can help establish what we have been touting as a superior
model of care by carrying out rigorous experimental investigations in
naturalistic settings that allow for unambiguous conclusions about
effectiveness. This will be a free benefit to Fellows of the Academy as
long as the research project is underway.
News
AMP formed an alliance with the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers (NAPPP).
This new practice organization shares a common ground with AMP regarding the importance of
advocacy in the profession of psychology as well as the importance of educating psychologists
about the business of practice. AMP encourages you to join this dynamic new organization that
offers free CE credits in psychopharmacology. NAPPP has purchased the rights to offer RxP
training and is working with a regionally accredited online university to offer either a
certificate or a postdoctoral Master degree. Check for details at NAPPP’s
website www.nappp.org.
AMP registered its agreement with NAPPP’s letter to the American Psychological Association’s
Cynthia Belar demanding that the policy restricting RxP preparation to university or hospital
settings be immediately rescinded. AMP members were selected by Division 55 to draft a
response to Ms. Belar’s original letter. This response drew such attention from the Practice
Directorate and the Board of Educational Affairs that a joint Task Force was formed between
CAPP and BEA to revise the training model for RxP. This confrontation resulted in the
formation of NAPPP. AMP has followed these developments closely. The Task Force report for
public comment was posted on January 31st on the APA website at
www.apa.org/ed/graduate/comments_review.html. The AMP Board is reserving its comments on the
Task Force report until it hears from our members.
AMP made a donation to the Walker et al vs. State of California alleging failure
to provide the mental treatment required by the Americans with Disabilities Act due to a
shortage of psychiatrists. Both the California Departments of Corrections and Mental Health
are in federal receivership, therefore, this case has national implications for RxP.
Div 18 and CSPP at Alliant announced that they are starting to train the first cohort of public
service psychologists to prescribe psychotropic medications. They requested donations and AMP
made a donation toward this goal of training public service psychologists.
Dr. John Caccavale has created an electronic form to record and track outcomes for every session
in preceptorship and Jack Wiggins and John Caccavale are looking at forming an agreement with NAPPP
to host the web-based form and manage the database generated. This will further AMP’s role as a
quality control organization for the continuing education and registering of medical psychologists
and training preceptors. This system would be used by programs, fellows, and ongoing collaborators
for a nominal annual subscription
The Academy continues to register graduates of psychopharmacology training programs and functions
as a resource and clearinghouse of information to the American Psychological Association, State
and Provincial Psychology Boards, and other regulatory bodies and associations.
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