A Survey of Postdoctoral Training in Rehabilitation Psychology in the United States and Canada: 2019

Purpose/Objective: Survey psychology postdoctoral training programs involving patients with disability receiving rehabilitation services, and compare with similar data from 2007. Research Method/Design: Public data sources identified 297 potential postdoctoral training programs. Of these, 100 programs (34%) provided services for patients with disability in rehabilitation settings, and 92% returned a survey (n = 92). Results: Programs reported having a primary rehabilitation involvement (42%), a secondary involvement (26%), or an optional involvement (23%). Programs were based in university settings (27%), VA/ DoD settings (35%), or private/public health care settings (38%). A total of 433 faculty and 308 residents were involved in these programs. Fifty percent (50%) of programs had faculty with American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology (ABRP) certification, while 62% of programs had faculty with American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN) certification. On average, programs formally taught 58% of the ABRP competencies. Conclusions: Compared to 2007, there has been a 200% increase in the number of training programs with rehabilitation involvement. However, there has been an overall decrease in the variety of populations with which residents work, and an overall decrease in the number of ABRP competencies that are formally taught, so that training has become more focused on specific populations and specific competencies to the exclusion of others. Many rehabilitation patients and teams receive services from psychologists whose professional concentration is not primarily in rehabilitation psychology, and many psychology residents involved with rehabilitation populations do not receive comprehensive training in rehabilitation psychology. There is an opportunity for rehabilitation psychologists to collaborate with these programs to enhance competent services to persons with disability.