Other Academic Resources
In addition to those resources provided by the Clinical Program and the Department of Psychology, there is an extraordinary range of resources outside of the department that are also available to (and used by) program students. There are many departments, institutes, and centers in Pittsburgh, both at the University and at nearby Carnegie Mellon (CMU), that provide important resources for courses, seminars, colloquia, consultation, and committee members. These yield both a tremendous general intellectual climate as well as supplementing the specific expertise of program faculty.
Students in the Clinical Psychology Program of course have access to other departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, such as neuroscience, biology, and anthropology. In addition, within a few blocks on campus is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (ranked tenth in the country in NIH research funding), the Department of Psychiatry (Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, WPIC, ranked first in the country in NIMH research funding), and the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
Also located nearby on campus is Pitt’s School of Public Health (ranked third in the country in receipt of NIH research funds and home to Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Human Genetics, among others). Students also have access to the resources of the Office of Child Development (OCD), an office that seeks to coordinate research on children across the University, and the nationally ranked Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), which is a joint program between the University of Pittsburgh and nearby Carnegie Mellon. All students may also take classes at CMU.
This extraordinary concentration of research and clinical resources all within several minutes walking distance of the Clinical Psychology Program is another one of the many strengths of the program that sets it apart from most other research-oriented clinical psychology programs across the country. Some of the academic resources most frequently used by clinical psychology students are:
- Department of Psychiatry
- Office of Child Development (University-wide Center for Research on Child Development)
- Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (Collaborative Center between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for Cognitive Neuroscience)
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (University-wide Center for Neuroscience)
- Department of Neuroscience
- Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
In addition to the faculty at these and other departments who may serve as consultants and often members of student committees, there are also other faculty members outside of the Department of Psychology who have been granted secondary appointments in psychology, thus reflecting their special commitment to training psychology graduate students. Those faculty members with secondary appointments in the Department of Psychology, but who are not members of the Clinical Psychology Program, are listed below by interest area. Typically, these faculty would be available to serve on student committees.
- Shirley Hill, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse
- Ralph Tarter, PhD, Department of Pharmacy, Substance Abuse
- Christopher Martin, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse
- David Kolko, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Developmental Psychopathology
- Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Developmental Psychopathology
- Gerald Goldstein, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychology
- Lisa Morrow, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychology
- Christopher Ryan, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychology
- Paul Pilkonis, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Personality Disorders
- Richard Jennings, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Cardiovascular Psychophysiology
Other Research Facilities
Also within walking distance are several specialized common core research facilities that can be available to clinical psychology students.
- Magnetic Resonance (MR) Center (center for brain imaging using magnetic resonance techniques)
- Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (a national supercomputing center)
There is also a wide range of clinical populations that may be available for research within walking distance of the Clinical Psychology Program. These include clinics affiliated with the following:
- Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) (inpatient and outpatient psychiatric clinics)
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) (inpatient and outpatient medical facilities)
- University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) (comprehensive cancer facility with inpatient and outpatient clinics)
- Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (comprehensive pediatric inpatient and outpatient facility)
- Magee-Womens Hospital/UPMC (inpatient and outpatient care for women)
Other Clinical Training Facilities
In addition to the clinical training facilities provided by the program's on-site Psychology Clinic, there are also approximately 25 specialty externships that are available to students. These specialty externships allow students to pursue clinical training in areas of their research interest, thus providing a real opportunity to integrate practice and research.
The breadth of these specialty externship opportunities and their integration with research interests are another of the special aspects of the Clinical Psychology Program that distinguishes it from many research-oriented clinical psychology programs.