Mentorship and Career Development

As part of the relationship with VA, UMass students have opportunities for both pre- and post-doctoral internships and fellowships at Veterans Administration Medical Centers across New England. Consistent with VA’s scientist-practitioner/evidence-based models of clinical care, clinical research, and professional teaching, UMass interns are provided with a significant breadth and depth of experience working with a variety of clinical populations. The rich and diverse clinical research settings of outpatient clinics, urgent care facilities, and inpatient mental health treatment programs offer unique opportunities for the development and refinement of conceptual skills, methods of therapeutic intervention, systematic behavioral observations, and psychological assessments. Working with VA researchers and clinicians, interns gain experience in unique and increasingly-relevant specializations, such as acute psychiatric trauma in soldiers who have recently returned from deployments, secondary post-traumatic stress disorder, and exacerbation or development of mental illnesses caused by traumatic brain injuries and combat stress. The general focus, however, remains the opportunity for observation and collaboration with clinical scientists as they integrate scholarly research findings with clinical practice.