Master of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology)

Introduction

The clinical neuropsychology program aims to provide students with the skills to work as neuropsychologists. Since its inception in the 1970s, the clinical neuropsychology program has emphasised 'hands on' clinical training in the hospital setting. The breadth of this training experience has steadily increased over the years, and students are placed in a wide variety of settings that cover acute care neurology and neurosurgery, psychiatry, geriatrics, rehabilitation, and paediatrics. The placement experience enjoyed by our students is one of the most extensive in the world.

The neuropsychological teaching staff is made up of four full-time members at the level of Senior Lecturer or Associate Professor, and all are full members of the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists. Each member is actively involved in the practice of clinical neuropsychology (including supervision of clinical trainees) in a teaching hospital. Collectively, the staff cover the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Children's Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, and the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, and are therefore well positioned to bring to the teaching situation a high level of clinical and research expertise.

The program in clinical neuropsychology aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for competent practice in a variety of settings, and in relation to a variety of diagnostic problems and management issues. The acquisition of professional skills at a reasonably sophisticated level is the ultimate goal of the program. There is a strong emphasis on the need for world-class clinical research, with a significant number of students producing peer-reviewed publications.

Objectives

The objective of this stream is to provide graduates with the skills to work as professional neuropsychologists. Graduates should obtain a detailed understanding of the affective, behavioural and cognitive manifestations of diseases of the central nervous system, particularly those affecting the brain, in adults and children. Graduates are expected to acquire competence in various approaches to the study of brain disease, including basic and applied clinical sciences, and are expected to acquire an understanding of objective assessment of the many behavioural features of brain diseases.

Course Structure

Master of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology)

The full time structure of the course comprises 200 points distributed as follows:

Year 1

Year 2

Students may apply to the Convenor to undertake a subject from other streams in place of one of the above subjects.

Not every subject will be offered every year.