University of Glasgow

Structure and Content

The programme follows a modularised structure, which integrates academic teaching, clinical practice education and research training. This process underpins the commitment of the Programme team to maximising the synergy between the clinical, academic and research components of training and reflects explicitly our commitment to an integrative educational process. One initiative to develop from the process of modularisation has been the creation of integrated courses. For example, in the first year there are two integrated Adult Mental Health clinical-academic modules which combine learning outcomes embedded in academic teaching and clinical practice education.

Modular Structure

Year 1 Modules

• Foundations of Clinical Psychology
• Foundations of Clinical Practice 1
• Foundations of Clinical Practice 2
• Foundation Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

Year 2 Modules

• Children/Young People and Families Theory and Practice
• Learning Disability Theory and Practice
• Research Methods
• Research Practice 1
• Advanced Professional Practice 1

Year 3 Modules

• Advanced Practice 1
• Advanced Practice 2
• Psychology and the Law
• Research Practice 2
• Advanced Professional Practice 2

Satisfying the requirements for modules is evaluated through a mixture of clinical placement feedback and assessed academic pieces, including exams, presentations and essays. This work is delivered across the timespan of the programme and trainees are expected to balance these demands amongst their research and clinical development.

Clinical Placements

Throughout their time on the Programme, trainees will contribute to a range of clinical services where they will work with clients across the age span.  Clinical placements generally consist of three days per week over a six-month period, however this can vary depending on individual pathway. Across most of the year, trainees will also attend teaching on one day per week along with one study day.

Placements will all take place within the employing board.  Trainees on the three-year training pathway will have two placements during year one, running from November until April and then from May until September. Often these placements will be with the same supervisor and in the same setting, but both will involve a placement visit and a summative end of placement evaluation.

Year two will consist of two placements of six-month duration.  Settings may vary for individual trainee, but generally they will involve working within Children and young peoples’ services or learning disability services.

During year three, trainee will complete a further two placements of six-month duration.  These specialist placements may be carried out in two separate locations consecutively or simultaneously (split placement) or may both be carried out in the same setting.

Trainees on the APL pathway will follow a similar, but shortened, pattern.

Clinical placements will vary in duties but typically including managing a caseload of patients, involving completion of patient-related administration, written correspondence, preparation and delivery of sessions, working with and seeking input from wider stakeholders, and effective working with a broad range of colleagues. Placements can also involve other forms of delivery of therapeutic work (eg groups) and service development activities. Over the course of clinical placements trainees are expected to become increasingly autonomous and show the ability to manage varied work demands via effective organisation and planning as well as dealing with unpredictability. Clinical contacts can involve working with highly distressed individuals and exposure to highly emotional circumstances.

Trainee will work closely with clinical supervisors, developing the range of competences laid out in the BPS accreditation standards and required learning outcomes and the HCPC Standards of Proficiency by the time of completing the programme.

Research

The programme at the University of Glasgow is underpinned by the scientist-practitioner model, and emphasises the interplay and bi-directional relationship between clinical practice and scientific enquiry/research. This is reflected in our curriculum, research training, and commitment to developing applied, clinically-relevant trainee research projects. Our ethos and values in relation to the research component are guided by the BPS's Standards for the Accreditation of Doctoral Programmes in Clinical Psychology, and the University of Glasgow's wider commitment to world-leading research as a research-intensive institution.

Core competencies relating to the research component include:

• Being a critical and effective consumer, interpreter and disseminator of the research evidence base relevant to clinical psychology practice, and that of psychological services and interventions more widely, as well as utilising such research to influence and inform the practice of self and others.
• Conceptualising, designing and conducting independent, original and translational and/or foundational research of a quality to satisfy peer review, and contributing to the knowledge base of the discipline through dissemination and publication of outputs.
• Recognising that all research endeavours need to be meaningful and ultimately beneficial to participants and their wider communities, operating with co-production as a key principle in line with UK standards of research.
• Understanding the need and value of undertaking translational and foundational (applied and applicable) clinical research post-qualification, and contributing substantially to the development of theory and practice in clinical psychology.
• Reviewing research systematically and conducting service evaluation, small N, pilot and feasibility studies, as well as other research, which is consistent with the values of both evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence.
• Conducting research in respectful collaboration with relevant stakeholders, and within the various ethical and governance frameworks (e.g., BPS, HCPC, University).

Throughout the research component of the programme, you will be supported in a number of ways to enable you to achieve these competencies:

1. Our research training is broad and covers the full range of designs, methods and methodologies, including more foundational-/introductory-level content earlier in the programme, and more specialist and advanced content as you progress through the programme.
2. We have excellent working relationships with our NHS health boards, and other stakeholders and external organisations, who we collaborate with to design and develop exciting and clinically-relevant research project ideas, which will be showcased to our cohort of trainees at a Research Fair during induction.
3. Research project ideas, and ideas around service evaluation and quality improvement, are guided by national and local priorities, and may differ in focus from one NHS health board to another. There is the opportunity to design and develop your own research project, so long as it meets the necessary academic requirements and those of your NHS health board, where relevant. You may approach any member of staff with relevant expertise to discuss your idea in the first instance. They will be able to advise on the idea's suitability and feasibility, and whether there is anyone else you may wish to speak to.
4. Throughout the research journey, you will be supported by academic staff delivering the research training, your dedicated supervisory team (made up of an academic supervisor and a field supervisor), and an independent research advisor. In addition, you have access to the wider academic team for more specialist support and input, where needed (e.g., a particular methodological or analytic approach).
5. We make every effort to match trainees and their preferred research project ideas to supervisors who hold relevant subject area and methods expertise.