Clinical Program
Chair: Michael F. Pogue-Geile, PhD
Application Deadline: December 1
The University of Pittsburgh's Clinical Psychology Program offers graduate study leading to the PhD and has been accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1948 (APA, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20002, 202-336-5979).
The aim of the program is to train clinical scientists who will apply basic psychological and biological knowledge to the understanding of major clinical psychological and health problems. The program integrates comprehensive clinical training with research training. This is based on the conviction that research advances in clinical areas require expertise with both the clinical phenomena as well as relevant research.
Pitt's Clinical Psychology Program is also one of the founding members of the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, an association of 34 leading research-oriented clinical psychology programs in North America.
Program faculty include presidents of national organizations, journal editors, and members of federal grant review committees. Faculty research funding was $10 million for the past year, which supports extensive laboratory facilities.
Student Admissions, Outcomes, and Other Data
1. Time to Completion of Ph.D. (including one-year clinical internship)
Those students who graduated from the Clinical Psychology Program in the past seven academic years (9/2004-9/2011) (n=35) took the following number of years to complete the Ph.D. (including 1-year clinical internship): Mean: 7.8 years; Median 7.8 years. Nine percent finished in 6 years, 31% in 7 years, 40% in 8 years, and 20% in over 8 years. Eighty percent graduated in eight years or less, including the one-year internship.
2. Program Costs
All students admitted to the Clinical Psychology Program are financially supported for a minimum of four years and to date all students in good standing have been fully supported until graduation. Financial support includes full tuition remission, health insurance, and a monthly stipend. A typical monthly stipend is $1900 (12 mo. $22,800). Students are responsible for paying student activity fees ($20 per term). Support is available through a variety of sources, including: graduate student researcher positions, teaching assistantships, teaching fellowships, competitive University fellowships, several National Institute of Health (NIH) training grant fellowships, and competitive individual NIH and NSF fellowships. Program and Departmental funds are also available for professional travel to scientific meetings and research expenses.
3. Clinical Internship Acceptance Rates
Among the 44 applications for internship in the past seven years, 96% were accepted for full-time, one-year, paid, APPIC member (93% APA accredited) clinical internships.
Year |
Applied |
Total Matched |
Paid Internship |
APA-Accredited |
Non-Accredited/ APPIC |
2011 |
8 |
8(100%) |
8(100%) |
8(100%) |
0(0%) |
2010 |
4 |
4(100%) |
4(100%) |
4(100%) |
0(0%) |
2009 |
9 |
9(100%) |
9(100%) |
9(100%) |
0(0%) |
2008 |
3 |
3(100%) |
3(100%) |
2(67%) |
1(33%) |
2007 |
5 |
5(100%) |
5(100%) |
5(100%) |
0(0%) |
2006 |
7 |
6(86%) |
6(86%) |
6(86%) |
0(0%) |
2005 |
8 |
7(88%) |
7(88%) |
7(88%) |
0(0%) |
Total |
44 |
42(96%) |
42(96%) |
41(93%) |
1(2%) |
4. Student Attrition
As can be seen below, of the 50 students admitted from 2005 to 2011, no students have been terminated from the program.
Year |
Enrolled |
Graduated |
Currently Enrolled |
Left Program |
2005-06 |
8 |
0 (0%) |
8 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2006-07 |
8 |
0 (0%) |
8 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2007-08 |
4 |
0 (0%) |
4 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2008-09 |
10 |
0 (0%) |
10 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2009-10 |
4 |
0 (0%) |
4 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2010-11 |
7 |
0 (0%) |
7 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
2011-12 |
9 |
0 (0%) |
9 (100%) |
0 (0%) |
5. Licensure
In most states licensure as a psychologist requires one year of clinical experience after completion of the clinical internship. Thus students typically cannot be licensed until approximately two years after graduation. Furthermore, some students pursuing academic and research careers may find that the benefits of licensure do not outweigh this requirement of an extra year of clinical experience post-internship. Of the 43 students who have graduated from the Clinical Psychology Program in the eight years from 2000 through 2008, 30 (70%) have been licensed, one (2%) did not respond to a survey in 2010, and 12 (28%) are not licensed because their positions in research or academia do not require licensure or they are currently in the process of applying. One hundred percent of those who have applied for licensure have received it.
The Affect Analysis Group studies emotion and psychopathology in children and adults.