Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Residency – Redwood City

We are committed to nurturing and integrating diversity training into all aspects of our neuropsychology postdoctoral residency program by:

• Providing residents with opportunities to work with patients who represent various aspects of diversity, including age, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, values, lifestyle and disability status.
• Placing a high value on residents’ willingness to engage in self-reflection and learning and supporting the exploration of attitudes, beliefs and therapeutic postures that could impact clinical interactions.
• Neuropsychology Residents are invited to participate in the Regional Mental Health Training Program EID Committee’s advanced trainings on topics related to cultural sensitivity and competence along with a forum to reflect on and discuss their varied experiences in a safe environment.

• Two hours of weekly training that includes a case review and a topic in advanced neuropsychology
• One day per month of a full-day seminar on neuroanatomy and other topics that prepare Residents for board certification
• Two hours per month of neurorehabilitation-specific training during Grand Rounds and/or multidisciplinary journal club
• Monthly regional didactics on advanced psychology practice

• Individual supervision is as needed (i.e., immediately after scoring data and/or prior to writing reports or assessments) and averages approximately 3 to 4 hours per week.
• Group supervision is also available and in excess of 2 hours per week.
• Daily meeting with all trainees to review cases, develop testing batteries, and have impromptu didactics based on caseload diagnoses and clinical needs.

Reflecting Kaiser Permanente’s core commitment to mental health and wellness in our communities, each trainee will spend at least 32 hours during their training year on a Community Partnership Project that focuses on improving health and/or mental health in the local community beyond our Kaiser Permanente patient members.

The goal of this project is to provide outreach to underserved populations. Anchors for the project include developing alliances with individuals and/or systems to improve the lives of those served; providing education and training based on the empirical literature; and presenting relevant outcomes data to partnership stakeholders.

Neuropsychology residents have worked with local schools and club sports programs to provide students, parents, coaches, and teachers with psychoeducation on sports-related concussions, return-to-play, and accommodations to ensure academic success.

During the first year of training at Kaiser Redwood City, the Resident’s training experience focuses on outpatient neuropsychological evaluations to help clarify neurological diagnoses and/or assist with planning and recovery from neurosurgical interventions.

During the second year of training at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo, assessments are brief (1-2 hours) and focus on specific referral questions to help with community, academic, and vocational re-integration.

Residents will spend time between the Department of Psychiatry and the Advanced Neuroscience Center, where they will complete two adult (ages 18 and older) outpatient neuropsychological assessments per week – typically one in each department. Patients primarily reside in the Peninsula to South Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area, though some patients travel to KP Redwood City for specialty neurosurgical care.

Neuropsychology consultations within the Department of Psychiatry are requested from multiple departments across the medical center (e.g., Neurology, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Geriatrics, and Primary Care) and referrals range in presentation and breadth, including dementia (all causes), traumatic brain injury, demyelinating disorders, and autoimmune disorders, among others. Referrals within the Advanced Neuroscience Center are primarily neuro-surgical in nature, including pre- and post-surgical neuropsychological evaluations for patients with medically refractory epilepsy and tumor resections.

Attendance at the monthly Epilepsy Surgical Case Conference is a required activity. Other supplementary experiences (if desired) include participation in a Brain Tumor Support Group and/or intra-operative and bedside language mapping.

KFRC is a CARF-accredited, regional neurorehabilitation center serving patients across the Northern California region. Patients served are ages 14 and older and represent the diversity of the greater Bay Area. Represented diagnoses include stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and demyelinating conditions.

Residents will be the primary contact for one inpatient, multidisciplinary treatment team of approximately 10 patients. Services provided are based on patient need and may include assessment, psychoeducation, behavior management, and/or brief-treatment psychotherapy. Residents will also have an opportunity to conduct outpatient neuropsychological evaluations referred through Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.