An initial review of doctoral clinical neuropsychology coursework syllabi: common trends and core competencies.

Objective: Doctoral-level coursework on assessment and brain-behavior relationships is a foundational element of professional training for clinical neuropsychologists. However, limited research exists describing the nature of such coursework for clinical neuropsychology (CN) training across doctoral programs in North America. We sought to identify core concepts taught in CN programs as well as common themes and trends across course objectives, topics, and textbooks.

Methods: We solicited 41 syllabi across 10 clinical psychology doctoral programs with a Major Area of Study in Clinical Neuropsychology. Data on course learning objectives, course topics, and textbooks were extracted, categorized, and tabulated.

Results: Across the CN course syllabi, most learning objectives (74%) emphasized foundational academic goals (e.g. remembering, understanding, and applying information). The most frequently reported course topics were Diseases & Disorders (30.5%) and Cognitive/Neuroscientific Theories (28.9%). Lastly, two textbooks, Neuropsychological Assessment, and Textbook of Clinical Neuropsychology were used most frequently (19% and 16.7%, respectively).

Conclusions: Findings revealed broad consistencies across categories of topics, training depth, and textbooks used. Topics consistently included Diseases & Disorders, Cognitive/Neuroscientific Theories, and Practical Clinical Skills, and often implemented more basic levels of learning. Variability within these categories may need further exploration to elucidate the effectiveness and long-term impact of how foundational CN knowledge is taught. From these findings, there are at least two possible interpretations: (1) a greater emphasis on certain course topics and opportunities to incorporate higher-order thinking skills is needed; and (2) that CN coursework may indeed be delivering the recommended foundational knowledge, with the intent that clinical and research practica supplement training. Future studies should investigate this distinction by evaluating information beyond that of coursework syllabi (e.g. student handbook).