The Division of Behavioral Health at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware offers 11 clinical postdoctoral fellowships beginning August or September 2022. Positions are open to graduates from American Psychological Association-approved doctoral programs who will have completed their internship training and all degree requirements by the start of fellowship. Fellowships are one year in duration unless otherwise noted. The fellowships offer clinical training under four categories: Pediatric Psychology, Integrated Primary Care, Child Clinical and the Swank Autism Center. We do not have an open Neuropsychology position starting in 2022. Specific postdoctoral fellowships are outlined below.

The mission of the Department of Psychology at Nemours Children’s is “to improve well-being through quality behavioral health care, education, training and research in a collaborative, inclusive and culturally responsive manner.” Nemours, as an enterprise, is committed to the D.R.I.V.E. Strategy (Diversity, Anti-Racism, Inclusion, Value and Equity). Therefore, fellows will actively participate in a monthly diversity and cultural humility seminar and psychology grand rounds in diversity and cultural competence. Fellows who are bilingual Spanish-English will participate in biweekly bilingual supervision seminar with our Spanish-speaking faculty. Additional opportunities to engage in diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism are also available and strongly encouraged.

In addition to clinical hours, fellows participate in didactic seminars spanning topics such as professional development, clinical supervision, research and scholarly inquiry and hospital grand rounds. Fellows also have opportunities to supervise other psychology trainees from our psychology externship and internship programs. All fellows (except LEND program and FSS fellows) may choose to participate in research training. Research is mentored by faculty within the Center for Health Care Delivery Science, and one full day per week is set aside for these activities.

Program Detail

The Integrated Primary Care program focuses on providing training within the integrated primary care setting, providing direct services within a patient’s medical home. The Integrated Primary Care fellowships offer the opportunity to work in 2 different primary care clinics as well as complete a minor rotation focusing on providing liaison services between our integrated primary care clinics and other behavioral health teams. In addition to clinical training, Integrated Primary Care fellows spend one day per week engaged in research activities. Fellows in the Integrated Primary Care fellowship will receive a well-rounded training experience by getting in-depth integrated primary care training while also developing an area of specialty in linking systems of care. Opportunities for individualizing the fellowship experience is provided through the day dedicated to research, as well as the selection of 1 major rotation, 1 IPC minor and 1 specialty link minor. Applicants ideally will have a background in clinical child and/or pediatric psychology with interest/experience working in a primary care setting.

Choose 1 Major Rotation

1. Jessup Street Primary Care
This rotation will focus on providing services within the Jessup Street Clinic, an urban clinic in the heart of Wilmington, 2 days per week. The clinic serves a majority of families from Black/African American backgrounds. This clinic also engages in training of medical students, thus opportunities for cross-training are provided. 

Supervisor: Roger Harrison, PhD

2. Newark Primary Care
This rotation includes 2 days in the Newark Clinic, located in the university town, Newark, DE. This clinic services families from diverse backgrounds both in terms of race, ethnicity as well as SES. 

Supervisor: Megan Cohen, PhD, ABPP

Choose 1 IPC Minor (This minor will be based on the fellow's interests and clinic demands to ensure a well-rounded training experience.)

1. IPC Minor Rotation: Foulk Road or Pike Creek

This minor rotation focuses on providing care in our Foulk Rd or Pike Creek clinics. Opportunities for direct patient care as well as medical education for staff are provided. Foulk Rd. and Pike Creek serve families from a variety of racial and SES backgrounds. 

2. IPC Minor Rotation: Rural Outreach

This minor rotation focuses on providing care in our downstate IPC Clinics, where focusing on direct service delivery in rural mental health and telehealth services is needed. This minor is flexible and may take place in the Dover, or Milford sites. 

3. IPC Minor Rotation: Latinx Immersion

This minor rotation focuses on providing direct services within the St. Francis primary care clinic. This clinic is located in center-city Wilmington and is the medical home for a large population of Latinx families. This fellowship provides opportunity to develop clinical skills in Spanish.

Pediatric Psychology and IPC Minor Rotations

To provide a well-rounded experience, pediatric psychology and integrated primary care fellowships allow fellows to rank preferences for training in a variety of minor rotations. Minor rotations are the equivalent of one half to one full day of clinical service.

1. Autism Intervention and Screening

This minor rotation offers a fellow the ability to develop skills in early identification and treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders. The fellow would participate in regular ASD-consultation interviews and learn behavioral interventions for children on the spectrum. 

Supervisors: Emily Bernabe, PhD, Laura Dewey, PhD

2. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This minor rotation provides specialty training in providing trauma-based consultation and evidence-based trauma-informed intervention. The fellow will be provided training and supervision in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), body safety and providing trauma-informed care in the outpatient setting. 

Supervisors: Allison Dovi, PhD, Hannah Jones, PhD

3. Inpatient Consultation-Liaison

The fellow covers the C/L service with an attending psychologist for one week at a time every six weeks, during which they have reduced outpatient responsibilities. Fellows participate in medical and psychosocial rounds as appropriate. The fellow would be exposed to a variety of ages and referral questions, including med adherence, pain management, psychogenic symptoms and adjustment to diagnosis/hospitalization. CL is not compatible with IPC fellowships.

Supervisors rotate across Pediatric Psychology Faculty

4. Interdisciplinary Healthy Weight and Wellness and Bariatric Surgery

The fellow would be an integral member of our interdisciplinary Healthy Weight and Wellness Clinic where families with children and adolescents managing weight-related comorbidities are evaluated and treated. The fellow would conduct adolescent bariatric surgery evaluations, and they will carry a caseload of adolescents participating in the bariatric program. They may also co-facilitate bariatric support group and lead our one-week Healthy U summer camp psychosocial activities.

Supervisor: Megan Cohen, PhD, ABPP

5. Gastrointestinal Specialty

The fellow would provide evaluation and treatment for children experiencing gastrointestinal conditions such as functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel disease, constipation and encopresis. The fellow may also participate in interdisciplinary GI clinic. 

Supervisor: Kira Branch, PsyD

6. Pediatric Chronic Illness Outpatient Therapy

The fellow would provide pediatric-focused psychotherapy for a wide-variety of presenting concerns referred by our medical specialists at Nemours. Common concerns include medical adherence, coping with diagnosis, needle or medical procedure phobia, and family therapy around medical concerns are all common targets for intervention. 

Supervisor: Mike Hoffman, PhD

7. Sleep Clinical Specialty

The Behavioral Sleep program is a component of the Division of Pulmonology’s Sleep Clinic. The fellow will gain experience in evaluation and treatment of behavioral sleep disorders in children and adolescents, including difficulties such as insomnia/sleep-onset problems, frequent night awakenings, bedtime resistance, PAP therapy nonadherence, nighttime fears/anxiety, delayed sleep-wake phase and sleep terrors/parasomnias. The fellow will gain experience with consultation, intervention and collaboration with the Pulmonology team.

Supervisor: Hanna Carpenter, PhD

8. Integrated Pain Specialty

The Chronic Pain Clinic provides a fellow experience with participating on a multidisciplinary treatment team focused on the outpatient treatment of pediatric pain. The experience will include exposure to intake evaluations, individual and family therapy, and consultation with medical staff.

Supervisor: Katherine Salamon, PhD

9. Neurology Specialty

The fellow would be a liaison to the Nemours Neurology service and provide evaluation and treatment for concerns such as adjustment to concussion, tic disorders and adjustment to epilepsy.

Supervisor: Maia Noeder, PhD