The Clinical Comprehensive Exam

Purpose of PhD Comprehensive Examination: To determine if students are ready to attend a Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship as reflected in their ability to present, discuss, and defend (both written and orally) their understanding, integration, and application of the fields of Clinical and Counseling Psychology. In determining if students are ready for Pre-Doctoral Internship, students must demonstrate Minimum Levels of Achievement in certain of the Profession-Wide Competencies (PWCs) set forth by the American Psychological Association's Commission on Accreditation (APA CoA) and in other applied clinical skills. The domains to be assessed in the Clinical Comps are below. 

• Case presentation: Quality, comprehensiveness, and professionalism of both the written and oral case presentation.
• Psychopathology and Diagnosis: Student’s knowledge of psychopathology literature (e.g., DSM-5-TR, associated features, prevalence, differential diagnosis, empirical literature) relevant to the case.
• Evidence-based intervention: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes in the selection, implementation and evaluation of interventions that are based on the best scientific research evidence; respectful of clients’ values/preferences; and relevant expert guidance. 
• Evidence-based assessment: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes in the selection, administration and interpretation of assessments consistent with the best scientific research evidence and relevant expert guidance. 
• Ethical and legal standards: Demonstrates appropriate ethical and legal knowledge, skills and attitudes in all professional roles.
• Individual and cultural diversity: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes about cultural and individual differences in all professional roles. 
• Professional values and attitudes: Demonstrates dispositions and engages in behaviors that reflect the values and attitudes of the psychology profession, in all professional roles. 
• Communication and interpersonal skills: Demonstrates ability to communicate effectively, to interact appropriately, and to develop meaningful and helpful relationships in all professional roles.
• Consultation/inter-professional/interdisciplinary: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding inter-professional and interdisciplinary collaboration in relevant professional roles. 
• Supervision: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding the instruction and oversight of trainees and other professionals. 
• Reflective practice: Demonstrates appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes in reflecting on, critically evaluating, and improving one’s own professional performance.

1. The Written Case Report 
   • A detailed description of the patient’s developmental history and deficits and strengths prior to treatment (e.g., a problem list).
   • A presentation and integration of assessment findings (All identifying information MUST be removed)
   • A case formulation that integrates the history and assessment data and presenting problem(s).
   • A detailed treatment plan that specifies treatment relevant to the presenting problem and the case conceptualization. The treatment procedures should address the client’s deficits and excesses and should follow logically from the case formulation. Treatments should adhere to evidence-based practice guidelines.
   • A detailed description of the procedures the student would use to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment over time as well as an explication of the supervision process.
   • Assessment protocols and results (e.g., observational data, test data) should be included as appendices to the report and are not included in the total page count. Care should be taken to de-identify all assessment protocols.
   • The Written Case Report should be no longer than 15 pages, double spaced, 1" margins, 12-point Times New Roman font (excluding any assessment data or other non-text materials placed in the appendix).
2. The Oral Presentation. The examinee will give an oral case presentation, approximately 30-45 minutes, which should include at least two video or audiotaped session samples (2-3 minutes each). Committee members will ask questions during and after the case presentation to ensure adequate basis for evaluating the student's performance in the areas required. The exam will be restricted to a total period of 2 hours.

1. Select an appropriate therapy case: The student should consult with their clinical supervisor and/or primary mentor to identify an appropriate therapy case. The case should be sufficiently representative of the student's work across both assessment and intervention to provide an opportunity for relevant questioning. The case should represent the examinee’s independent work. As such, the case will be one seen largely during the student's enrollment in CCP756. 
2. Submit the application to sit for the Clinical Comps Exam: Once a case has been identified and agreed upon by the student and the clinical supervisor and/or primary mentor, the student must complete the Doctoral Clinical Competency Examination Application. This form must be submitted it to the DCT no later than the first day of classes during the semester in which they intend to sit for the exam. 
3. Schedule the Oral Defense: Once the student is approved to sit for Clinical Comps Exam, including approval of the identified case, the student will be provided with the names of their committee members. Upon such notification, the student must coordinate with the committee members to schedule the date and time for the examination meeting. Once the meeting has been scheduled, the student should notify and submit to the DCT via email the Appointment of Graduate Faculty form.
4. Submit the Written Case Report: The student must submit a copy of their written case report to each member at least two weeks prior to the clinical comps oral presentation date. Failure to submit the written case report to the committee within this timeframe will require that the meeting be rescheduled. 
5. Deliver the Oral Presentation: On the day of the examination, the student should print, complete, and bring with them two documents: 1) the Doctoral clinical Competency Examination Scoresheet, and 2) the Comprehensive Exam Report form. These forms must be completed by the the committee chair and returned to the program assistant once all committee members have agreed that the student has passed the Clinical Comps and signed both forms. 

1. Students must attempt the Clinical Comps Examination between April 1st and May 1st of the academic year prior to applying to internship; this would typically be a student’s third year of the CCP program.
2. Under exceptional circumstances, students may request to complete the Clinical Comps Oral Defense at a time different than that described above. In such circumstances, students are only allowed to schedule the Clinical Comps Oral Defense during the Fall or Spring semester while classes are in session. Under no circumstances will students be allowed to hold their Clinical Comps Oral Defense during the summer semesters.

1. The examining committee consists of three core faculty from the CCP
2. The committee will consist of 1) the primary clinical supervisor for the case presented, 2) the student’s primary program mentor (i.e., dissertation chair), and 3) a third member of the CCP Program Core Faculty who will be selected by the DCT.
   • The DCT will select the third member based on the type of clinical case being presented and the experience of the faculty available for inclusion. The DCT will also select the third member of the committee attempting to evenly distribute the workload amongst the core CCP faculty.
   • The DCT will select two committee members in the case that a) the program mentor and case supervisor are the same faculty member, b) the primary supervisor is already assigned to several other committees, or c) the case supervisor is a not a member of the CCP core faculty.
3. The primary program mentor will serve as the chair of the committee and is responsible for determining the suitability of the case before it is submitted to the examining committee and the appropriateness of the examination procedure after the oral examination has been completed. That is, when students identify a potential case, they must first inform their primary mentor about the referral question or source. If approved, the mentor will sign a the Application for the PhD Comprehensive Exam form indicating that the case has been approved and that a committee may be assigned by the DCT.
4. In the process of selecting a case for the general exam, efforts should be made to select cases for which the student acted as a relatively independent practitioner (i.e. primarily responsible for selection of assessment measures, treatment planning, and treatment implementation). Therefore, cases seen in initial stages of clinical training/practicum (i.e., PSY556) will most likely not be appropriate for presentation during the comprehensive exam. If the mentor was not the supervisor for the case, consultation should be required to assure that the student’s level of independence during the clinical work is representative of their independent practice. Cases selected for presentation in the Clinical Comps Exam must come from work conducted within the USA Psychology Clinic either through formal program practicum (CCP 756) or through specialty practicum experiences (CCP 782) under the supervision of a core CCP faculty member within the USA Psychology Clinic.

• The student’s exam will be evaluated using the PhD Comps Examination Evaluation Form. Descriptions of each of the domains are located above and are included on the Evaluation Form.
• Following the delivery of the case presentation and answering of questions, the student will be excused from the meeting and the committee will deliberate on the student's performance. 
• The committee will collectively rate the student's performance in each of these areas will be rated on a 3-point Likert scale where:
  1 = does not meet expectations
  2 = meets expectations
  3 = exceeds expectations
• The student will pass the exam if the committee determines that the student “meets expectations” in all domains.
• Students will be given oral feedback about their performance immediately following the exam. Additionally, the Committee Members will also complete and sign the Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Results form, which should be returned to the DCT/program assistant. 

1. A student fails the comprehensive examination if they receive a score of 1 ("does not meet expectations") in any evaluation domain from the committee.
2. If a student fails the examination, they will be placed on a remediation plan that identifies the students' strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the domain(s) rated as "not meeting expectations" during the examination process. The remediation plan will also specify supports and benchmark expectations for performance. Among these benchmarks will include details regarding the re-examination. 
3. Students are allowed one re-examination. The conditions of the re-examination (e.g., whether a revision to the existing written materials is suitable versus a complete re-write, whether the same case can serve as the foundation for the re-examination, whether a second oral defense is required, etc.) will depend on the circumstances under which the student was deemed to have failed the exam and will be specified by the committee and communicated in the remediation plan. Students must wait at least one semester and no longer than twelve months before re-examination. This means that students who fail on an initial attempt must wait until the following fall semester to retake the examination, are automatically ineligible to apply for internship that fall, and must wait until the following fall to apply for internship. This policy also means that students must retake the exam by the end of spring semester of the next year from when they initially took the exam and failure to do so will result in dismissal from the CCP Program. 
4. If a student is determined during the re-examination defense to have failed (i.e., "not meeting expectations" in any domain), the student is immediately dismissed from the CCP Program.