Internships in the Neuropsychology track
The external internships of the Neuropsychology track of the Master's programme are oriented towards training in Neuropsychology. They require knowledge of both the functional anatomy of the nervous system, especially the brain, and the cognitive and emotional processes that are altered after a brain injury or serious mental disorder. The theoretical and methodological contents of the Master's degree prepare students for incorporation into the clinical and research activity that is carried out in the centres that offer internships.
Students with a neuropsychological orientation receive information on all the available external placement centres at an initial meeting and are then assigned according to their preferences and following the criteria published on the website.
Each student will be assigned an internal tutor, a lecturer on the programme, and an external tutor, belonging to the centre where the research/practical work will be carried out. Unless otherwise specified, the internal (or academic) tutor and the person responsible for the minutes will be the Coordinator of the Neuropsychology track.
Coordination between internal and external tutors is maintained throughout the entire period of external placements, offering support to students in these two areas, according to the needs of each moment. The Coordinator of external placements and the Neuropsychology pathway, as the person responsible for the subject, will be in charge of ensuring vertical and horizontal coordination with the placement tutors, through informative meetings and a common assessment tool that ensures homogeneity in the level of demand of the placement and its assessment.
Preparatory phase
For students who choose to do clinical placements in state-subsidised centres, it is compulsory to take the subjects established as compulsory for this pathway.
The general programme of these placements may undergo specific modifications depending on the characteristics of the centre:
- Interviewing the patient and relatives. Data to be collected, questionnaires to relatives. Development of therapeutic skills
- Analysis of related medical data: admission and discharge reports, neurological and/or psychiatric examination data, pathology that has caused the brain damage (cerebrovascular accidents, cranioencephalic trauma, tumours, developmental malformations, etc.), results of electrophysiological, biochemical and neuroimaging tests. Correlation of these data with the problems presented by the patient.
- Selection of assessment tests according to the patient's disorder and individual characteristics (level of consciousness, level of attention, etc.).
- Analysis of the results obtained and main diagnosis. Differential diagnosis with other pathologies.
- Drafting of assessment reports for the patient and other professionals.
- Return of information to the patient and relatives.
- Establishment and application of the lines of intervention according to the profile of deficits obtained.
- Re-evaluation after the intervention to detect the effectiveness of the intervention or to propose alternative lines of action.
Skills and competences to be acquired
Students start the placement initially as observers, but soon take a leading role in assessment and/or intervention, always under the supervision of external tutors. During the internship period, the aim is to initiate their training in the following competences:
- Patient-therapist relationship and communication skills. Empathy, listening and knowing how to communicate the results of their assessment or treatment to both the patient and their family.
- Ability to transfer the theoretical knowledge acquired in the Master to different real situations.
- Knowing how to apply different methods of assessment, diagnosis and clinical and neuropsychological treatment in the different cases assessed.
- Adapt to new situations: transfer and flexible use of knowledge. Know how to develop initiatives aimed at solving problem-situations of clinical interest.
- Multidisciplinary teamwork skills. Attendance at clinical sessions, seminars and interaction with other professionals also dedicated to mental health or brain injury care will encourage:
- Teamwork: Ability to work in a team and to interact with other people from the same or different professional fields.
- Interdisciplinary work. Learning to have interest and respect for the contributions of other fields to clinical psychology or neuropsychology.
- Instrumental skills.
- Practical knowledge of the different assessment tests used in the differential diagnosis of neuropsychological disorders and serious mental disorders.
- Know how to use the terms and concepts of the subject appropriately and express themselves correctly and accurately in the drafting of the reports they write.
- Know how to apply neuropsychological rehabilitation procedures and psychosocial stimulation techniques (social skills, cognitive stimulation, emotional development, etc.) in patients with severe mental disorders.
- Competences for initiation to research
- Ability to: a) delimit the research problem and search for relevant information, b) establish and refute working hypotheses and c) interpret results and generalise them in relation to previous results.
- Critical ability: Have the ability to evaluate the procedures used to obtain relevant clinical and neuropsychological data as well as to assess the relevance of reports resulting from neuropsychological research, assessment or intervention. Ability to evaluate and discuss one's own work.
- Creativity: Ability to grasp problems and interest in proposing a solution. Ability to generate new ideas and solutions to problems of interest to the discipline in which one works.
Criteria for student selection
At the information meeting at the beginning of the course, the criteria to be followed for the selection of students who opt for the internship modality are set out. The criteria are based on:
- Academic record (70%).
- Merits related to the contents of the internship (30%).
Once the students have been ordered according to these criteria, the selection is made by public call in a joint meeting with them, in which they choose according to their preferences.
Regulations for the Evaluation of the External Placement Period
All the necessary information for the evaluation of the internship period can be found in the teaching guides corresponding to the subjects ‘neuropsychological assessment and diagnosis practices’ and ‘neuropsychological rehabilitation practices’. Assessment will be continuous and no internship report will be required.
Collaborating centres and tutors for external placements
All updated information on the collaborating centres and the people responsible for tutoring students on placements can be found in the Master's Guide.
Internships in the Research track
The internships in the Research track will be carried out at the CIMCYC facilities (or other UGR facilities, subject to the approval of the Master's Academic Committee and the International Graduate School), under the supervision of a Master's lecturer whose line of research is linked to the Master's degree.
In general terms, it is recommended that the research internship be related to the subject of the dissertation and that the internship tutor should be the tutor or co-tutor of the dissertation. At the beginning of the course, students on this pathway will receive information on all the available lines and tutors, and all the teaching staff of the Master's programme are obliged to offer at least one place for the internship. After the initial contact, students arrange tutorials with the teaching staff who develop the lines in which they are interested and subsequently, by mutual agreement and after review by the CAM, each student is assigned a tutor.
The Master's Coordinator, as the person responsible for the subject, will be in charge of ensuring vertical and horizontal coordination with the work placement tutors, through informative meetings and a common assessment tool that ensures homogeneity in the level of demand of the work placement and its assessment.
Skills and competences to be acquired
The competences to be acquired during the work placement include the following:
- Ability to use research and assessment techniques in psychology, neuropsychology and neuroscience.
- Ability to acquire and analyse data in psychology, neuropsychology and neuroscience.
- Ability to make critical judgements about the methodological quality of both basic and applied research studies (experimental control, designs used, etc.).
- Acquisition of knowledge of psychological processes and their neural bases.
- Knowledge of the main methodologies in cognitive, emotional and behavioural neuroscience.
Regulations for the Assessment of the Research Internship Period
All the necessary information for the evaluation of the research internship period can be found in the teaching guide corresponding to the subject ‘research internship’.
Collaborating centres and tutors for external placements
Research internships are carried out at the CIMCYC, under the umbrella of an agreement between the latter and the Master's Degree. All updated information on the lines offered and the people responsible for tutoring students on research placements can be found in the Master's Guide.