Consistently ranked among the best in the nation, this clinical science program emphasizes the integration of research and practice in training, activities and experience, bringing together the rich scholarly resources and offerings of a Department of Psychology located in a College of Sciences (SDSU) and a Department of Psychiatry located in a School of Medicine (UC San Diego).
Students are actively involved in clinical research activities throughout their stay in the program. We regard the development of research skills and attitudes as a basic feature in the training of clinical psychologists who will have duties encompassing teaching, research, diagnosis, treatment, consultation, and program evaluation and design, and who will need to apply research skills and knowledge to varied content areas and settings.
The SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology has been consistently accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1990. See Student Admissions, Outcome, and Other Data.
All students complete their first clinical practicum at the SDSU Psychology Clinic. After the first practicum year at SDSU, students move to work within the broad array of practicum sites and diverse patient populations available to us through both universities and the affiliated VA San Diego Healthcare System and Rady Children’s Hospital. Clinical activities, integrated with more formal instruction at all levels, increase in responsibility and independence in the later years of the program as students acquire greater clinical proficiency.