Alumni

Pediatric Psychology Graduation 2021. From left: Dr. Ellens, Dr. Cederna, Dr. Kivel, and Dr. Bonifacio
Once a Hurley Pediatric Psychology Fellow, Always Family

We're proud of our graduates!

Trainees join our Pediatric Psychology Fellowship program with a wide variety of prior experiences. We pride ourselves on meeting incoming fellows where they are at, providing the right type of training to maximize their growth, and ensuring all graduates leave competent, confident, and ready to begin their career as Pediatric Psychologists!

What workplace settings do our graduates enter?

  • Academic affiliated health centers
  • Community mental health affiliated specialty centers
  • Hospitals
  • Primary care settings
  • Private practice
  • Subspecialty clinics

What professional roles do our graduates fulfill after fellowship?

  • Addressing social determinants of health
  • Administrative & leadership roles
  • Advocacy
  • Clinical activity spanning pediatric psychology & child/adolescent clinical psychology in healthcare settings
  • Committee involvement as leaders &/or active members
  • Community activity, engagement, &/or outreach
  • Curriculum development & evaluation
  • Formal, scheduled didactics for physician & psychology learners
  • Educational experiences for physician learners (medical students, residents, &/or fellows)
  • Equity, diversity, & inclusion programming and efforts
  • Faculty &/or interprofessional team development sessions
  • Mentorship
  • Peer review for relevant journals
  • Program development & evaluation
  • Scholarly activity resulting in peer reviewed presentations & publications
  • Wellness programming & efforts

Where do graduates go?

  • We love to fulfill local pediatric psychology needs, but appreciate that personal interests and pediatric psychology demand reach far beyond our region. To that end, we support and prepare fellows to successfully gain employment across the country.
We asked our alumni what about fellowship supported their readiness for pediatric psychology careers.

How Did Fellowship Prepare You?

"Fellowship provided me a safe place to discover and develop my professional identity. By the end of my training I felt prepared not only for independent practice in my setting of choice, but to the leadership roles that made me an unique asset to my institution and teams."

"I gained leadership skills that exceeded what I would expect to gain during fellowship, both from deliberate teaching & from what was modeled within the program."

"The diversity of training on fellowship was incredible. Each clinical and educational setting complemented each other, creating a broad but cohesive learning experience, which ultimately made me a stronger pediatric psychologist across all roles."

"Cultural humility, awareness of my personal sources of privilege, and ways to leverage my sources of privilege to support equity and inclusion."

"The focus of clinical work spanning a broad spectrum of conditions and presenting problems was only heightened as we were expected to apply that knowledge not only to patient care, but to ultimately teach those skills, especially interpersonal and communication skills, to resident physicians and medical students. The ability to be "the expert" in an area that touches so greatly on patient care was incredibly helpful in increasing my confidence in not only what I do as a fellow, and now professional, but the impact I have on others who ultimately represent the "medical home"."

"The mentorship - super helpful!"

"The individualized fellowship experience at Hurley provided a full curriculum that provided a breath of opportunities for learning across areas of clinical service, research, teaching, and non-clinical activities while also providing opportunities to collaborate with colleagues (including stellar physicians and residents) in the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology clinic, after knowing I was headed for a career in subspecialty care."

"Outside of the excellent clinical training, one of the most valuable aspects of my fellowship training was the heavy emphasis on professional development. I felt extremely confident going into any job interview and knew how to effectively discuss my strengths, areas of growth, and clinical experiences."

Then we asked our alumni to share what made Hurley's Pediatric Psychology Fellowship unique.

What Made This Program Awesome?

"I have never grown in one year like I did when I was a fellow at Hurley. The individualized and carefully constructed feedback combined with a (very) packed curriculum and excellent clinical training fostered a safe environment to build skills like I never had before!"

"The experience obtained during fellowship was above and beyond my expectations. The individual supports provided, the evidence-based instruction and education given, the research opportunities provided as well as the ability to tailor the program to my specific interests and needs, spanning a wide variety of different opportunities, was unmatched. This ultimately allowed me to be incredibly competitive in seeking out job opportunities that met my needs as a provider. To this day, I am so very thankful for the training and relationships that were formed."

"One of the unique aspects of the fellowship was how many different clinical, educational, and research-related roles were offered. This prepared me to take on many roles post-graduation."

"The program faculty at Hurley always put learning first. Each aspect of the curriculum is carefully selected to prepare us to be proficient in the numerous pediatric psychology competencies, which is no small feat!"

"The level of integration within teams comprised of many disciplines - far beyond what I'd experienced in prior training environments"

"Opportunities were endless. Research, advocacy, community outreach, specific clinical experiences, committee work, medical education roles - Anything I wanted or needed to learn more about was available and worked into my training - incredible!"

"The time and energy invested into establishing my professional identity and preparing me to seek out and secure an incredible job - thank you!"

Humble Advice

What Do Our Alumni Recommend For Individuals Seeking a Pediatric Psychology Fellowship?

"It can be overwhelming, but just remember to always take 20-30 minutes after your fellowship visits to simply reflect on your initial/gut feelings about a site. If you "feel" safe during the interview, the faculty appear to be genuinely interested in your learning, the current fellows agree that faculty are interested in their learning AND they have the clinical activities are you are interested in...it's a win!"

"I would have three pieces of advice: 1. Make sure that you feel comfortable with your immediate supervisors. 2. Ensure that your program also supports professional development. 3. Don't be afraid to ask more about the patients served during interviews"

"My advice? Find a program that focuses on the end point - your readiness to practice and securing of a great job at the end"

"Fellowship is about so much more than securing capstone clinical experiences. Look for a fellowship that truly fosters your growth in all the ways that graduate school and internship may not have emphasized - leadership, medical education, innovation, advocacy, professional development. Think not only about what you want to DO, but also who you to BECOME as a pediatric psychologist. Look for an environment that truly emphasizes training and fostering your growth."

"It's your last time as a trainee - go somewhere you can comfortably share where you need to grow and be supported in filling those gaps!"

"My advice for prospective fellows is to do your research. Not just reading about programs but reach out to potential program directors and talk with them about what they offer, how their site is unique from others, and their ability to tailor the training to your specific needs."