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Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Residency Program

Neuropsychology Faculty with Handsome Dan

Welcome to the Yale Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Residency Program! Our program is anchored in a scientist-practitioner tradition, providing residents with training in clinical and academic practice. Our program meets all requirements of the Houston Conference Guidelines and is fully accredited by the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN).

The mission of the Neuropsychology Residency Training Program is to develop advanced competencies in the clinical practice of Neuropsychology with the following key goals:

  • To learn the principles and methods of neuropsychological evaluation, in accordance with the foundational and functional competencies of neuropsychology, as outlined in Application of a Competency Model to Clinical Neuropsychology (Rey-Casserly, Roper, & Bauer, 2012).
  • To develop an advanced understanding of brain-behavior relationships in the context of a variety of neurological, psychiatric, and medical diseases
  • To become skilled at providing culturally sensitive, neuropsychological evaluation of patients from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
  • To design and execute clinical neuroscience research

The Department of Neurology administers the Program, and within the Yale School of Medicine, this postdoctoral program is called a Residency Training Program. Each year, there is a first year (junior) and second year (senior) resident. These residents join other neuropsychology trainees and neurology residents. Our program emphasizes the assessment of cognitive symptoms stemming from medical and neurological disorders in a diverse patient population. The residency meets all postdoctoral education requirements for American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) certification in clinical neuropsychology.

You can find more information on our complete APPCN listing, which includes a full copy of our brochure.

If you have questions, please email Dr. Stephanie Towns.

Best Wishes,

Stephanie Towns, PsyD, ABPP-CN, training director, division of Neuropsychology
Alice Perez, PhD, ABPP-CN, associate training director

00:09:45

Yale Adult Neuropsychology Residency

Training

Clinical Experiences

Neuropsychology Faculty and the Program’s second-year resident following her presentation at Neuropsychology Conference Day.

Residents will rotate among at least three different supervisors over the course of their residency, with options for tailoring their experience based on interests and training goals. Clinical rotations will be split between the various Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) campuses. During the first year of residency, the trainee will be required to rotate with Dr. Towns on the general neurology service. The Greenwich Neuropsychology Clinic provides assessment for all neurology providers within the healthcare system (and for many outside providers) in southern Connecticut. As such, the referral question will range widely and might include memory disorders, epilepsy, movement disorders, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.

In residents’ second year, they will work with the program director to tailor their experiences for greater specialization. These may include more focused rotations in memory disorders, movement disorders/deep brain stimulation (DBS) evaluation, neuro-oncology, and traumatic brain injury. Minor rotations may also be available in presurgical epilepsy evaluation, neurovascular conditions, and bilingual (Spanish) assessment. Each of these rotations will also include some portion of generalized neurology assessment, as well. Residents select at least two of these experiences but will have the opportunity to complete up three or four.

Research Experiences

Residents are expected to complete one to two research projects over the course of their residency. Research projects may include investigator driven projects, collaborative projects (e.g., within the ADRC), educational projects, and/or program development and evaluation projects. Each year/project requires a product for presentation, which can be at the Yale Med-Ed day, the Neurology Research blast day, and/or a bi-annual neuropsychology conference day presentation. The second-year project should culminate in a poster/paper presentation or a peer-reviewed manuscript publication. Residents are provided with four hours of protected research time per week. At the beginning of their residency, they will meet with a research mentor to conceptualize and map out their research project(s). Research mentors may change as the residency progresses based on faculty availability and resident interests. All residents will have access to the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library and it’s excellent resources.

Education

Supervision

Neuropsychology Trainees

Residents will be expected to begin the program with clear competence in neuropsychological testing and scoring, medical record review, and report writing skills. Throughout the course of the program, residents will progress to increasing levels of independence, including conducting clinical interviews, interdisciplinary consultations, didactic seminar presentations, and feedback sessions. Residents will participate in at least two hours per week of individual supervision with their primary rotation supervisor. Residents will also participate in a one-hour weekly group supervision with other residents, interns, and externs. In addition to clinical supervision, residents will meet monthly with their research mentor and the program director in order to review progress and address any concerns.

Didactics

Neuropsychology Trainees

Required weekly didactic experiences include:

  • Group Supervision
  • Neuropsychology Seminar
  • Neurology Grand Rounds
Other didactic experiences (depending on year/rotation) include:
  • Clinical Neuroscience Grand Rounds
  • Epilepsy Surgery Conference
  • Epilepsy Fellowship Lecture
  • DBS Surgery Conference
  • Movement Disorders video rounds
  • ADRC Case Conference
  • Neuropathology/Brain Cutting
  • Neuro-oncology Lecture
  • Neurology Clinical Grand Rounds
  • Neurology Morbidity and Mortality Conference
The Neuropsychology seminar will include didactic presentations about neuroanatomy and neurological disease syndromes, professional development seminars, and board certification practice exams/fact-finding sessions designed to prepare the resident to successfully take their board exams upon completion of the residency.

How to Apply

Application

Our program participates in the APPCN Match Program. The application process includes submission of the following:

  • In lieu of a cover letter, applicants will be asked to answer two short-answer questions available on the application website
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Three letters of reference (preferably including at least one letter from an internship neuropsychologist supervisor and at least one from an ABPP-CN neuropsychologist)
  • Two sample case reports
  • APPCN Verification of Completion of Doctorate
  • Graduate school transcripts (unofficial accepted for application; if selected, formal transcripts will be required prior to start date.)

Materials can be submitted via the link provided on our APPCN listing. Questions can be emailed to Dr. Towns. Additional information is available on our APPCN listing.

Applications for the following year are due by December 1 (i.e. applications for 2026 are due December 1, 2025). All applicants will be interviewed remotely.

Salary and Benefits

The resident's salary is commensurate with that of PGY2 and PGY3 Neurology residents (in years 1 and 2, respectively). Health insurance is provided. Vacation, sick leave, family leave, and professional leave are all available, consistent with existing policies regarding resident leave. Yale New Haven Health lists additional information regarding House Staff Benefits.