A number of students have relayed their confusion towards the Registrar Program and have requested more information about the program. One area that has caused a lot of confusion and anxiety relates to the process of starting the registrar program. I would love to do a Q&A blog related to this matter - except I need someone who has started the registrar program to get the information from!
If there is any registrar who has just started the registrar program and would like to share tips and suggestions regarding the process of starting the registrar program with other students (e.g., finding a supervisor, filling out the forms), then please email me.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
National Psychology Exam: Student thoughts?
As most of us students know, the PBA is developing a National Psychology Examination, which will be implemented from 1 July 2013. This exam will be for students moving onto general registration. A consultation paper was released by the PBA late last year, which has some updates about the exam. Well worth a read (Click here for the link).
Just a few things I found interesting in the consultation paper:
According to the document, graduates of accredited Masters, Doctorate and combined Masters/PhD programs who apply for general registration until 30 June 2016 will be exempt from having to sit the exam. In other words, merely being enrolled in a degree before that date is not sufficient to be ‘safe' and that we will need to complete our degree, graduate, and apply for general registration before the due date. Having said that, the PBA will review this exemption after the due date and it may turn out that the exemption will be extended.
While specific details of the exam are yet to be released by the PBA, the document states that the exam will be in multiple choice format. Areas in which candidates will need to demonstrate their knowledge include the usual suspects that are pretty standard to postgraduate psychology degrees (e.g., ethics and confidentiality). Other areas of competence, however, seem to have caused a bit of a stir (see the ‘submissions received’ section – this is definitely my favour of the bunch :D), namely the focus on competence in several specific psychological tests (i.e. WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, DASS), which has been argued to discount some fields of psychology (e.g. Organisational Psychologists and Sports Psychologists) and favour others.
Stay tuned to the PBA website for more updates on the exam.
If students would like to voice their opinion on the exam (the good and the bad), don’t hesitate to comment to this blog. As always, CCN students are encouraged to email their state student representative if they have any detailed concerns/comments related to this issue that they might want forwarded onto the national committee.
Just a few things I found interesting in the consultation paper:
According to the document, graduates of accredited Masters, Doctorate and combined Masters/PhD programs who apply for general registration until 30 June 2016 will be exempt from having to sit the exam. In other words, merely being enrolled in a degree before that date is not sufficient to be ‘safe' and that we will need to complete our degree, graduate, and apply for general registration before the due date. Having said that, the PBA will review this exemption after the due date and it may turn out that the exemption will be extended.
While specific details of the exam are yet to be released by the PBA, the document states that the exam will be in multiple choice format. Areas in which candidates will need to demonstrate their knowledge include the usual suspects that are pretty standard to postgraduate psychology degrees (e.g., ethics and confidentiality). Other areas of competence, however, seem to have caused a bit of a stir (see the ‘submissions received’ section – this is definitely my favour of the bunch :D), namely the focus on competence in several specific psychological tests (i.e. WAIS-IV, WISC-IV, DASS), which has been argued to discount some fields of psychology (e.g. Organisational Psychologists and Sports Psychologists) and favour others.
Stay tuned to the PBA website for more updates on the exam.
If students would like to voice their opinion on the exam (the good and the bad), don’t hesitate to comment to this blog. As always, CCN students are encouraged to email their state student representative if they have any detailed concerns/comments related to this issue that they might want forwarded onto the national committee.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
FAQ for prospective and current psychology students
The APS has a 'Student HQ' section ('Ask APS') devoted to assisting psychology students. Click here for an FAQ regarding studying psychology, careers in psychology and general info about the APS. The site also has an accessible comments page where you can ask questions that are not already listed.
As the Ask APS site is concerned with psychology in general, feel free to ask more specific neuropsychology-related questions here and we will be happy to direct you to the answer.
As the Ask APS site is concerned with psychology in general, feel free to ask more specific neuropsychology-related questions here and we will be happy to direct you to the answer.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
First blog is the hardest?
Ah! So is that what a blog is? - A 'web log.' Thanks Wikipedia!
As you may have guessed, I have never actually written a blog before. In fact, until a moment ago (before I was enlightened by Wikipedia) I was probably one of the very few people who didn't even fully really know what a blog actually was. I'm far more use to writing more formal pieces, like university essays and research reports - The kind of stuff that makes you learn to associate writing with late nights, tearing your hair out and crying uncontrollably. So does that mean I don't have to reference here? can I use 'I' and 'don't' and, dare I say it, ':D'?
That my first blog relates to the experiences of learning (of writing a blog) is probably appropriate here, given that this blog is all about being a student. More specifically, a College of Clinical Neuropsychology Student. I aim to use this blog to share CCN student and registrar-related topics/issues and would love others to contribute with ideas and suggestions. As CCN students, we are a big group with plenty to say (especially about the large number of registration-related changes in recent years), so feel free to comment.
Oh, and in terms of numbers, there are now 104 of us APS CCN Neuropsychology students (yep, that is the official number, but given that I apparently don't have to reference in a blog, I'm not gonna :D).
Cheers,
Jamie
As you may have guessed, I have never actually written a blog before. In fact, until a moment ago (before I was enlightened by Wikipedia) I was probably one of the very few people who didn't even fully really know what a blog actually was. I'm far more use to writing more formal pieces, like university essays and research reports - The kind of stuff that makes you learn to associate writing with late nights, tearing your hair out and crying uncontrollably. So does that mean I don't have to reference here? can I use 'I' and 'don't' and, dare I say it, ':D'?
That my first blog relates to the experiences of learning (of writing a blog) is probably appropriate here, given that this blog is all about being a student. More specifically, a College of Clinical Neuropsychology Student. I aim to use this blog to share CCN student and registrar-related topics/issues and would love others to contribute with ideas and suggestions. As CCN students, we are a big group with plenty to say (especially about the large number of registration-related changes in recent years), so feel free to comment.
Oh, and in terms of numbers, there are now 104 of us APS CCN Neuropsychology students (yep, that is the official number, but given that I apparently don't have to reference in a blog, I'm not gonna :D).
Cheers,
Jamie
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