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Special Regulations

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Ref: 49-109_Special_Regulations
  1. [1] 1. Candidates shall follow a course of training in Clinical Psychology for a period of at least three years. The training shall consist of Clinical, Academic, and Research elements, and candidates will be required to demonstrate their competence in all three elements. The precise periods of training, and the amount of time to be spent on each element, will be notified to candidates by the Course Director prior to the commencement of the course.
  2. [2] 2. Candidates shall be examined in all of the following ways:
    1. [3] (a) Clinical Activity [4] Each candidate shall develop competence in five or six supervised clinical areas normally including the following: [5] (i) Adult; (ii) Child; (iii) Disabilities; (iv) Older People; (v) Specialist (to be chosen by the candidate in consultation with the course tutors, subject to the availability of appropriate supervision. Final year candidates will normally either develop competence in one (twelve month) or two (six month) elective areas). [6] Candidates shall submit to the Board of Examiners a report on five of the above clinical areas. Normally, at least one report will concern clinical work which is other than individually based. Each report shall consist of not more than 6,000 words including tables and diagrams but excluding references and appendices. Candidates shall also submit to the Clinical Tutor a notebook (Log Book) for each clinical area. The candidate's supervisor in each clinical area shall complete, in consultation with the Clinical Tutor, an Evaluation of Clinical Competence (ECC). The Reports and ECC Forms shall be assessed as part of the examination. The notebooks shall be available to the examiners.
    2. [7] (b) Academic Activity [8] Candidates shall be required to follow a programme of study, as prescribed by the Director of the Course, normally in each of the following areas: [9] (i) Adult mental health; (ii) Children; (iii) Disabilities; (iv) Older People; (v) Specialist teaching. [10] Candidates are required to submit an extended essay in three of these areas. The essay shall not exceed 5,000 words including tables and diagrams but excluding references, and shall be on a subject approved in advance by the Course Directorate. One essay will take the form of a Critical Review.
    3. [11] (c) Research Activity [12] Candidates shall offer the following:
      1. [13] (i) One service-related project of approximately 4,500 words in length including tables and diagrams but excluding references and appendices. The project shall normally be carried out within a clinical context within the first two years of training and shall be of direct relevance to the clinical work.
      2. [14] (ii) A research dissertation of between 15,000 and 25,000 words, including tables, diagrams, references and appendices. The Research Dissertation shall consist of a research report of a significant and substantial investigation with human participants and shall be of clinical relevance. The subject of the Research Dissertation must be approved in advance by the Course Directorate. All candidates will be examined on the Dissertation viva voce.
  3. [15] 3. Candidates shall be required to satisfy examiners in each of the assessment units described in clause 2 above.
  4. [16] 4. Guidelines on the preparation and submission of all written work will be updated annually as required and will be included in the Course Handbook.
  5. [17] 5. Deadlines for the submission of all assessed work (i.e. essay titles, essays, service-related projects, integrated clinical reports, critical reviews, dissertation proposals and dissertations) will be published annually by the Directorate in the ‘Annual Course Syllabus Book’ at the start of the academic year. They will also be lodged with the Proctors, and posted in the Course Office.
  6. [18] 6. All material submitted for examination must be sent to the Chairman of Examiners of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, c/o the Course Manager, Isis Education Centre, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford. It shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the candidate indicating that it is the candidate's own work, except where otherwise specified. In the case of the integrated clinical report, service-related project, and dissertation, this must be supported by a signed statement from the candidate's supervisor indicating that the material submitted is the candidate's own work. These certificates must be submitted separately in a sealed envelope addressed to the Chairman of Examiners for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.