Medical psychology

Medical Psychology refers to a growing specialty area of clinical psychology practice in which clinical psychologists, who have undergone specialized education and training at the post-doctoral level, integrate somatic and psychotherapeutic modalities into the management of mental illness including the prescription of medications in the care and management of patients. In the United States, New Mexico and Louisiana, and several branches of the U.S. uniformed services currently authorize medical psychologists to prescribe medications. In Louisiana, the term of medical psychologist refers, in statute, specifically to those psychologists authorized and licensed to prescribe medications, and mirrors precisely the terminology of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Behavioral Medicine (related to Behavioral Health, Clinical Health Psychology and Psychosomatic Medicine) is a related branch of clinical practice in which psychologists emphasize the biopsychosocial approach to medicine, a model which recognizes the importance of addressing the interaction between physical, psychological and social factors in both the prevention and management of disease. Practitioners of behavioral medicine differ from medical psychologists in that they focus on the scientific application of behavioral interventions to a wide variety of medical conditions (e.g., asthma, gastrointestinal illnesses, cardiac conditions, spinal cord and brain injuries, chronic pain, headaches, and addictive illness.

Definition

Medical psychology, as defined by Division 55 of the American Psychological Association (APA), "is that branch of psychology that integrates somatic and psychotherapeutic modalities into the management of mental illness and emotional, cognitive, behavioral and substance use disorders." The specialty of medical psychology has established a specialty board certification, American Board of Medical Psychology and an Academy of Medical Psychology (http://www.amphome.org/) requiring a doctorate degree in psychology and extensive post doctoral training in the specialty and the passage of an oral or written examination. Medical psychologists are qualified to be members of the national practitioner association (National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers-NAPPP (http://nappp.org/) and are trained to treat the behavioral and psychological aspects of physical disorders and to treat mental disorders in primary care centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. Qualified psychologists can also become board certified in Behavioral Health Practice (http://abbhp.org/) and have their practices accredited by the National Institute of Behavioral Health Quality (http://nibhq.org).

Education

In 2006, the American Psychological Association (APA) recommended that the education and training of medical psychologists integrate instruction in the biological sciences, clinical medicine and pharmacology into a formalized program of postdoctoral education.

The following Clinical Competences are indentified as essential in the education and training of medical psychologists: I. Basic Science: anatomy, & physiology, biochemistry; II. Neurosciences: neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurochemistry; III. Physical Assessment and Laboratory Exams: physical assessment, laboratory and radiological assessment, medical terminology and documentation and integration of this assessments and documentation; IV. Clinical Medicine and Pathophysiology: pathophysiology with emphasis on the principal physiological systems, clinical medicine, differential diagnosis, clinical correlation and case studies, chemical dependency and chronic pain management, integration of this topics; V. Clinical and Research Pharmacology and Psychopharmacology: pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, pharmacogenetics, psychopharmacology, developmental psychopharmacology, integration of this topics through supervised clinical or laboratory experience in Clinical Medicine and ongoing treatment monitoring and evaluation; VI. Clinical Pharmacotherapeutics: professional, ethical and legal issues, combined therapies and its interactions, computer-based aids to practice, pharmacoepidemiology, integration of this knowledge through supervised clinical experience or laboratory experience; VII. Research: methodology and design of psychopharmacology research, interpretation and evaluation, FDA drug development and other regulatory processes, and with the Supervised Clinical Experience while they applied their clinical knowledge, and were assessed in their practical skills and competencies.

See also

• Prescriptive authority for psychologists movement
• Health psychology

External links

• http://division55.org/ American Psychological Association - Division 55 - American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy
• http://nappp.org/ National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers
• http://www.amphome.org/ Academy of Medical Psychology
• http://www.rxp.nappp.org/ National Alliance of Professional Psychology RxP Training Program
• http://www.abbhp.org/ American Board of Behavioral Health Practice
• http://www.nibhq.org/ National Institute For Behavioral Health Quality
• http://division55.org/ContinuingEducation.htm Postdoctoral training programs in clinical psychopharmacology
• http://www.apapractice.org/apo/insider/professional/psychopharmacology.html# Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP)
• http://division55.org/TabletOnline.htm Division 55 newsletter "The Tablet"

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