San Diego, California

Currently seeking physician, psychologist, and other doctorally prepared clinician fellowship applicants!

If interested, please fill out the general online screening application.

Location: VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS), 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA

Fellowship Site Established: 2012

Academic Affiliation: University of California San Diego (UCSD)

Fellowship Site Focus or Goals: Provide interdisciplinary training to prepare fellows as independent women’s healthcare specialists. Specific goals include: providing clinical training experiences that will teach fellows to provide coordinated comprehensive and evidence-based clinical care for women Veterans; applying a scientist-practitioner training model; and providing mentored teaching and leadership experiences to impart skills and knowledge that will allow the fellows to serve as advocates, educators and mentors in the field of women’s health within the VA system.

Research Foci: Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Interpersonal Trauma (IPT), Trauma-Related Guilt and Shame, Suicidality, Emotion Dysregulation/Distress Intolerance, Treatment Outcome Predictors and Women’s Health education and the Patient Aligned Care Team (patient-centered medical home) and their impact on team functioning and efficiency.

Click to learn more about the Clinical Psychology Research Postdoctoral Residency Program at San Diego.

San Diego Fellows: Click here to find out about recent publications and awards.

Research Projects

All fellows complete a research project with evaluation by a mentorship team. Current projects include pilot testing of a pre-PTSD-treatment emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills building group on PTSD treatment engagement and effectiveness in survivors of MST, evaluating the added value of post-PTSD-treatment “maintenance” groups (focusing specifically on on sexual healing and on reconnecting with spirituality), investigating the role of identity (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, Veteran, cultural) in posttraumatic distress related to MST and treatment outcomes.

Education and Leadership Training

Fellows attend local and national seminars covering the state of the art women’s health research and practice, professional development, and advanced topics relevant to the fellows’ individualized training plan. Fellows are trained in and expected to contribute to program administration through participation on the Women’s Health Committee, local outreach and performance improvement activities, and dissemination of women’s health information to staff and trainees through in-service seminars.

Clinical Activities

CP fellows have a rotation in the Military Sexual Trauma & Interpersonal Trauma (MST & IPT) Clinic, with focused training in evidence-based treatment of PTSD and other frequent sequelae of interpersonal trauma, including interpersonal and emotion regulation difficulties.

IM fellows provide comprehensive care in the Primary Care Clinic and one or more specialty care clinics—Gynecology, Musculoskeletal, and Weight Control Clinic at the VASDHS, or the Women’s HIV Clinic, Women’s Cardiology Clinic, Breast Clinic and Gynecology Specialty Clinics at UCSD.

Living in San Diego

Here are some ideas for things to do in your downtime while completing your fellowship in San Diego.

Experience Ethnic Diversity – Peruse art galleries, eat gourmet food, shop for artisan goods, enjoy live music, or view live cooking demonstrations, all in the culturally diverse North Park neighborhood.

Rejuvenate – Think Disneyland in Anaheim. Closer yet is Balboa Park; home to the San Diego Zoo, museums, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center, and a global cultural village. Then time to smell the flowers at Carlsbad Flower Fields.

Follow the Signs – To a beach in nearby La Jolla Cove, Torrey Pines Natural Reserve, San Onofre, or Carlsbad Beaches for a leisurely stroll, kayaking, snorkeling, surfing, rock climbing, picnicking, biking, camping, or watching the sunset.

Discover Organic – In this farmer’s market mecca you can eat fresh, quality, local food on any given day. Shop and taste organic all at once with vendor samples of crepes, garlic stuffed olives, cheese, and honey at San Diego Certified Farmers’ Markets.

Forget the Umbrella – Consider an average, year-round temperature of 70°F, with rain falling just 41.5 days per year. According to BestPlaces.net, San Diego historically gets no freezing weather, and only 1.2 days a year when the temperature climbs to 90°F.

More links for San Diego City of San Diego and State of California