VA Maryland Health Care System

VA Adds $5 Million to Budget to Train More Psychologists

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March 11, 2008

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is adding $5.3 million a year to its budget to expand training programs for psychologists to provide more mental health services for veterans returning from recent combat. Locally, the VA Maryland Health Care System has been awarded slots for four postdoctoral psychology fellowships.

To meet increased needs for mental health services, including those of veterans returning from the Global War on Terrorism, VA has added mental health programs in primary care, polytrauma, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health specialty areas. The four new positions at the VA Maryland Health Care System will work primarily out of the Baltimore VA Medical Center, but will also provide service at the Perry Point VA Medical Center.

“We are delighted about these new training positions, which will build upon our already strong clinical programs in trauma recovery and neuropsychology,” said Dr. Sonja Batten, Trauma Recovery Programs coordinator and director of Psychology Training for the VA Maryland Health Care System.

The Mental Health Clinical Center for the VA Maryland Health Care System, which is the health care system’s largest clinical center with a $28 million budget, offers the following mental health services: Acute Inpatient Mental Health; Sustained Inpatient Treatment; Residential Treatment; Community (Outpatient) Mental Health; and Special Programs (Addictions and Trauma).
 
Mental health activities are conducted at all three inpatient facilities and five outpatient clinics throughout the VA Maryland Health Care System with over 300 employees, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, addiction therapists, vocational rehabilitation specialists and physician assistants.

“VA is taking action to provide more mental health services for our nation’s veterans, especially for those who have recently returned from combat,” said VA Secretary James B. Peake. “By expanding our budget and training programs for psychologists within VA, we will be able to make enhancements to the world-class mental health services we already provide.  Not only will this initiative meet our short- term hiring needs, but it will also guarantee that VA has a pool of well-trained psychologists in the future.”

Nationally, the VA has hired more than 800 psychologists in the last three years to meet these needs. Because psychology is a key discipline in comprehensive health care, VA anticipates an ongoing need to employ additional psychologists to meet new and ongoing needs of veterans.

The best resource for VA recruitment of psychologists has been VA’s own training programs, as 73 percent of psychologists hired in the past two years have had VA training.

New positions will include 61 internship and 98 postdoctoral fellowship positions, bringing the number of psychology training positions nationwide to 620 per year.

The recently awarded positions include 26 new postdoctoral fellowship programs and 26 new internship training programs. In addition, 17 existing postdoctoral fellowship programs and 31 existing internship programs have been expanded.

Besides Baltimore, the new postdoctoral fellowship programs are located at: Albany, N.Y; Albuquerque, N.M.; Ann Arbor, Mich.;; Bay Pines, Fla.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Columbia, Mo.; Detroit, Mich.; Durham, N.C.; Greater Los Angeles, Calif.; Hines, Ill.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Jackson, Miss.; Little Rock, Ark.; Loma Linda, Calif.; Long Beach, Calif.; Manhattan N.Y. Harbor, N.Y.;  Providence, R.I.; Salem, Va.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, Calif.; St. Louis, Mo.; Tampa, Fla.; Washington, DC; West Haven, Conn.; and White River Junction, Vt.

The new internship programs are at the following locations:  Anchorage, Alaska; Asheville, N.C.; Iowa City, Iowa; and Richmond, Va.