Aims
The mission of Newcastle University is to pursue excellence in the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and the development of understanding across a wide range of subjects in regional, national and international contexts. The clinical psychology programme endorses the aims of the University and in addition has the following specific aims:
• To recruit trainees of high quality;
• To develop competence in the current, empirically-based and widely-practiced aspects of clinical psychology;
• To develop capability in the critical appreciation of relevant empirical literature and clinical theory, in order to enable trainees to appropriately draw upon and contribute to the research basis for clinical practice and solve relevant problems systematically; and
• To produce caring, reflective clinicians, who accept professional responsibility for their patients and who recognise the need for continued professional development.
The philosophy of the programme mirrors closely that of the profession. We expect our graduates to be able to draw appropriately and critically from a range of theories and techniques , in order to come to an informed understanding and plan of action in a wide range of situations. As well as developing the skills to alleviate suffering— by helping people become more competent at solving present and future problems— we expect our graduates to be able to contribute to the advancement of our understanding of psychological problems and the implementation of psychological interventions. The programme is committed to the scientist-practitioner model of professional practice, viewing this model (with an ‘evidence-based practice’ slant) as the optimal way of achieving the profession’s objectives.
In short, we set out to select good psychologists with the potential to become effective NHS Clinical Psychologists. We seek to recruit a diverse group of trainees. Our aim is train a workforce which reflects the diversity of the client groups who use clinical psychology services. Therefore, we are committed to providing a course which equips trainees to think about and work effectively with diversity. Whilst the nature of training to be a clinical psychologist is very demanding, we are committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure that trainees with disabilities are not disadvantaged. The continued development of the programme over the past 40 years, the interest in and priority given to teaching and learning within the programme team, the quality of placement opportunities and supervisors available within the region, and the expertise and supervisory skills in research of programme and NHS supervisors, enable us to provide a rich and varied learning experience. This is appreciated by our current trainees and we believe (partly from following-up recent graduates) that this provides trainees with a sound foundation upon which to build the remainder of their careers.
