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Neuropsychology Fellowship

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The Sanford Health postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology is a full-time two-year program that provides competency-based postdoctoral training in clinical neuropsychology, which is appropriate for persons seeking American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) board certification in the specialty.

The department of neuropsychology is part of Sanford Brain & Spine Center Fargo, and the administrative hierarchy includes an executive director, clinic director, department chair and training director. The fellowship program is accredited by the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Curriculum

Training Overview

The fellowship program will have an individualized training plan based on the fellow’s needs and background. Specific objectives will be identified to meet these needs to prepare the fellow to fulfill ABPP board certification criteria. Generally speaking, fellows are expected to evaluate three or four patients per week for the first year and increase to four or five patients for the second year. The fellow will use the assistance of psychometrists during the second year of training. There is an assigned office area with a computer that has access to electronic medical records. A wide variety of texts are also available in the department, and access to journal articles is provided through Sanford Health’s interlibrary system and internet journals.

Clinical Training

Fellows in this program will receive advanced training in the assessment and evaluation of neuropsychological conditions and disorders in a diverse range of adult and geriatric patients. Our department staffs a general neuropsychology clinic within Sanford Health’s neuroscience center, which includes departments of neurology and neurosurgery. Our clinic evaluates patients with a wide variety of presenting complaints and medical histories, including traumatic brain injury, stroke, dementia, seizure disorder, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis and hypoxic brain injury, along with various comorbid psychiatric disorders. Daily supervision in seeing patients is provided by four adult neuropsychologists, and overall training supervision is provided by the training director who is an ABPP board-certified clinical neuropsychologist.

There is also the opportunity to work with the supervisors in several comprehensive treatment center (CTC) clinics every month. Cases could include traumatic brain injury, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis. This can provide fellows with avenues to pursue individual and subspecialty interests.

Research Training

The Houston Conference guidelines specify that exit criteria for the fellowship include successful demonstration of scholarly activity. Our training philosophy is that of a scientist-practitioner model, with the goal being to produce a clinical neuropsychologist who will use empirical findings to inform and guide their clinical practice. As such, fellows are expected to display motivation for scientific research. This should include referring to the literature and integrating relevant findings into their patient-related activities.

Fellows are urged to remain actively involved in research throughout their residency. As per APPCN guidelines, fellows will have at least 10% protected research time (four hours per week). Fellows are expected to produce at least one scholarly project (i.e. submission of a study or literature review for publication, a presentation or submission of a grant proposal) during their two-year term.

Didactic Training

The fellowship offers didactic opportunities within the department, including presentations scheduled on a weekly basis. These may include case presentations by neuropsychology staff, postdoctoral fellows or practicum students; topic presentations by neuropsychology staff, postdoctoral fellows or practicum students; and presentations from other disciplines. There are also weekly neurology grand rounds presentations. Additionally, the department hosts an annual neuroscience symposium. Fellows will be scheduled to shadow providers in neurology during their course of training.

There is an opportunity for fellows to attend the three-day “Neuroanatomical Dissection Course: Human Brain and Spinal Cord” class at Marquette University in July. Other individualized didactic activities may be assigned if areas of significant weakness in foundational skills are identified.

Presentations and workshops regarding patients’ cultural and individual differences will be included to ensure competence in professional practice for diverse populations. Presentations and workshops covering ethical issues will also be part of the curriculum.

Evaluation

The fellow will receive at least two hours of direct supervision by neuropsychology staff per week. One hour of supervision will occur in a scheduled weekly meeting with the training director. The other hour (at a minimum) will be in increments by the neuropsychologists assigned to supervise the fellow for each patient.

The fellow will receive ongoing feedback regarding their performance during supervision. Also, there will be a formal evaluation every six months by all supervisors. The fellow will be evaluated on knowledge base, clinical skills and scholarly activity, as well as their professional demeanor. If significant difficulties are identified at the first evaluation, a three-month remediation plan will be put in place. If the problem areas identified in the remediation plan are not satisfactorily corrected within the three months, the fellow will not be reappointed for the following year.

Fellows will also be given the opportunity to evaluate their supervisors and training experience every six months. If problems are noted, a grievance procedure can be invoked to inform administrative staff and generate solutions. The avenue for submitting a grievance regarding the training program is for the fellow to inform the clinic director of the problem and enlist their assistance in addressing the issue with the training director. For institutional grievances, the fellow can contact the patient relations team.

Program Information

Mission and Goals

In accordance with the Houston Conference’s guidelines policy statement on specialty education and training in clinical neuropsychology, the postdoctoral fellowship at Sanford Health is an education and training program designed to provide “the clinical, didactic and academic training to produce an advanced level of confidence in the specialty of clinical neuropsychology and to complete the education and training necessary for independent practice in the specialty.”

Another goal of ours is that fellows will be prepared to practice clinical neuropsychology with a variety of adult patient populations. Additionally, we want the fellow to be prepared to pursue an ABPP board specialization in clinical neuropsychology.

In keeping with the Houston Conference guidelines, specific training goals for fellows include:

  • Advanced skill in neuropsychological evaluation, treatment and consultation for patients and professionals sufficient to practice on an independent basis
  • Advanced understanding of brain-behavior relationships
  • Scholarly activity (i.e. submission of a study or literature review for publication, a presentation or submission of a grant proposal)
  • Eligibility for state licensure for the independent practice of psychology
  • Eligibility for board certification in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology

Salary and Benefits

A competitive salary of $61,006 for the first year and $62,506 for the second year is offered, as well as full benefits including health insurance, life insurance, sick leave, paid time away and $2500 for educational activities such as conference attendance and workshops.

Faculty

  • Susan Wood, PhD, LP, ABPP-CN, Training Director
    • Dr. Wood is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and has been a provider in the neuropsychology department at Sanford Health for the past 14 years. She serves as the department chair and training director. Dr. Wood holds a master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience from Rice University and a doctoral degree in the clinical psychology-neuropsychology track from the University of Houston. She completed her postdoctoral training at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Wood sees all types of adult patients but specializes in dementia and brain cancer. She is a member of the multidisciplinary team to evaluate patients for DBS surgery and is a member of another team to evaluate whether patients meet protocol standards for new Alzheimer’s medications. She is also a member of the Sanford Neuroscience Council.
  • Lindsay Hines, PhD, LP, Research Director
    • Dr. Hines is a clinical neuropsychologist at Sanford Health engaged in clinical practice, clinical research and education. Dr. Hines was trained at Nova Southeastern University and employs a Lurian approach in her clinical practice. She completed her clinical internship with Dartmouth Medical School and an NIH-funded clinical and research fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neurosciences and Human Behavior. Dr. Hines has a 10-year history of NIH-funded clinical research and has investigated pharmacogenomics and health-related outcomes pertaining to vascular health, depression and pain, as well as Sanford Health Foundation-funded research pertaining to pharmacogenomics and behavioral health outcomes. Her clinical practice is primarily focused on vascular health and stroke-related outcomes, though she considers herself a generalist and sees adult and older-adult patients referred for a broad range of clinical presentations. Dr. Hines has been with Sanford health since 2011 and has a joint clinical professor appointment with the University of North Dakota, where she has also been engaged in dissertation-related research with individuals in the clinical psychology PhD program.
  • Nicole Kiewel, PhD, LP
    • Dr. Kiewel obtained her PhD from the University of Houston and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the Cleveland Clinic. She has a special focus on dementia and movement disorders.
  • Danielle Huber, PsyD, LP, ABPP-CN
    • Dr. Huber is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist who has been with Sanford Health’s neuropsychology department since 2022. She completed her doctoral degree at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and her predoctoral internship at the Missouri Health Sciences Psychology Consortium. She completed a postdoctoral neuropsychology fellowship at Bancroft NeuroRehab. Dr. Huber is an active member of the Minnesota Psychological Association and serves as a practice sample reviewer for ABPP. In her free time, Dr. Huber enjoys spending time with family and friends, caring for animals with special needs, reading and exercising.

Training Site

Postdoctoral fellows will primarily work at Sanford Brain & Spine Center Fargo in Fargo, North Dakota, which is an outpatient clinic. The center primarily consists of the departments of neuropsychology, neurosurgery and neurology. Fellows will work in neuropsychology in an office next to the training director’s. For work in CTC clinics, the fellow will accompany a supervisor to the Sanford Broadway Medical Center.

Additional Information

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr. Wood prior to Dec. 31 by emailing susan.wood@sanfordhealth.org. The application should include the following documents:

  • A cover letter of intent
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Graduate school transcript (unofficial)
  • Two de-identified work samples
  • Three letters of recommendation

Applicants are expected to have a PhD or PsyD from an APA- or CPA-approved program in professional psychology, and to have completed an APA- or CPA-approved internship. It is expected that the applicant will have internship-level training in adult neuropsychological assessment. Fellowship contracts are renewed on a yearly basis, with the expectation that the fellow will stay for two years.

Get to Know Fargo, North Dakota

While the facilities and people you will work with during training are impressive, the community where you will live is also enticing. Students can work and live in a thriving, growing community in the Upper Midwest that provides a variety of retail, dining, musical, sporting events and outdoor activities.

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