Our Program

The Providence Medical Group – Oregon Integrated Care Psychology Residency Program is a part of Providence Health and Services. Providence Health and Services is a not-for-profit Catholic network of hospitals, care centers, health plans, physicians, clinics, home health care, and affiliated services guided by a Mission of caring that the Sisters of Providence began in the West nearly 160 years ago. The residency program was started in 2015 with two residents placed in Providence Medical Group (PMG) primary clinics functioning as Behavioral Health Providers. With ongoing Providence support the residency has grown to its current state of 5 resident positions available each year.

The residency program's main intention is to prepare psychologists to function effectively in integrated care settings as Behavioral Health Providers. Recognizing that this is an emerging and rapidly developing area of practice, the program also provides psychologists with the knowledge, skills and abilities to function in integrated care leadership roles. Integrated care leadership roles include program development/implementation, expansion of integrated care into health care settings beyond primary care, and development of healthcare policy related to the integration of behavioral health and general medical care settings.

Accreditation

The program was designed to meet postdoctoral training standards set by the American Psychological Association (APA) Commission on Accreditation (CoA) and was APA accredited until September 2025. Accreditation was discontinued voluntarily, and accreditation funds reallocated to advancing Providence training programs and professional development activities. According to our self-study, the program continues to meet all the standards set forth by the APA’s CoA but is no longer accredited. Additionally, the residency is designed to meet all standards for a psychology residency in the state of Oregon.

Curriculum

Residents participate in the following activities designed to develop advanced competency as clinical health service psychologists functioning in integrated healthcare settings.

• Residents work as Behavioral Health Providers embedded in Providence Medical Group clinics for the service delivery component of their training for 28-30 hours per week. This experience gives them the opportunity to build advanced skills and competency in:
  • Application of the foundational knowledge base and current evidence to the implementation/provision of behavioral health services in primary care.
  • Functioning as a "go to" consultant and knowledge expert in ethical/legal issues encountered in health care settings.
  • Provision of behavioral health integration services to a diverse patient population within a diverse multidisciplinary healthcare provider team.
  • Effective application of screening-oriented assessment tools commonly utilized in medical settings to guide the provision of behavioral health integration services and facilitate population-based healthcare goals and initiatives.
  • Development of focused concise consultation skills that are well suited for the primary care and other medical settings.
• Residents complete one or more Clinical Rotation(s) with a specialty medical team(s) one day per week in an area of professional interest allowing for:
  • Working knowledge of the foundational and current empirical evidence base that provides the rationale for behavioral integration services and informs strategies for their effective implementation.
  • Specialized training in healthcare ethics and cultural competency through the internationally recognized Providence Center for Health Care Ethics.
  • Knowledge of the evidence base regarding the promotion and development of culturally diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
  • Knowledge of the empirical basis and psychometric properties of assessment tools commonly utilized in primary care and other medical settings.
  • Knowledge of clinical supervision and primary care consultation models that inform effective behavioral health consultation in integrated care settings.
• Residents will supervise a pre-doctoral student trainee for:
  • Advancing skill using best practices in the provision of clinical supervision.
  • Development of a professional identity as a leader and future advanced practice provider.
  • Promoting professional values such as applying ethical decision-making approach to clinical decisions.
  • Modeling professional boundaries, delivery of effective feedback and conflict resolution in a supervisory relationship.
  • Knowledge of the legal/ethical parameters informing clinical services and clinical supervision.
• All residents receive direct supervision that:
  • Provides clinical oversight of their direct service.
  • Integrates knowledge with the development of advanced service delivery, consultation and leadership roles.
  • Provides mentorship in the development of advanced service delivery, consultation and leadership roles.
• The Postdoctoral Residency training program is the final of the Psychology Department’s three-step training continuum which includes 1) doctoral student Practicum placements, 2) Pre-doctoral Internship training program (with stipend), and 3) Post-doctoral Residency positions (with salary). The continuum represents professional advancement and training in Clinical Health Psychology. Each build on the prior although participation in prior PMG programming is not required for placement in Intern or Resident-level training with PMG. All learners will complete core training to promote the safety and wellbeing of our patients as well as best practices in integrated behavioral health.
• The Residency program differs from Pre-doctoral Internship training in that Internship provides the generalist profession-wide competencies that prepare a psychologist for focused training in behavioral integration, while the Residency builds on that generalist training to provide advanced and focused training that prepares the resident to work in a variety of integrated care settings and for a career in clinical health psychology. The following areas of focused advanced training distinguish our residency program from internship training and from other postdoctoral training programs:
  • Review of foundational research that defines the benefit and best practice for psychologists working in integrated settings.
  • Focused training in healthcare related law and ethics.
  • Focused training in primary care and medical specialty-oriented assessment methodology.
  • Focused training in primary care, multidisciplinary, oriented consultation.
  • Emphasis on growing competence in areas of Clinical Health Psychology.
• The program's overall duration is 52 weeks with an average of 40 total program hours per week. It requires 12 months or one full calendar year to complete the program.

Estimated Weekly Schedule:

Professional Development Activities & Clinical Rotations

• Residents attend scheduled training program activities related to Primary Care Behavioral Health services generally and/or to Providence Medical Group services specifically.
• Professional Development Activities (PDA’s) are available to residents at least weekly and are designed to advance clinical competencies, promote leadership and supervision skills, and explore issues related to professional identity and personhood. The format of the PDA’s is flexible and residents choose PDA’s that meet their professional interests and goals. Most PDA’s combine lectures, case examples, and group discussion while others involve patient care (such as co-therapy, case conceptualization) or self-study.
• Residents are encouraged to attend at least five Providence Ethics Center “Ethics Core Program” seminars during the program year. The format of the ethics didactics also combines lecture, case examples, and group discussion.
• Residents become part of a specialty care team one day per week in an area of professional interest to the resident. The Clinical Rotation experience provides residents with:
  • Working knowledge of the foundational and current empirical evidence base that provides the rationale for behavioral integration services and informs strategies for their effective implementation.
  • Specialized training in healthcare ethics and cultural competency.
  • Knowledge of the evidence base regarding the promotion and development of culturally diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
  • Knowledge of the empirical basis and psychometric properties of assessment tools commonly utilized in primary care and other medical settings.
  • Knowledge of consultation models that inform effective behavioral health consultation in integrated care settings.
• Clinical rotation opportunities include but are not limited to:
  • Advanced Heart Failure Clinic
  • Oncology Clinics
  • Eating Disorder Program
  • Pediatric Medical Specialty Clinic
  • Bariatric and Wellness Services Clinic
  • Behavioral Health Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Services
  • Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic

**Rotations are subject to change**

Supervision

• All residents are paired with a primary supervisor and many also assigned associate supervisors, all of whom will work with the resident for the duration of their residency. Individual supervision is provided by a psychologist who works in one of the Providence Medical Group clinics as a Behavioral Health Provider in a role similar to the resident’s role in their primary placement clinic. Per Oregon law, the individual supervisors assume professional and legal responsibility for the work of the residents including monitoring patient care, ensuring the quality of practice, overseeing all aspects of patient services, and mentoring the resident. As part of their supervisory responsibilities, each supervisor engages in live observation of the resident’s direct patient care at least twice during the training year with preference for once quarterly observations. This direct observation adds to and informs the individual supervisors’ evaluation of their resident trainee.
• Per Oregon Laws, if a resident works 1–20 hours in a week, the resident must receive at least one hour of individual face-to-face supervision during that week. If a resident works more than 20 hours in a week, the resident must receive at least two hours of supervision during that week. One hour must be individual and one hour may be group supervision.
• Consistent with the above requirements, the residents weekly schedule includes two (2) hours of scheduled face-to-face individual supervision with a psychologist licensed in Oregon for at least two years which is consistent with the Oregon Board of Psychology requirements for a residency supervisor.
• Group supervision is available and will be assigned based on resident placement and training plan. Group supervision is a formal and ongoing group of at least three mental health professionals, is facilitated by a licensed psychologist, and must be pre-approved by the resident's individual supervisor.
• Residents meet once monthly with neighboring Behavioral Health Providers from nearby Providence clinics to discuss clinical cases, refine workflows, exchange community resources, etc.
• Residents also attend a once monthly meeting with all department Behavioral Health Providers.

If you would like a copy of the Resident Handbook, Click Here.