Competencies for Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (AHCs)

This paper begins by providing the landscape that undergirds the competency-based movement within professional psychology education, training, credentialing, and performance appraisal. Attention is then paid to the relevance of this culture shift for psychologists working as practitioners, educators, researchers, and administrators in AHCs. In this regard, there is an articulation of the essential subcomponents of each of the core foundational and functional competency domains that are salient for AHC psychologists. Implications of the competency-based movement for professional psychologists in AHCs are offered. This paper is based in part on the first author’s plenary address at the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers Midwinter Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 2007.