After passing prelims, the student is formally admitted to doctoral candidacy and then begins work on dissertation research. Students take most of their elective courses in the third and fourth years. Popular minor areas are neuroscience, statistics, developmental psychobiology, cognition and information processing, and conditioning and learning. The basic program of formal academic work can be completed in four years. Some students come into the program with a Master's degree already completed.
Many students do take five or even six years.
This is not discouraged as long as the student is productive in research and acquiring advanced clinical competencies. All students must select an APA-approved internship. Students from our program generally attend some of the best-known internship training programs in the country.