Health professions education: The shaping of a discipline through federal funding.

Abstract

The federal government has been the single most dominant force shaping the development of health professions over the past 50 years. Described as both a patron and proprietor of health professions education, the federal government's role is a factor that health professionals cannot ignore. This article focuses on the three major federal initiatives (Veterans Administration training programs, Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, and Medicare's Graduate Medical Education) which have most significantly influenced the training in and development of the disciplines of psychology and medicine. The significance for psychology's involvement in national health policy, particularly during this era of reform, is highlighted.

Distribution and Correlates of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and ACT-Like Programs: Results From the 2015 N-MHSS

“…Facilities with ACT offering all the core ACT services also had over three times the odds of receiving funding from federal sources, including military and VA funds. The military and VA have historically funded and promoted specialized professional training to help attract staff to their clinical facilities (43). Federal funding of clinical services has at times been used to incentivize certain evidence-based practices (44,45).…”

A critical analysis of systemic problems with psychology pre-doctoral internship training: Contributing factors and collaborative solutions.

“…Since 1945 (Shakow et al, 1945), psychology has insisted that training activities should be valued in tangible ways (APA, 1986;Belar et al, 1989;Stigall et al, 1990;APA, 2007b). At the same time, financial support for training in psychology has dwindled (Dunivin, 1994;Kohout, Wicherski, & Woerheide, 1999). In doctoral programs, many sources of support for education and training in professional psychology have dried up, according to the 2003 Doctorate Employment Survey (Wicherski & Kohout, 2005) (Wicherski & Kohout, 2005), while doctoral programs, especially those in private institutions of higher education, increasingly rely on tuition to support their educational programs.…”

“…Second, all psychologists need to actively participate in shaping and influencing public policy, and thereby public funding of education, training, and practice of psychology. As Dunivin (1994) warned, if psychologists do not engage in the public policy conversation, the ability to shape our discipline is lost. To improve funding for training in psychology and preserve the future of our profession, all psychologists must engage in advocacy efforts, such as joining the Association for Advancement of Psychology and contributing to the APA Education Advocacy Trust.…”

“…The Problem NCSPP believes the problem stems from three sources. First, there is an economic problem, a relative decrease in financial support for training activities over the years since the late 1970s (Dunivin, 1994;Kohout, Wicherski, & Woerheide, 1999). Second, a disconnect exists between doctoral programs and internship programs that accentuates the problem.…”

Sanity examiner certification: An evolving national agenda.

“…He is a fellow of the APA as well as adjunct associate professor of clinical psychology at the Widener University Institute for Clinical Psychology. clinical services and the ultimate availability of federal or state financial support, or both, for their students (Dunivin, 1994).…”