MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY (MSCP)
Clinical psychology master’s programs train students to diagnose, treat and prevent mental health disorders. Clinical psychology is the broad term under which many psychology specializations fall, such as marriage and family therapy, child psychology and neuropsychology. This being said, earning a master’s in clinical psychology may be a great preparation for students who aspire to practice psychology across a variety of areas with different patient populations.
Program Objectives
The main goal of the MS in Clinical Psychology is to provide rigorous training in clinical psychology, including coursework in evidence-based psychological assessment and interventions, as well as state-of-the-art research methods and critical thinking skills.
Career Prospects
Clinical psychologists provide clinical or counseling services in private practices, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities. Some psychologists working in clinical practice choose to specialize in treating those with chronic illnesses such as obesity or diabetes; others specialize in treating people with specific psychological disorders, such as anxiety, schizophrenia or depression. Others work with school children who have learning disabilities or in college counseling centers to promote wellness and academic success.
Program Structure
To earn the MS in Clinical Psychology, a student must complete the prescribe concentration courses, a clinical case study project or internship and earn a total of at least 48 credit hours.
Program Structure
CEP 610: Principles of Clinical Psychology
MPH 610: Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals
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CEP 630: Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics
MPH 630: Health Program Planning and Evaluation
CEP 640: Pastoral Psychology
CEP 650: Psychiatry
CEP 660: Psychoanalysis
CEP 670: Health and Society
CEP 680: Facilitating Change
CEP 693: Clinical Psychology Internship
CEP 698: Thesis in Clinical Psychology
Course Descriptions
CEP 610: Principles of Clinical Psychology
The unit begins by covering key concepts from epidemiology, which will inform the substantive topics. It outlines an approach based on viewing many major public health problems as being a feature of populations not individuals, and why the best way to tackle these problems is by intervening at a population level. An explicit aim is to focus on population causes and population cures, rather than focusing on “sick” or high risk individuals, who are just those at the extremes of the distribution in a population. The major of the sessions will then cover several substantive issues that illustrate these general principles: obesity, screening for disease, alcohol consumption, substance abuse, parenting effects on children, international effects of parenting on children, a lack of happiness (from a positive psychology perspective), and depression. The final session will cover issues to do with getting evidence-based interventions implemented into practice.
MPH 610: Legal and Ethical Issues for Health Professionals
This course presents an overview of the legal issues facing the healthcare industry with some inferences on Cameroon. It provides students with a basic working knowledge of health law and Professional ethics. It is a comprehensive and inclusive review of a wide variety of health care legal issues. Students are provided with a realistic knowledge of health law and its application to the real world. At the end of this course, students are expected to validate the online institutional review board (IRB) training course on ethical issues in health research at the National Institute of Health (NIH)(https://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php).
CEP 620: Health Psychology
This will introduce students to a range of ways psychologists work within clinical and healthcare settings, and the science behind their roles. Students will learn about a range of roles and settings where the science of health and clinical psychology is applied. This includes psychologists working within healthcare and related services, as well as non-psychologists using evidence or understanding derived from clinical/health psychology. Students will learn how communication between health professions and individuals facilitates or hinders effective care. Students will be encouraged to consider the different psychological theories used within these roles and how interventions can occur at individual, group (e.g. family, organizational unit) or population levels.
CEP 630: Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics
Pharmaceutics deals with the formulation, preparation, preservation, and dispensing of medications and related therapeutic devices. A successful dosage form or drug delivery system must ensure the effective, reliable, and safe
delivery of the drug to its site of action in the body. The course will explore the many physical, chemical, engineering, organoleptic, and esthetic principles involved in dosage form design and preparation. From tablets and capsules to syrups and injectable, the student will gain an in-depth appreciation of the role of dosage form characteristics relative to the route of administration in drug therapy decisions. Learning activities in the course consist of lectures, problem-solving exercises, and quizzes with feedback review.
MPH 630: Health Program Planning and Evaluation
The focus of course is to develop skills that empower students to be able to plan and evaluate health education and health promotion programs in all settings–communities, schools, corporations, military, and hospitals.
CEP 640: Pastoral Psychology
The purpose of this course is the research and the familiarization with issues that come out of the co-operation between Pastoral Theology and Psychology as far as it concerns the way of dealing with the “pastoral problem” as a psychological fact. Students will have the chance to gain a deeply knowledge of psychological terms and objects as elements of the knowledge of a man. The search for points of co-operation between Pastoral Theology and Psychology and the role that Pastoral Theology holds as a resource of solutions for the problems, which are created from the morbid religiousness.
CEP 650: Psychiatry
This course offers an overview of human behavior and psychopathology, including clinical evaluation and neurological assessment of patients, human sexuality, organic mental disorders, substance abuse and dependency, mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and adjustment disorders. Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy options to treat the various disorders are discussed.
CEP 660: Psychoanalysis
The course starts with a historical introduction to the topic of psychosomatics, showing how ideas about psychosomatic illness originating in the early 20th century have influenced current thinking, both lay and professional, and tracing the development of holism. The idea of medically unexplained illness will then be introduced and the contributions of different approaches (biological, cognitive, emotion-regulation, interpersonal, socio-cultural) to our understanding of medically explained and unexplained conditions will be discussed. Throughout, there will be a focus on methodological and measurement issues, and students will be encouraged to evaluate the relative contributions of the different research approaches, and how they can be integrated. The unit will finish with a consideration of therapeutic strategies for the management of medically unexplained conditions.
CEP 670: Health and Society
This unit examines how the social environment and different backgrounds influence the presentation of different physical and mental health experiences. How these factors shape government policy-making which in turn influences health care behavior, delivery and the health of the nation. The unit also explores the role that prejudice and discrimination play in these relationships.
CEP 680: Facilitating Change
This unit covers the key interventions within clinical and health psychology that are designed to facilitate change, improve well-being and promote recovery. Part I involves understanding the principles of Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT); assessment and formulation; CBT for several mental health conditions and the application of this approach to physical health conditions. Part II involves increasing an understanding of the principles of cognitive CBT applied with more challenging and complex experiences, child and family interventions, and recent developments in psychotherapy beyond the traditional CBT approach.
CEP 693: Clinical Psychology Internship
Clinical psychology internship is a vital a vital part of the curriculum providing part of the learning experience. Attachments will be arranged for clinical practice according to the demands of each course. Students on attachment will be provided with specific learning outcomes and skills booklets that direct teaching and learning processes. Attachments may be at the teaching, regional and district hospitals, psychiatry homes etc.
CEP 694: Research Methods & Statistical Analysis
This course is designed to provide foundation knowledge of research methods commonly used. The course will prepare the student to understand material and issues associated with but not limited to the logic of the scientific method, research designs, as well as the use of statistical packages for descriptive and inferential statistics. This course will cover research processes employing quantitative and qualitative methods. Topics include ethical considerations, observational and survey research techniques, graphing, central tendency and variability, correlation and linear regression, hypothesis testing etc. Students participate in data collection, data analysis and interpretation by means of the microcomputer Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and in the writing of APA-style research reports.
CEP 698: MS Thesis in Clinical Psychology
Students must complete a satisfactory thesis to be awarded a Master’s degree. This piece of work, undertaken in the last semester gives the student the opportunity to apply the techniques and theories you have learned during the didactic and practical phases. Thesis topics reflect the expertise of your lecturers and you may be asked to choose from a list of options. Supervision often starts with small groups of students studying similar topics meeting with their supervisors, who then guide students in deciding on the focus for their individual dissertations. The dissertation itself normally consists of a literature review followed by a piece of empirical work, involving either qualitative or quantitative research.
