Types of ongoing research

Patient on Treadmill

The Department faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are actively involved in a variety of research projects that integrate psychology and health. Research projects include human laboratory experiments, animal laboratory experiments, clinic and hospital-based studies, community-based studies, and database analyses. These projects involve the study of behavior, cognition, and motivation as they relate to physical or mental health. A wide range of substantive topics and a variety of techniques, procedures, and methods are used.
 
Topics under study include: behavioral and psychological factors in cardiovascular disease (Krantz); cancer survivorship (Feuerstein); obesity and eating disorders (Sbrocco, Tanofsky-Kraff); behavioral, cognitive, and biological effects of tobacco and other addictive drugs (Grunberg, Waters); cognitive behavior therapy for the prevention of suicide (Holloway); psychological and biologic effects of stress (Feuerstein, Grunberg, Krantz); resilience and leadership (Bowles); traumatic brain injury (Ettenhofer, Grunberg); sexual behavior and sexual dysfunction (Sbrocco).
 
These questions are studied using a variety of methodological approaches. These approaches include: large-scale epidemiologic evaluations; clinic- and hospital-based evaluations of patients; randomized controlled trials; ambulatory monitoring of patients and subjects; work-site evaluation of responses to environmental conditions; field studies in military contexts; laboratory-based studies of psychological and biological responses of human and animal subjects to controlled conditions; neurochemical and molecular biologic assays and measurements of tissues and responses relevant to medical and clinical psychology.
 
More information about these research activities can be found by visiting the individual faculty descriptions on this web site.

Post-doctoral Training

research activities

We currently provide training for a number of postdoctoral fellows. Faculty members in the Department solicit the involvement of new Ph.D.s to collaborate on ongoing funded research projects. These research efforts provide excellent training experiences for individuals who wish to deepen their knowledge of selected areas in health and/or clinical psychology. Individuals who are interested in possible post-doctoral training opportunities should contact individual faculty members to determine the availability of these positions.

Medical school Training:

Medical student education
We contribute to the education of medical students at USUHS in several ways. The Department presents a required course (Introduction to Medical Psychology) to first-year medical students (MS-I). This course introduces topics such as stress, pain, tobacco use, eating disorders, substance abuse, suicide, psychological and neuropsychological assessment, psychological variables and cardiovascular disease, medical compliance, and behavioral factors relevant to preventive medicine and health promotion. In addition, faculty in the Department lecture in other medical student courses and provide consultation and instruction to medical students as requested on specific topics in Medical Psychology, Behavioral Medicine, and Clinical Psychology.
 
Medical student research rotations
Medical students may participate in ongoing research projects in the Department as elective summer projects or as other training electives during their fourth year of medical school training. These particular training experiences are arranged with the individual faculty member and must be approved by the School of Medicine. For more information about the USUHS F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, go to http://www.usuhs.mil/medschool/index.html.

USU Patient Simulation Center

The National Capital Area (NCA) Medical Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art training facility located near the main USUHS campus. It uses simulated patients (i.e., experienced actors and actresses who are trained to simulate various physical and mental health problems) to train medical students, clinical psychology students, and other health professionals and to evaluate students' progress and level of clinical skill development.
 
students and faculty in action The Simulation Center is used in the training of clinical psychology students to help students develop and practice interviewing and psychotherapy skills. Simulated Patients (SPs) take on particular roles developed by the Simulation Center and the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology. The SPs are trained to behave and react in a particular manner, providing the students with immediate feedback and a real-time learning experience. Students are required to utilize a wide variety of clinical modalities and techniques. All encounters with the SPs are digitally videotaped for the student's and the faculty supervisor's review. Class group supervision time also is used to debrief the experience, critique the videotapes, and provide peer-peer and professor feedback. For more information about the USUHS Simulation Center, go to http://simcen.usuhs.mil.

Contact Information

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799