Program overview
Summary of the Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) program - Program code: 6010 | Program code | Program title | Award abbreviation | Location |
|---|
| 6010 | Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) | DPsych (Clin) | Gold Coast |
| Host element | Duration | CRICOS code | Credit points | Semester/Trimester intakes |
| School of Psychology | 3 years full-time; 6 years part-time | 040102G | 240CP | S1 |
| Program fees |
| This postgraduate program has Commonwealth supported places. If you are eligible, the Australian Government will contribute to the cost of this program but you will also be required to make a contribution. If you are an International student or ineligible for a Commonwealth supported place, you will be required to pay full tuition fees.
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About this program
The program's purpose is to produce graduates who are qualified practitioners in clinical psychology, and are prepared to offer clinical services at the highest levels of professionalism, utilising good research and evaluation skills.
Graduates will have a substantial theoretical base, advanced professional skills and knowledge of professional ethics and best practice, and have highly developed research skills in clinical psychology. Finally, they will have the capacity to make new and original contributions to knowledge in clinical psychology by conducting psychological research.
The Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) differs from the PhD degree in the following ways:
- this program requires one more year of supervised practical experience than the PhD degree
- this program involves two more coursework seminars than the PhD degree
- the research thesis for this program requires less work than the PhD dissertation (i.e. the thesis in this program is designed to take one year to complete while the PhD dissertation generally takes two years).
Professional recognition
The program meets registration requirements for psychologists in Queensland. It is also intended that graduates will qualify for membership of the Australian Psychologists Society (APS) and be able to qualify for membership of the College of Clinical Psychologists of the APS. The program structure meets the accreditation guidelines of the College of Clinical Psychologists of the APS.
The Psychologists Board of Queensland requires applicants for registration as a Psychologist for whom English is not the first or native language, to submit evidence to the Board of competency in both oral and written communication in English. Please contact the Psychologists Board of Queensland for further information regarding requirements.
Career opportunities
The primary purpose of the program is to produce graduates who are qualified practitioners in the area of clinical psychology, who are prepared to offer clinical services at the highest levels of professionalism, and who have good research and evaluation skills. Graduates will have a substantial theoretical base, advanced professional skills, knowledge of professional ethics and best practice, and have highly developed research skills in the area of clinical psychology. In addition, they will have developed a capacity to reflect critically on their practice and have developed a high level of personal functioning and interpersonal expertise. Finally, they will have the capacity to make new and original contributions to knowledge in clinical psychology by conducting psychological research.
This program is designed to prepare students to function as professional psychologists who are primarily interested in functioning as professional psychologists who provide direct assessment and treatment services with clients, who supervise others providing direct services, or who wish to serve as administrators in health care agencies. Students who graduate with this degree will be competent researchers as well, but will typically have completed a less extensive research thesis than PhD students.
