Compare the Ph.D. and Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

While in large part very similar to each other, Rosemead School of Psychology’s two doctoral programs in clinical psychology offer distinct program differences that can form to your specific career goals. Learn more about how the Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology programs compare.

Mission and Training Models

The mission of both Psy.D. and Ph.D. programs is the same:

The mission of Rosemead School of Psychology is to produce graduates who can integrate the science and practice of psychology with Christian theology, and who are prepared to meet the psychological needs of the world in general and the Christian community specifically through professional service and scholarship.

While the mission is the same, the training models are different for the doctoral programs. Both programs prepare psychological practitioners and virtually all of the graduates become licensed psychologists. The training models for practitioner programs are based on the core curriculum developed by the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP). The training models for the programs are:

• Ph.D. Training Model: Scholar-Practitioner
  Research Emphasis — The Ph.D. program requires additional courses in research, a Master’s Project, and a dissertation involving empirical research. This enhances the research preparation of Ph.D. students.
• Psy.D. Training Model: Practitioner-Scholar
  Practitioner Emphasis — The Psy.D. program requires additional psychotherapy lab courses and an additional psychological assessment course. This enhances the clinical preparation of Psy.D. students.

Program Goals / Program Learning Outcomes

The differences between the Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs can be seen in the distinctions between the program goals, objectives, and competencies. These are presented below and the differences are noted in bold.

Goal 1

• The goal of the Ph.D. program is to produce clinical psychologists who demonstrate the requisite psychological knowledge, clinical skills, and professional attitudes to meet the psychological needs of society (ULO 1).
• The goal of the Psy.D. program is to produce clinical psychologists who possess enhanced psychological knowledge, clinical skills, and professional attitudes to meet the psychological needs of society (ULO 1).

Goal 2

• The goal of the Ph.D. program is to produce clinical psychologists who demonstrate an increasingly independent and enhanced ability in research or other scholarly activities in order to serve psychological practitioners and society-at-large (ULO 2).
• The goal of the Psy.D. program is to produce clinical psychologists who demonstrate a requisite ability in research or other scholarly activities in order to serve psychological practitioners and society-at-large (ULO 2).

Goal 3

• The goal of the Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs is to produce clinical psychologists who, by knowledge and training, can meet the psychological needs of the Christian community (ULO 3).

Each Program Learning Outcome (PLO) listed above references at least one of the University Learning Outcomes (ULO 1, 2, 3), which may be found in the General Information section of this catalog.

Program Structure and Credits

The differences in training models, goals, objectives and competencies lead to different curriculum emphases. These are presented in the table below and they are elaborated in the section of the website devoted to the specific program.