Sternheim, L.C. (Lot)

Proudly announcing the new course “Academic Professional”!

To the Prospective Clinical and Health Psychology Master’s Students

(the Dutch ánd the non-Dutch)

In September of the next college year, the revised master’s programme Clinical and Health Psychology will commence. Most of its components will remain largely the same (why change a winning horse?). So, as before, you will be getting to grips with scientific theories and state-of-the-art techniques related to key topics within the area of clinical and health psychology, and obtain the necessary skills for these areas. Of course, the revised programme also includes some new elements and it is one of these new components that I will further highlight in this blog.

…..*Drumroll*…..

Ladies and Gentlemen!

We are very excited to introduce to you: the new course Academic Professional!

…..*another drumroll*…..

This 5 ECTS course, unlike our current other courses, is spread over the whole academic year and so, you and your peers will be working (mostly in small groups) on becoming an academic professional from the first day of the year all the way till your graduation day.

Dear students, be prepared to dive deep into these waves of academia whereby you will collect shelves and stones (otherwise known as theoretical knowledge and skills). And where you will sift through heaps of sand to find sea stars (or, in more straight forward terms: expect to reflect upon your acquired knowledge and skills and hereby develop your own professional identity). Expect to come out on the other end (yes, indeed, I mean at the end of the academic year) as a fully prepared professional!

How, I can see you wonder, will we determine if you are fully prepared? That’s simple, because you will show us this if you are ready.

In contrast to courses that use written exams for assessing your capacity to remember facts or your ability to apply your knowledge to (often theoretical) situations, in the Academic Professional we will give you the opportunity to really test the waters and get down with the fishes. So, you are going to build a portfolio. And in that portfolio you will insert all the assignments, reports and activities that you will perform throughout the year. This will include your research proposal and final thesis, assignments on ethical procedures and ethical dilemmas, presentations and handouts, reports on colloquia and workshops you attended, feedback you have given on your peers’ work, but also the interviews you will conduct (and reflections on the interviews) with alumni and professionals from the field.  And last, but most certainly not least, it will include your own reflections on your functioning, strengths, weaknesses and progress as a trainee during your internship, thesis, and other course elements. We expect you to zoom in (“what does my perfect sea star actually look like?”) and zoom out (“what type of ocean am I swimming in?”) and be able to describe to us what makes you a good psychologist, what you have learned to do or – just as important – not do, and what you can do to continue learning.

You may feel a little panic at the idea of so much freedom in setting your own standards and are perhaps wonder how you will know what is “good enough”. Don’t worry, even though we won’t set the standards for you in our Academic Professional course, rather than leaving you to swim through the ocean all by yourself (I am aware that for some people getting a master’s degree feels a little like freestyle swimming), we, as your lecturers and supervisors, will be there throughout the whole course to help you find the sea stars. Note for those of who you who have not picked up on the sea-themed metaphors yet: this actually refers to developing yourself into an academic professional. We will be your gills underwater and help you learn to swim (again, help you develop yourself).

I, and I am sure many with me, are looking forward to jump into the sea with you.

See you in September!