Specific Requirements

The PhD in Health Psychology Research and Professional Practice requires the fulfilment of two sets of criteria:

  1. Trainees are required to satisfy the normal university requirements for a PhD Thesis by Research in a topic relevant to health psychology.
  2. Secondly, trainees must demonstrate that they have achieved all the stage 2 competencies required by the HCPC to be eligible to apply to become a Health Psychologist and by the BPS for becoming a Chartered Psychologist, through the submission of a Portfolio of Competence during a minimum 2 year period of supervised and reflective practice.

N.B. Trainees must complete their PhD to be eligible to apply for BPS Chartered Psychologist status. To be eligible to apply to register with the HCPC as a Health Psychologist, a minimum of MPhil completion is required.

The Stage 2 competences that must be completed in order to be eligible to apply to become a HCPC registered Health Psychologist and a BPS Chartered Psychologist are set out in detail in Appendix 1 of this handbook. It is essential that you read this Appendix carefully and refer to it throughout your training, to ensure that every component of each competence is covered in the prescribed manner. A brief summary of the competences and the specific forms of evidence that must be presented for their completion is provided in Appendix 2 of this handbook. More details are provided in the section “The Portfolio of Competence”.

Note that while the competences that must be covered are similar to those set out in the Regulations for the Qualification in Health Psychology published by the BPS Division of Health Psychology, the accredited and approved procedures for undertaking supervised practice and documenting competence are slightly different in this PhD programme from those set out by the BPS. You should follow the procedures in this handbook where these deviate from BPS procedures.

Suitable health-related work

The offer and continuation of a place on the PhD programme is conditional upon the candidate securing suitable health-related work, defined below.

A trainee may undertake supervised practice whilst occupied in paid or voluntary work if engaged in:

  • health psychology related work within the health system (e.g. as psychological assistant, assistant psychologist, health education officer, researcher);
  • health psychology related work within the community or private sector (e.g. within a school, patient group, community group, or private or public company);
  • health psychology related work within an academic setting (e.g. as a research associate, postgraduate student, teaching fellow, lecturer).

Essentially, the trainee must have opportunities for work that are appropriate for exercise of all the key competences (see Appendix 1) and which, in the view of the supervisors and Programme Director, equates with the work of a health psychologist in training (see below). Health-related work may include paid employment, academic work, training and development activities, and voluntary work. Total work in relation to competences should encompass at least two settings. The supervisors may be able to assist in identifying settings that provide opportunities to develop competences. All sustained periods of health-related work will need to be approved and monitored annually to ensure the ongoing suitability of the work setting to meet HCPC Standards. Trainees must inform all service users (i.e. participants, students, patients, etc.) and colleagues of their status as a trainee health psychologist, unless they are already fully qualified to undertake the work (i.e. it is specified within their job description and being a trainee health psychologist was not a requirement of their appointment). However, if the work being undertaken would normally require a health psychologist, or service users or colleagues would be expecting a health psychologist, trainees are required to inform service users and colleagues of their trainee status.

Entry requirements

Applications to the programme must be approved by the supervisors and Programme Director (or another HCPC registered Health Psychologist and BPS Chartered Psychologist on the PhD programme if one of the supervisors is the Programme Director). Applications must include the following documents (see below for further details):

  • A CV
  • A certificate or letter confirming first degree
  • A certificate or letter confirming MSc grades
  • An Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) form (see Appendix 2) outlining MSc modules studied
  • A University application form with two references*
  • A supervision agreement (see Appendix 2)
  • A research proposal
  • A job description
  • A workplace agreement (see Appendix 2)
  • A supervision plan (see Appendix 2)

If English is not your first language, you must be able to evidence a good standard of written and spoken English (IELTS 7.0, with minimum of 6.5 in each component; for information on other accepted English language tests, please visit www.southampton.ac.uk/admissions_language)

Eligible applicants will then be provisionally offered a place, but any offer made is subject to the results of the following additional checks:

  • A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (enhanced level).** NB: this replaces the now obsolete Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check
  • A workplace setting approval visit by a member of the programme team

*Any physical or mental health conditions disclosed in the University postgraduate application form must be discussed with the Programme Director and will be assessed according to the University fitness to practise policy and procedures. Having a physical or mental health condition does not necessarily disqualify an applicant from registering on the programme as a condition need not affect fitness to study or practise if it is appropriately managed.

 **This programme is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. All police cautions, civil, or criminal convictions, including those considered to be spent, must be declared and discussed with the Programme Director. Having a record does not necessarily disqualify an applicant from registering on the programme. Any disclosure of criminal convictions will be assessed according to the University’s Procedures for Handling Applications from Students with Previous Criminal Convictions (http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/student-convictions.html), and the University fitness to practise policy and procedures.

 

Candidates will normally be expected to meet all the following criteria to be enrolled. Prospective supervisors can make a special case for Board approval to enrol a candidate who does not meet all these requirements.

Evidence of sufficient academic ability for undertaking a PhD:

  • Good first degree (2i or 1st).
  • The average overall mark for MSc work should be at least 65%, including at least 65% for dissertation and an average of 65% for research methods modules collectively. A lower mark (at least 60%) may be acceptable if the candidate seems particularly well qualified in other respects, or there are extenuating circumstances explaining a lower mark.
  • A University application form with references from two appropriately qualified academic staff with good knowledge of the candidate, explicitly stating that the candidate has good potential to complete a PhD.
  • A high quality research proposal (approximately 1-2 pages); this should be developed with input from the proposed supervisors, but should be the trainee’s own work. The research proposal should include both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Evidence of general aptitude for undertaking a PhD:

  • References confirm consistently high standards of ethical and professional conduct towards participants, colleagues etc.
  • References confirm ability to work well on own initiative and consistently meet deadlines
  • Good written communication skills (in English)

Evidence that the candidate will have access to suitable resources:

  • There is a good fit between the research proposal and the research expertise and interests of the supervisors
  • The proposed research is feasible and there is ready access to the resources required to complete it
  • The candidate (if part-time) is guaranteed sufficient time for research and study; this should be a minimum of 2.5 days a week (this can include any part of the time during paid employment that will contribute towards the PhD, plus a realistic portion of time when not employed)

Evidence of eligibility to undertake Stage 2 training:

  • Completion of an MSc in Health Psychology or a pass on the BPS Stage 1 examination (NB: to be eligible for BPS Chartered Psychologist status the MSc must be BPS accredited Stage 1 training)
  • Completion of an undergraduate psychology degree (NB: to be eligible for BPS Chartered Psychologist status the degree must be accredited by the BPS, i.e. have graduate basis for chartered membership (GBC))
  • A job description (see below for further details)
  • A workplace agreement, signed by the designated workplace contact confirming that there is agreement and appropriate support for the trainee to undertake the PhD (see Appendix 2 and below for further details)
  • A supervision agreement, signed by the trainee and supervisors outlining the goals and responsibilities of the trainee and supervisors (see Appendix 2)
  • A feasible supervision plan, developed with the supervisors (and where relevant, the workplace contact; see Appendix 2 and below for further details)
  • Confirmation of a satisfactory enhanced DBS check
  • Approval of the workplace setting

The supervision plan and research proposal must first be discussed with and agreed by the proposed supervisors, and where relevant, the workplace contact. At this stage they are not expected to be detailed, since more precise plans of work will be developed once enrolled. However, they should demonstrate that there are realistic opportunities and plans for undertaking all of the supervised practice required. The research proposal should provide a brief background to the research area, the sort of work planned and the methods to be used. The plan and proposal can be changed during the course of study to fit changed opportunities or circumstances, with the agreement of the supervisors, and if relevant, the workplace contact. Trainees may request up to six months backdating of the Supervision Plan, which may be permitted if considered appropriate by the supervisors and Programme Director, but must not overlap with the period of registration for Stage 1.

The supervision plan outlines:

  • the areas of work through which core competences will be addressed, with target dates for completion for each core competence. This should be determined by reference to the competences detailed in Appendix 1.
  • types of evidence which will be used to demonstrate satisfactory performance within or across core competences
  • name of supervisors and expected date of overall completion
  • additional training/development activities as required

N.B. Total work in relation to core competences must encompass at least two different client groups or target populations (e.g. healthy population, patients, health care professionals, people with disabilities, etc.).

The job description should consist of:

  • a copy of the official version issued by the employing or voluntary organisation(s) outlining main areas of work activity and responsibilities;
  • an additional sheet proposing how these areas of work activity/responsibilities relate to the core competences (it is not necessary to specify units); and
  • an estimate of the percentage of total work time spent on each area of work activity/responsibilities; and
  • the total percentage of work time spent on core competences overall.

It is not necessary that an equal proportion of time be spent on each core competence. What is essential is that the total amount of time spent in psychological practice equates in terms of both quality and quantity with what would normally be expected of a health psychologist in training. Quality can be defined in terms of scope for handling complex situations and requirements, utilising ethical awareness, best practice and psychological theory and exercising an appropriate degree of responsibility. Quantity is defined as equivalent to a five-day working week for 46 weeks a year, for two years. Where work does not equate in terms of quantity with what would normally be expected of a health psychologist in training, the Faculty can extend the period of supervised practice required. This option will only be exercised for work deemed to be of sufficient quality to be counted towards the PhD.

The required amount of supervised practice can be specified in multiples of one year as follows. If the job description essentially matches what would normally be expected, a two year period of supervised practice will suffice for completion of the stage 2 competences. If the job description indicates the work to be approximately three-quarters of what would be expected, a three year period should be specified. If the work is judged to be half of what would be expected, a four-year period should be specified; trainees are not permitted to enrol if engaged in supervised practice for less than half of their time.

Workplace settings

Relevant health-related work (specified in the BPS criteria) may include work within an academic setting such as being a postgraduate student. Therefore, it is envisaged that the primary workplace setting for all trainees on the programme is being a PhD student (full time or part time) at the University of Southampton, where they are supervised by a HCPC registered Health Psychologist and a BPS Chartered Psychologist. Whilst this role will provide most or all of the opportunities to gain the competences, in some cases, trainees may need to undertake additional relevant health-related work outside of their role as a PhD student, in order to fulfil certain competences. This will vary according to each trainee’s supervision plan. Case studies one and two below set out these two scenarios in more detail.

Case study one

All competences can be fulfilled by work completed in the trainee’s role as a PhD student (full time or part time). The requirement that work must be carried out in a second setting is fulfilled by brief experiences that are within the scope of the trainee’s role as a PhD student; therefore, additional workplace approval and monitoring is not necessary because supervision remains within the scope of the PhD supervisors role. Examples of these experiences include:

  • Presenting work at conferences
  • Carrying out PhD research in primary or secondary care settings
  • Carrying out PhD research in community or other settings (e.g. health-related charities, or self-help groups)
  • Teaching and assessment within the University
  • Other brief consultancy work

Case study two

Some competences can be fulfilled by work completed in the trainee’s role as a PhD student (part time). However, the trainee’s PhD work may not involve a second work setting and/or they may wish to financially support their studies by carrying out paid work that also counts towards their overall period of supervised practice. Therefore, the remaining competences may be fulfilled by sustained periods of additional health-related work undertaken outside of their role as a PhD student. Examples of additional health-related work are described above, and may include:

  • Research Assistant/Associate/Fellow
  • Teaching Fellow
  • Assistant Psychologist
  • Health Education Officer
  • Smoking Cessation Advisor

Trainees are responsible for identifying their own work opportunities and obtaining initial agreement from their employer to support their enrolment on the programme. This work may only contribute towards trainees’ overall period of supervised practice or competences if the programme requirements are met, i.e. a suitable workplace contact must be appointed, a workplace agreement signed, and satisfactory workplace approval and annual monitoring visits must be carried out (see Appendix 2). The workplace approval and monitoring visits must be carried out by a member of the programme team  before the work can count towards the period of supervised practice. The workplace approval visit must be carried out within 6 months of pre-enrolment Stage 1 approval being granted by the Programme Director (as evidence for competences can be backdated up to 6 months). When the period of work comes to an end, trainees must find new programme-approved health-related work and submit an amended supervision plan, unless remaining competences can be met within their PhD studies.

 

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