Postdoctoral Fellowship
Application and Selection Process
Procedures United States Army 73B psychologists interested in applying for the fellowship can obtain instructions for application from the Long Term Health Education and Training Program (LTHET), Medical Service Corps, United States Army. Active Duty Army Psychologists should access the MILPER (Military Personnel) message and read them carefully. A MILPER message is published annually, typically released between October-December each year. Interested applicants can check the H RC (Human Resource Command) website for the release of the recent LTHET MILPER instructions. Notifications will also be sent by the National Training Coordinator. The MILPER includes general eligibility criteria for all LTHET programs, which can change annually, to include time in service requirements, completion of military education prior to start of program and any other requirements. The requirements to apply for clinical psychology fellowships includes having an unrestricted license to practice psychology in the US, US territories or District of Columbia and to be in good standing with the Army. Applicants cannot have less that 5-years time in service and no more than 13 years by the projected start of the fellowship, unless this requirement is waived. Deadline for application varies and is set by the Defense Health Agency and outlined in the MILPER. Selection results by the LTHET Board are typically released in the June/July timeframe. The fellowship will ordinarily begin on July 1 of the following year and should start no later than July 15. 73Bs incur a 2-year active duty service obligation (ADSO) for a 2-year fellowship program. Alternative starting dates due to extenuating circumstances must be approved by the Fellowship Director and Psychology Consultant.
The first phase of the application process is to fill out the Medical Service (MS) application and email the National Training Coordinator of your intent to apply. Include Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT)/Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) requirements and proof of compliance. Electronically sign your application and submit to your Commander for signature (must be O-5 or O-6). After receiving the signed application back from your Commander, the second phase consists in submitting any waivers, if required, and signing and submitting your application to your Career Manager. Once your application is received the National Training Coordinator will inform the Fellowship Program Director, who will contact you to schedule an interview. Prior to this interview the applicant should send the following materials to the Fellowship Program Director: 1) a letter of interest, 2) CV, 3) Officer Record Brief (ORB), 4) two letters of recommendation, 5) three most recent Officer Evaluation Reports (OER), 6) graduate school transcripts, and 7) two anonymized samples of evaluations, preferably with a forensic focus, if available. After the Fellowship Program Director and forensic faculty have reviewed the materials, a telephonic interview of the applicant will be conducted by the Fellowship Program Director with additional faculty. The current Fellowship Director is Paul Montalbano, PhD, ABPP. His phone is 301-319-5653 and his email is paul.montalbano1.civ@health.mil. You may contact Dr. Montalbano at any time with questions you have. The Fellowship Program Director will then submit a Suitability for Forensic Postdoctoral Fellowship Memorandum to the Psychology Consultant.
When you receive your application back from your Career Manager, submit the application along with your last 3 OERs, APFT/ACFT Card or proof of compliance with Army Directive 20-06/most recent Army physical fitness guidance, Body Fat Composition Worksheet, if required and CV to the Psychology Consultant. If the applicant is requesting a waiver, the application must be sent back the Career Manager, After the interview with the Fellowship Program Director the Psychology Consult will review the Suitability Memorandum from Dr. Montalbano and use this information along with other application information to Concur or Non-Concur with your LTHET application. The Psychology Consultant’s Concurrence or Non-Concurrence will be visible to the LTHET Board. The LTHET Board makes the final selection.
Navy Applicants - Starting July 2021, the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Forensic Psychology expanded access, permitting applications from psychologists serving on active duty in the U.S. Navy. The fellowship application and selection process for Navy psychologists mirrors the application and selection process for Army psychologists, though differences do exist in the parallel process of how each branch of service allocates and selects officers to attend specialization training. Regarding the Navy application process, all fellowship opportunities are announced annually through a Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) notice. This notice describes all training opportunities for Naval Officers for Duty Under Instruction (DUINS) Degree and Non-Degree programs. Applicants must forward an application letter to the Commanding Officer, Navy Medicine Professional Development Center via the applicant’s commanding officer and specialty leader. The BUMED notice details timelines for their application process, inclusive of multiple steps before, and after, applying to the forensic fellowship. Once received, the Navy Specialty Leader for Psychology coordinates submission of applications from interested psychologists with the Program Director for the Forensic Fellowship. These applicants submit an application packet similar to Army applicants; however, being a different branch of the Armed Services, there are different names for similar documents. The application packet includes: 1) letter of interest, 2) Officer Service Record (OSR), 3) the last 3 Fitness Reports (FITREPs), 4) Curriculum Vitae (CV), 5) copy of graduate school transcripts, 6) two letters of recommendation, and 7) two anonymized sample reports, preferably with a forensic focus. Once the materials are reviewed, a telephonic or remote video interview is scheduled and conducted. The Program Director submits a Memorandum regarding the suitability of each candidate for the fellowship to the Specialty Leader. If the candidate is qualified the Director also submits a Forensic Conditional Acceptance Letter to the candidate, who in turn, sends this to the Specialty Leader. All final packets are reviewed annually at the Navy Medical Service Corps (MSC) DUINS selection board, convened by The Commander, Navy Personnel Command Selections are based on the quality of application, command endorsement, professional performance, promotion potential, physical readiness, and assignability. All selected officers receive full pay and allowances commensurate with their grade and rank throughout the fellowship and incur a 3-year service obligation for attending.
The knowledge base upon entry into the fellowship will ordinarily include doctoral level competency in the following substantive areas:
A. General Psychology Core
- Statistics and methodology
- Learning, cognition, and perception
- Personality and social psychology
- Biological basis of behavior
- Life span development
B. Generic Clinical Core
- Psychopathology
- Psychometric theory
- Interview and assessment techniques
- Intervention techniques
- Professional ethics
Applicants are invited to contact the Program Director Dr. Paul Montalbano (paul.montalbano1.civ@health.mil) or the Program Coordinator Nicole Hill (Nicole.m.hill.civ@health.mil and current Fellows to learn more about the program.
Diversity
The WRNMMC Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program in Forensic Psychology encourages applications from all qualified United States Army psychologists and United States Navy Psychologists.
Salary and Benefits
As all individuals who are accepted for the WRNMMC Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program in Forensic Psychology are active duty United States Army and United States Navy officers, salary and benefits are commensurate with military rank. Current military pay tables can be viewed on the Defense and Finance Accounting Service web site http://www.dod.mil/dfas/.