The Ph.D. Program in general psychology was created to provide experienced master's level psychologists with doctoral level preparation to enhance their professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In Puerto Rico, psychologists were for many years granted license by the state with a minimum of master's degree in Clinical Psychology. For that reason, there are many professionals providing private and public mental health services without doctoral training.
This program was crated to meet the needs of the licensed psychologist without doctoral level professional training.

KEY ADVANTAGES / BENEFITS

Training Goals

The purpose of the Doctoral of Philosophy in General Psychology Program is to train doctoral level students, already licensed as psychologists in Puerto Rico, in the areas of consulting, teaching, and scientific research.

Training Model and Competencies Required

The curricular sequence of the Ph.D. in General Psychology Program includes 69 credits of course work, three supervised practica (for a total of 400 hours) Qualifying Exam and a dissertation. The program is offered only at the Puerto Rico Campus. The training model is based on the development of the following specialized skills:

- Development of needs assessment for educational and social services organizations
- Program development and evaluation
- Preparation of remedial strategies to promote quality of programs and services
- Curriculum development and evaluation
- Research project
- Article presentation and publication
- Consultation models and strategies application
- Teaching strategies and styles

Training Objectives

Upon competition of academic requirements the students will be able to:

Develop assessment methods for educational and social services
Construct and evaluate program designs
Construct and evaluate a curriculum
Serve as professional consultants for private and governmental organization
Develop and conduct research projects
Serve as professors considering different learning styles.