BASIC SCIENCE TRAINING IN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY - HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH

Training psychologists to administer psychotropic medication will requ ire acquisition of a unique knowledge base and set of skills that are generally not components of graduate education in psychology. Neverthe less, the current level of basic science training in graduate educatio n in psychology is substantial and should, with minor modification, al low adequate preparation for students to enter into specialized traini ng to prescribe. The direct provision of psychopharmacology requires p sychologists to demonstrate competencies in addition to those required in the general provision of psychological services. Such competencies are perhaps best taught at the postdoctoral level. The authors argue that all curricula training professional psychologists should be able to train psychologists capable of practicing as independent, full-fled ged health care providers.