The proposed rule amendments are intended to address the criteria to determine eligibility for the purpose of examination.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Board of Psychology

RULE NO.: RULE TITLE:
64B19-11.0035: Licensure by Examination: Proof Satisfactory to the Board for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for Examination
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The proposed rule amendments are intended to address the criteria to determine eligibility for the purpose of examination.
SUMMARY: The proposed rule amendments clarify the criteria for purposes of determining the applicant’s eligibility for examination.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: The Board determined that a Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost (SERC) was not necessary. The Board has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business, or likely increase regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within 1 year after implementation of the rule. These rule amendments will not require ratification by the Legislature.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 456.013(2), 490.004(4), 490.005(1)(b) FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 490.003(3), 490.005(1)(b) FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FAW.
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Allen Hall, Executive Director, Board of Psychology, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #C05, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3255

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

64B19-11.0035 Licensure by Examination: Proof Satisfactory to the Board for the Purpose of Determining Eligibility for Examination.

(1) through (2) No change.

(3) The following proof is satisfactory to the Board for the purpose of showing that the applicant’s degree obtained in the United States or Canada was obtained from a program comparable to a program accredited by a programmatic accrediting agency recognized and approved by the U.S. Department of Education: an original, signed letter on official letterhead confirming same and sent directly to the Board from the director of a doctoral psychology program accredited by the accrediting agency recognized and approved by the United States Department of Education, provided that the director has not had a relationship with the previously unaccredited institution from which the applicant received a degree that might appear to create a conflict of interest. The letter shall enumerate the exact documents that were reviewed in determining comparability. This letter also shall verify and describe how the applicant’s program met all of the criteria set forth in subsection (5).

(3)(4) The following proof is satisfactory to the Board for the purpose of showing that the applicant’s degree obtained outside of the United States or Canada was equivalent to a Ph.D. in psychology, a Psy.D., or an Ed.D. in psychology and was obtained from a program equivalent to a program accredited by a programmatic accrediting agency recognized and approved by the U.S. Department of Education: an original, signed letter on official letterhead confirming same and sent directly to the Board from the director of a doctoral psychology program accredited by the accrediting agency recognized and approved by the United States Department of Education. The letter shall enumerate the exact documents that were reviewed in determining comparability or augmentation. The Board shall also require the validation of degree and internship equivalence performed by a credentials’ evaluation service acceptable to the Board.

(5) For a Section 490.005(1)(b)4., F.S., applicant only, the Board will apply the following criteria to determine whether an applicant’s doctoral program was a program which maintained a standard of training comparable or substantially equivalent to the standard of training of programs accredited by the accrediting agency recognized and approved by the United States Department of Education:

(a) The doctoral program from which the degree was obtained must be clearly identified and labeled as a psychology program regardless of where it may be administratively housed. The doctoral program must also specify in pertinent institutional catalogs and brochures its intent to educate and train professional psychologists.

(b) The program, itself, must stand as a recognizable, coherent organizational entity within the institution.

(c) The program faculty must exercise clear authority and primary responsibility for the academic core and specialty preparation, regardless of whether the program also involves multiple administrative lines.

(d) The doctoral program must be an organized integrated sequence of study designed by the psychology faculty responsible for the program.

(e) There must be an identifiable psychology faculty. The program director must be a psychologist.

(f) The program must have an identifiable body of students who are matriculated in that program for a doctoral degree. Each student in the program must complete the same core of academic study, the elements of which are selected from a group of core courses designed and offered by the psychology faculty.

(g) The doctoral program must require a minimum of three academic years of full-time graduate study, defined as at least 18 credit hours per year, at least two academic years of which must be at a single institution, and one year of which must be in full-time residence at the institution from which the doctoral degree is granted. A program does not meet the criterion of a full-time residency on campus unless it:

1. Provides students with continuous access to a core psychology faculty whose primary time and employment responsibilities are to the educational institution;

2. Provides students with continuous access to other students matriculated in the program;

3. Provides students with continual access to an array of educational resources including library, clinical training sites, research facilities, etc.;

4. Provides for continuous collegial and administrative evaluation of the educational process;

5. Requires a period of continuous enrollment of not less than two out of three successive semesters attending classes on the campus of the institution from which the doctoral degree is granted. An internship year may not be used toward meeting the academic year requirements of this criterion.

(h) The doctoral program must include a supervised practicum of at least 400 hours, and field or laboratory training appropriate to the practice of psychology. The 400 hour required practicum must include at least seventy-five (75) hours of supervision.

(i) The doctoral program must require each student to have successfully completed a graduate level course in each of the following areas of psychology:

1. Biological bases of behavior (e.g., physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, sensation and perception, psychopharmacology);

2. Cognitive-affective bases of behavior (e.g., learning, memory, cognition, thinking, motivation, emotion);

3. Social bases of behavior (e.g., social psychology, cultural-ethnic and group processes, sex roles, organization and systems theory);

4. Individual behavior (e.g., personality theory, human development, individual differences, abnormal psychology, psychology of women, psychology of persons with disabilities);

5. Scientific and professional ethics and standards;

6. Research design and methodology;

7. Statistics;

8. Psychological measurements; and

9. History and systems of psychology.

(j) The program must require participation in a formal one-year internship. A formal one-year internship is defined as:

1. An internship accredited by the American Psychological Association, or

2. An internship which meets all of the following criteria:

a. The internship was an organized training program. It was not merely supervised experience or on-the-job training. Rather, it was designed to provide the intern with a planned, programmed sequence of training experiences, the primary focus and purpose of which was to assure breadth and quality of training.

b. The internship agency had a clearly designated staff-psychologist who was responsible for the integrity and quality of the training program and who was actively licensed or certified by the Board of Psychology.

c. The internship agency had two or more psychologists on the staff as supervisors, at least one of whom was actively licensed as a psychologist by the Board of Psychology.

d. Internship supervision was provided by a staff member of the internship agency or by an affiliate of that agency who carried clinical responsibility for the cases being supervised. At least half of the internship supervision was provided by one or more psychologists.

e. The internship provided training in a range of assessment and treatment activities conducted directly with clients seeking psychological services.

f. At least 375 hours of the intern’s time was in direct client contact.

g. The internship included at least two hours per week (regardless of whether the internship was completed in one year or two) of regularly scheduled, formal, face-to-face individual supervision with the specific intent of dealing with psychological services rendered directly by the intern. There must also have been at least two additional hours per week in learning activities such as: case conferences involving a case in which the intern was actively involved; seminars dealing with clinical issues; co-therapy, including follow-up discussion, with a staff person; group supervision; and additional individual supervision.

h. The training was post-clerkship, post-practicum, and post-externship level.

i. The internship agency had a minimum of two interns at the internship level of training during the applicant’s internship period.

j. The intern had a title which described the intern’s status as a trainee. Titles such as “intern,” “resident,” or “fellow,” are examples of the types of titles which would be indicative of the intern’s status as a trainee.

k. The internship agency had a written statement or brochure, made available to prospective interns, which described the goals and content of the internship and stated clear expectations for the quantity and quality of work to be performed by the intern.

l. The internship experience of at least 2,000 hours was completed within twenty-four months.

Rulemaking Specific Authority 456.013(2), 490.004(4), 490.005(1)(b) FS. Law Implemented 490.003(3), 490.005(1)(b) FS. History–New 1-7-96, Formerly 59AA-11.0035, Amended 12-4-97, 9-20-98, 11-24-98, 1-25-00,________.

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Board of Psychology
NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Board of Psychology
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: April 22, 2011
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: June 17, 2011