Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

Programme Description

This programme provides advanced research and clinical training to master-level clinical psychologists to raise their standards of professional practice and academic/research competence. The aim of the programme is to train future leaders in the clinical psychology profession, preparing graduates of this programme for senior posts in either tertiary educational institutions or practice settings. In other words, these doctoral graduates are expected in the future to play the roles of resourceful teachers of psychology who nurture young budding psychologists, pioneering researchers who expand the frontier of knowledge, or senior practitioners who monitor and raise the level of professional practices.

Study Period

The normative and maximum study periods of different research programmes shall be as follows:

Degree

Normative Study Period

Full-time Part-time

Maximum Study Period

Full-time Part-time

36 months 48 months

48 months 64 months

Students with a research master's degree

Students without a research master's degree

84 months 96 months

Admission Requirement

General qualifications required by the Graduate School
Fulfil the "English Language Proficiency Requirement" as stipulated by the Graduate School
(Please refer to the "Postgraduate Prospectus" or Graduate School Homepage for details on these requirements)
Possess a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology
Have eligibility for membership in the Division of Clinical Psychology, Hong Kong Psychological Society
Remarks: Knowledge of spoken Cantonese and written Chinese is required (Courses are taught in Cantonese and English).

Additional Application Information

In addition to the general application materials, all applicants should submit a thesis proposal in English (2,500 words or above).

Tentative Programme of Study

Course List

Course Code	Course Title	Unit
PSYC6010	Seminar in Research Methods II	3
PSYC6300	Writing and Presentation	2
PSYC7100	Advanced Academic Seminar - Professional Issues	1
PSYC7300	Future Directions in Clinical Psychological Science	3
PSYC7400	Clinical Supervision: Theory and Practice	3
PSYC7500	Independent study on clinical research	3
PSYC7910	Advanced Clinical Seminar I	1
PSYC7920	Advanced Clinical Seminar II	1
PSYC8100	Dissertation Research	4

Tentative Coursework Requirements

Students are required to complete a minimum of 17 units of courses (excluding PSYC8100) for graduation.

(a) Required Courses:

PSYC6010, 6300, 7100, 7300, 7400, 7500, 7910, 7920 (17 units)

(b) PSYC8100

After passing a candidacy assessment, students are required to take PSYC8100 every term, throughout the preparation of dissertation, until its completion. Students will gain the units each time they pass PSYC8100.

Please visit the website of the Department of Psychology for more information.

Qualifying Examination

Students are required to fulfill the Ph.D. candidature by passing one of the following candidacy assessment procedures:

(1) Obtain a "B" grade or above in the courses of PSYC6010 (Seminar in Research Methods II) and PSYC7500 (Independent Study on Clinical Research). Students who opt for this assessment procedure for establishing their PhD candidacy are still required to pass the written examination as stated in (2) within their study period for graduation;

(2) Pass a written examination which consists of a written review paper and an oral examination. Students are required to do a review-type paper (literature review, including ideally a meta-analysis if feasible) of approximately 6,000 words in main text (around 30 pages double-spaced) on a topic related to clinical psychology as approved by their supervisor. Students are also required to pass an oral examination on this review. A student will be asked to retake the examination if he/she fails the examination for the first time. A student, however, will be asked to withdraw from the programme if he/she has failed the examination for the second time.

Thesis Proposal and Defense Meeting

Upon the passing of the candidacy assessment, a student is required to submit a thesis proposal and pass a thesis proposal defense meeting no later than 30 January of third year of studies.

Other Requirements

Students must fulfill the Term Assessment Requirement of the Graduate School. For details, please refer to Clause 13.0

“Unsatisfactory Performance and Discontinuation of Studies” of the General Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies which can be accessed from the Graduate School Homepage: https://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk.
Students must also fulfill the additional Term Assessment Requirement of the Programme. A student who receives two (or more) grades D or below will be asked to discontinue studies, unless special approval is granted by the Faculty Board.
Students are required to submit a dissertation and pass an oral examination for graduation.

Students are required to complete the following Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) in their first year of study for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements:

Complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in the first year of study for completion of the University-specified requirement, with effect from the 2022-23 intake. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/download/IPL-Researchskills.pdf.

In addition to completing the IPL modules stipulated for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements, students are also required to complete the following IPL modules for graduation:

Complete an IPL module on “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html.
Complete an online Research Ethics Training (RET) module on “Publication Ethics” offered by the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services (ORKTS) and obtain a valid Publication Ethics Certificate for graduation. Relevant information can be accessed from the RET website at https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/.

Career Prospects

Graduate students of this programme have been employed as clinical psychologists in

Hospital Authority (HA)
Government Departments e.g. Social Welfare Department (SWD), Department of Health (DH) etc.
Disciplinary Forces e.g. Hong Kong Fire Services Department (HKFSD), Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF)
Educational Institutions e.g. Schools, Universities
International Organization e.g. World Health Organization (WHO)