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Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

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Programme Description

This is a three-year part-time programme which provides master-level Clinical Psychologists with advanced academic and clinical training to raise their standards of clinical and academic competence. The programme includes advanced clinical courses and practical training, in addition to the requirement of a clinical thesis research.

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).

Programme of Study

Course List

Course Code
Course Title
Unit
PSYC6010
Seminar in Research Methods II
3
PSYC7030
Clinical Psychology Advanced Workshops I
3
PSYC7040
Clinical Psychology Advanced Workshops II
3
PSYC7050
Clinical Psychology Advanced Workshops III
3
PSYC7100
Advanced Academic Seminar - Professional Issues
1
PSYC7230
Clinical Thesis Research I
2
PSYC7231
Clinical Thesis Research II
2
PSYC7240
Advanced Practicum I
3
PSYC7250
Advanced Practicum II
3
PSYC7910
Advanced Clinical Seminar I
1
PSYC7920
Advanced Clinical Seminar II
1

Coursework Requirements

Students are required to complete a total of 25 units of courses for graduation, which includes 19 units of required course and 6 units of Advanced Practicum.

                   

(a) Required Courses:          

 PSYC6010, 7030, 7040, 7050, 7100, 7230, 7231, 7910, 7920      (19 units)

             

(b) Practical Training          

 PSYC7240, 7250 (6 units)

Students are required to complete 6 units of Advanced Practicum which amount to 150-200 days of supervised practical training in selected area(s) of specialties.

Those with at least 3 years of relevant working experience can apply for exemption of Advanced Practicum. 

             

 Total:25 units

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

Qualifying Examination

Students are required to fulfill the PsyD candidature by passing the following candidacy assessment procedures:

Obtain a "B" grade or above in the courses of PSYC6010 (Seminar in Research Methods II) and PSYC7030 (Clinical Psychology Advanced Workshops I) before the end of the first semester in their second year. 

Thesis Proposal and Defense Meeting

After passing the qualifying examination, students can proceed to take the two thesis research courses, PSYC7230 and PSYC7231. Students are also required to submit a thesis proposal and pass a thesis proposal defense meeting no later than 30 May of second year of studies.

Other Requirements

  1. 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.

  2. Students must also fulfill the additional Term Assessment Requirements of the Programme. A student who receives two or more grades of D or below will be required to discontinue studies, unless special approval is granted by the Faculty Board.

  3. Students are required to submit a dissertation and pass an oral examination for graduation.

  4. A student must achieve a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in order to fulfill the graduation requirement, unless special approval is granted by the Graduate Council.

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

    • Students are required to complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in the first year of study, 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.

    • Students are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP), with effect from the 2025-26 intake.

  6. 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/.

    • The final DMP should have been shared to the CUHK community on DMPTool or the relevant platform that CUHK provides when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio to the Graduate School. Students are required to have published the data on the CUHK Research Data Repository or an open data repository with a valid Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or other forms of permanent identifier when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio. Upon thesis supervisor's endorsement, students can decide on how much data from the research project is to be published.

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)

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