Naval Lieutenant and UMD Psychology Alumnus Ann Hummel 06' shares her
insights and experiences working within the field of Military Psychology.
Read her entire interview below!
What is Military Psychology?
The Society for Military Psychology (APA Division 19) defines it as "the conduct of research or practice of psychological principles within a military environment. This encompasses a variety of disciplines within the field of psychology including clinical and health psychology, training and human factors, manpower and personnel, social and organizational systems, and testing and measurement."
Military psychology includes experimental research and clinical work. Specialities for research psychology include cognitive, social, physiological, and industrial/organization; research psychologists work primarily in research laboratories or medical facilities. Clinical work is done by clinical or counseling psychologists. Clinical psychologists work in medical facilities, aboard aircraft carriers, combat and operational stress control teams, or as embedded psychologists, such as within an Army or Marine unit. The latter three settings will likely include deployments.
What sparked your interest in the Military Psychology field?
One of my graduate professors, an adjunct faculty member, was a consultant at Walter Reed, and his experiences working in a military setting struck me as very interesting and meaningful. I then completed an externship in a military setting with Navy Psychologists, and really enjoyed the patient population. As far as Navy Psychology specifically, I was especially interested in working aboard an aircraft carrier, and I found the locations for Naval stations to be most appealing personally, e.g., Japan, San Diego, Spain, Italy, Washington, DC.
Discuss your experience as an undergraduate psychology major at Maryland.
I enjoyed and benefited from the many opportunities for research involvement within our department. The Psychology Honors program was terrific preparation for grad school, especially the thesis project and the seminars. A large university can be made smaller by involvement in campus organizations and activities; a large department can be made smaller in similar ways. Mentorship from faculty and graduate students was also an important part of my experience.
Discuss your internship at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. What functions did you perform?
NMCSD has a one year, APA accredited internship program. There are typically 6 interns per year, so I had a nice cohort to work and bond with throughout the year. There are 5 rotations: two at branch medical clinics at local bases, outpatient and inpatient rotations at the hospital, and a health psychology rotation. The rotations all involve assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, and learning about military culture and regulations related to mental health. The inpatient rotation stood out for me, as I did not have any inpatient experience prior to internship. It was very fast paced with a lot of interdisciplinary interaction with nurses, psychiatrists, substance abuse counselors, recreation therapists, corpsmen, and patients' commands.
What are typical career paths related to the field of Military Psychology?
There are career options both within the military and for civilians. For example, the Uniformed University of Health Sciences (USUHS) has a PhD program in clinical psychology that is a pathway to become an active duty clinical psychologist. There is also a PhD program that is oriented towards research relevant to military psychology, and it is a pathway for a research or academic career. Civilian clinical psychologists work at military treatment facilities alongside their active duty colleagues.
There are several ways to become an active duty clinical psychologist: Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), USUHS, an APA accredited internship at one of the military treatment facilities at the end of one's doctoral training, entering one of the post doctoral fellowship programs, or direct accession after one is licensed.
In addition to the more traditional clinical roles at treatment facilities, military psychologists can become involved in operational psychology, such as working as a SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) psychologist or OSCAR (Operational Stress Control and Readiness) psychologist, working with special operations teams, going on deployments, and working in operational settings.
What advice or guidance can you provide students interested in Military Psychology? How might they best prepare for entrance into this field?
Students interested in military psychology should first and foremost focus on becoming strong, well-rounded psychologists. Having a solid foundation as a clinician and scholar will put trainees in the best position to then learn about topics specific to military psychology. The military provides many opportunities to learn about leadership, being an officer, military culture, and military regulations. I highly recommend that interested students talk with current or former military psychologists to get more personal perspectives about a career in military psychology. Every military psychologist I have met so far has been happy to discuss his or her experiences.
For more information about military psychology, here are some resources:
APA Division 19, Society for Military Psychology: http://www.apa.org/about/division/div19.aspx
Air Force: http://www.airforce.com/careers/detail/clinical-psychologist/
Army: http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/amedd-categories/medical-service-corps-jobs/clinical-psychologist.html
http://www.wrnmmc.capmed.mil/ResearchEducation/GME/SitePages/Psychology/Army%20Psychology.aspx
Navy: http://www.navy.com/careers/healthcare/clinical-care/clinical-psych.htmlhttp://www.wrnmmc.capmed.mil/ResearchEducation/GME/SitePages/Psychology/Navy%20Psychology.aspx
Marine
Corps: Join the Navy! Navy Psychologists serve as the psychologists for the
USMC.
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