Psychopharm exam under development

No matter how psychologists get their training to prescribe medication, at some point they?ll need to prove that they have the requisite knowledge base. At the direction of APA?s Council of Representatives, the APA College of Professional Psychology has appointed a panel of experts that is developing a psychopharmacology examination. The panel is working under the direction of Professional Examination Services, an exam development firm in New York City with more than 50 years of experience.

Selected for their experience and expertise in psychopharmacology, education and training in psychopharmacology, neuroscience, pharmacology, medicine and nursing as well as areas of practice or research, the 15 experts on the panel began their task by determining what psychologists need to know about psychopharmacology to practice safely and effectively. They then shared their ideas with a wider group of experts?including additional representatives from such fields as medicine, pharmacy and nursing as well as psychology?who are offering their comments and suggestions. By the end of the yearlong process, the panel will have produced an examination that state and provincial licensing boards can use once psychologists win prescription privileges.

'We?re developing an exam to test the knowledge base required of psychologists working in clinical research settings who are prescribing psychotropic medications or who are collaborating with those who prescribe such medications,' says Janet Ciuccio, executive administrator of the college. 'The exam will be made available to states if they want to use it.'

One might think that the existence of APA?s model curriculum in psychopharmacology would make developing the exam easier. Not so, says panel member Debra L. Dunivin, PhD, a prescribing psychologist who is chief of the outpatient psychology service at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, Ga. Dunivin also serves on the faculty of the center?s psychology and psychiatry residency program.

'We didn?t start with the curriculum and say, ?Now let?s build a test around it,?' she explains. 'In fact, we made a point of not doing that. Instead, we began the exam development process by asking the question, ?What do psychologists need to know to prescribe medications for psychological conditions safely and effectively??'

That kind of conceptual orientation is crucial to the development of a scientifically and legally defensible examination, says Vicki V. Vandaveer, PhD, who chairs the college?s Board of Governors.

'The profession can be assured that we are committed to the highest standards of quality and integrity in the process of exam development,' she says. 'Members of the Board of Governors feel privileged to have a chance to contribute to this historical initiative in the advancement of psychology.'

?Rebecca A. Clay