Rehabilitation Psychology Fellowship

Due to sudden and unforeseen circumstances, the University of Utah Rehabilitation Psychology Fellowship is no longer accepting a fellow in 2025. Please contact our fellowship coordinator with any questions or concerns.

Welcome to the

University of Utah Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Our Team

We are excited to have you join our team and for us to be involved in your continued development as a psychologist, researcher, and professional. We strongly believe that professional practice in rehabilitation psychology benefits from supervised postdoctoral training providing both foundational and functional competences expected of a specialist in rehabilitation psychology.

Postdoctoral Training

Our 2-year postdoctoral fellowship program offers a Major Area of Study in Rehabilitation Psychology. This program is designed to conform to the proposals from the National Conference on Postdoctoral Training in Professional Psychology and the Baltimore Conference Rehabilitation Psychology training guidelines.

Clinical Time

Fulfills eligibility requirements for board certification in Rehabilitation Psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology. Fellows will spend at least 80% of their time in supervised experience involving at least 50% time devoted to clinical care of persons with disability receiving rehabilitation services, and their family members and care teams. Our fellowship program estimates 80% of time will be devoted to clinical care.

Rotations

Fellows will complete four, six-month rotations working with both inpatients and outpatients who have traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries (SCIs), chronic pain, cerebrovascular accidents, severe burn injury, chronic neurologic conditions, amputation, polytrauma, and a variety of other conditions that impact functioning.

Scholarly Activities

Rehabilitation psychology fellows are encouraged to engage in a variety of scholarly activities, which will be tailored according to their interests, professional goals, and departmental support. This can include research, publications, professional presentations, development of a clinical/teaching/and/or/research portfolio, or creation of a job talk. Additional information can be found in our Fellowship Handbook.

Notable Dates:

Application Opens:

Applications Due:

Interviews:

Anticipated Start Date:

Applications are accepted through the APPACAS WebAdmit portal

REHAB PSYCHOLOGY
+ Training Director: Michelle Accardi-Ravid, PhD
+ The primary goal of the Rehab Psychology program is to equip psychologists with the skills and knowledge required to provide competent assessment, treatment, consultation, and research in the field of rehabilitation psychology specialty practice.

Training Director

Michelle Accardi-Ravid, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is a rehabilitation psychologist in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation who works across the inpatient medical rehabilitation units at the Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital with patients who have had spinal cord injuries/disorders, amputations, stroke, and/or brain injury. Her special interests include interdisciplinary management of pain as well as stigma and bias, especially as it relates to chronic pain and substance use disorders. She has lived in 5 states and dreams of visiting every national park. She enjoys making pizza and exploring local parks and restaurants with her toddler, husband, and dog. She is the Training Director of the Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Rehabilitation Services

Our purpose is to help adult patients with acquired injuries and disabilities rebuild, reimagine, and reinvent themselves and their lives to fully realize their purpose. Our dedicated teams are composed of regionally and nationally respected specialists dedicated to supporting patients and families from acute rehabilitation through wellness and independence. After patients leave our inpatient center, we continue to provide specialized rehabilitation care through outpatient physician services in our outpatient therapy services, wellness programs, ongoing patient education, and access to support groups. We are also the only CARF accredited Brain Injury, Stroke, and TBI specialty programs in Utah.

Our rehabilitation services are primarily located in a brand new facility — Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital. This new building features the latest advances in rehabilitation technology to help patients recover quicker from serious life-changing injuries and conditions. The values and goals of the University of Utah Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program fall under the mission of the University of Utah Hospital and Health Care System.

Goal & Objective

To train psychologists to be equipped to provide competent assessment, treatment, consultation, and research in rehabilitation psychology specialty practice. As a full member of the Council of Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Training Programs, we adhere to the Baltimore Conference guidelines for postdoctoral training.

Associated Objectives

Assessment
Intervention
Consultation
Research and scholarly inquiry
Administration and management
Professionalism

Our Mission

The University of Utah Health Sciences Center serves the people of Utah and beyond by continually improving individual and community health and quality of life. This is achieved through excellence in patient care, education, and research; each is vital to our mission and each makes the others stronger.