The APA designation ensures graduates meet doctoral program training requirements
for psychology licensure in most states.
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (PCOM) Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in schoolpsychology program has been granted initial accreditation by the American Psychological Association
(APA). This program now meets the gold standard for doctoral psychology programs and
ensures graduates meet the doctoral program training requirements for psychology licensure
set by most states, including Pennsylvania.
“We are very excited to share this with the PCOM community,” said Kate Tresco, PhD, director, PsyD program in school psychology, “We began developing the program in
2014, and welcomed our first cohort in 2016. We were officially granted accreditation
on October 20, 2019. This is particularly important for our students, as many high-quality
internships and postdoctoral training sites require students are enrolled in or graduate
from an APA-accredited program,” continued Dr. Tresco.
To date, this program has 17 students across four cohorts, with a fifth cohort beginning
summer 2020. Currently, there are only nine other PsyD in school psychology programs
on the APA’s list of accredited doctoral programs.
PCOM’s official accreditation status is “accredited, on contingency.” At this time,
the College is only eligible for “on contingency” status as this is a new program
that does not yet have graduates. PCOM will graduate its first PsyD in school psychology
cohort in 2021. This is an accredited status and graduates from this program will
have graduated from an accredited program.
About Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained
thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral
scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just
symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education,
operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic
medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers
graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical
sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling,
physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance
of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its
community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations.
For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.