Master of Arts in Neuropsychology

Purpose

The purpose of the qualification is to produce graduates who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values necessary to register and practise as autonomous and socially responsible neuropsychologists, in accordance with the regulations and standards as set by the Professional Board of Psychology of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). On completion of the qualification, graduates will be equipped with advanced research and academic knowledge and skills with applicability in the field of neuroscience and mental health. Completion of the qualification will enhance the career of postgraduates by qualifying them as neuropsychologists.

Further, the purpose of the qualification is to produce postgraduates who can contribute to the economy and well-being of South Africa by providing expert services in neuropsychology, particularly to those previously unable to access practitioners with neuropsychological expertise. This qualification will also enable postgraduate educators to facilitate the propagation of neuropsychological expertise in other South African universities.

Rationale

This qualification course will constitute the training programme for a Master of Arts in Neuropsychology, which will lead to a professional registration as a Neuropsychologist with the HPCSA, which organisation has approved the implementation of Neuropsychology as a new registration category and has developed the scope of practice and education and training guidelines. This degree will stand alongside the MA in Clinical Psychology. Students who wish to pursue a professional career within the applied psychological arena will now have a further opportunity to do this.

The HPCSA has deemed this registration category relevant and a requisite for the South African context, as South Africa has extremely high numbers of people who are born with neuropsychological impairment or acquire such impairment secondary to illness or accident. Little knowledge, training or intervention is available at present in South Africa for such individuals and the neuropsychologist will play a major role in the identification and treatment of such individuals. The Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has a long history in offering training for the current applied registration category (Clinical Psychology).

Students who complete the course and register as neuropsychologists with the HPCSA will have opportunities to work in the Health Professions and develop individual careers devoted to the service and care of others, and also to assist other South African universities to propagate neuropsychological knowledge and skills. South Africa has long lagged behind other countries in offering training and registration in Neuropsychology. Such training and registration is offered in places such as the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Knowledge of the following is assumed

• Basic functional neuro-anatomy.
• Brain-behaviour relationships.
• Normal human cognition.
• Basics of psychological assessment and psychometrics.

Access to the Qualification

• Bachelor Honours Degree in Psychology or Neuropsychology.

The qualification has a total of 192 credits.

All the modules are compulsory.

The modules each have 24 credits, except for the Dissertation, which has 96 credits.

Modules

• Introduction to Neuropsychology.
• Neuropsychology Disorders.
• Neuropathologies.
• Neuropsychology Practicals.
• Dissertation.

1. Assess and diagnose neuropsychological disorders, and make differential diagnoses of the full range of neuropsychological and relevant non-neuropsychological disorders, and demonstrate understanding of the relationship between such disorders and underlying pathology and normal mechanisms of the brain.
2. Comprehend and communicate findings to and from other professionals relevant to neuropsychological disorders, and to and from patients and their families.
3. Design, implement and monitor neuropsychological rehabilitation programmes.
4. Produce a dissertation on neuropsychological research.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes

All the Critical Cross-Field Outcomes are addressed in the qualification.

The following Associated Assessment Criteria apply to all the Exit Level Outcomes

• Demonstrate competency in hypothetico-deductive methods of neuropsychological assessment of a wide range of disorders and pathologies, in counselling patients and families and in the design and implementation of neuropsychological rehabilitation programmes.
• Demonstrate competency in both the theory and assessment of neuropsychological disorders and in neuropsychological differential diagnosis in particular, as well as in the relationship between neuropsychological disorders and underlying brain pathologies and mechanisms.
• Demonstrate competency in psychological assessment, counselling, psychopathology differential diagnosis, clinical practice and research in general and ethics in particular.
• Demonstrate competency in functional neuro-anatomy, neuroradiology, clinical neurology, paediatrics, geriatrics and psychiatry - insofar as these are required for neuropsychological assessment and communication.
• Demonstrate competency in neuropathologies of relevance to neuropsychologists, with special reference to the relevance of modes of onset and clinical course of the illness and to the relationships between pathophysiology and clinical presentation.
• Demonstrate competency in analytical research processes and produce a dissertation on an area of study within the field of neuropsychology that interrogates professional literature and engages in critical debate and publish this dissertation in accordance with institutional policy.

Integrated Assessment

End of first year examinations are marked by internal examiners and moderated by a departmental external examiner.

End of first year practical examination is marked and moderated by a programme external examiner and moderated further by a departmental external examiner.

End of first year due performance certificate, based on continuous supervised case work and case presentations is sent to internal examiners/moderators.

Dissertation is marked by external examiners.