Raising the Interest of Clinical Doctoral Students in Basic Research: Three Challenges

The present article addresses the problem of raising the interest of doctoral students in conducting basic psychological research within a clinical program. While many Tier 1 research institutions have little difficulty attracting graduate students and faculty who see research as their top priority, graduate students who choose to attend a clinical program primarily designed to produce clinicians may not only place less value on conducting basic research, but may likely have both greater demands to develop their clinical skills and fewer resources to support quality research. Three suggestions, provided in the form of challenges facing programs, are discussed: (a) placing a high priority on research mentoring when hiring new faculty, (b) conducting research that is relevant to clinical students, and (c) motivating students to develop good research skills