The Summit on Clinical Science Training is scheduled for May 4-5, 2023, at the Eric P Newman Education Center at Washington University in St. Louis. The overarching goal of the Summit is to bring together a diverse group of influential leaders and stakeholders to think together about the future of clinical science training.

In the seven decades since the Boulder Conference on Graduate Education in Clinical Psychology was held in 1949, there have been tectonic shifts in clinical psychology including the emergence of the clinical science training model. During this period, our field has grappled with a host of issues including treatment effectiveness, challenges of dissemination and scale, alternatives to the DSM, disparities in mental health services, the role and timing of the internship, differing models of accreditation, the influence of systemic racism, and the replicability of our science. The decades since the Boulder Conference have also seen an explosion of new scientific knowledge and methods in other areas of psychology and adjacent disciplines that may be critical to our efforts to reverse the ever-increasing public health burden of mental illness. Against this backdrop of challenges and change, this seems to be a particularly opportune time to gather together to share ideas about 21st century clinical science training. 

We are inviting participants from organizations that represent the major stakeholders in clinical science training (including faculty from doctoral programs and internships, students, staff/supervisors, accreditors, licensing boards, and possibly employers). The response has been quite positive with an acceptance rate of over 90% thus far from 80 Academy of Psychological Clinical Science programs along with affiliated groups and organizations. The goal of the Summit on Clinical Science Training is to consider academic curricula, research training, applied clinical training, integration of new knowledge and skills, transitions into career paths, and how to train clinical scientists who can address pressing public health needs. The goal is not to develop a single proscriptive training model. Instead, we will explore possibilities, discuss priorities, consider a more evidence-based approach to training, and think together about ways to provide clinical science trainees with the skills and experiences they will need to have a significant and positive influence on current pressing issues in science, practice, leadership, and policy as well as those that may arise in the future. Infused throughout our activities will be an emphasis on rethinking how to develop clinical science training programs that address issues of structural and systemic racism and foster progress towards greater equity and social justice.