CMHD

Doctoral Training

Graduate Education and the CMHD Lab

Graduate students at the University of Ottawa who are interested in mental health disparities have an opportunity to get involved with the work of the CMHD Lab. Although part of the uOttawa Clinical Psychology division, there are opportunities for students from several departments, as the CMHD Lab aims to be interdisciplinary.

Research Experience

Graduate students involved with the CMHD Lab participate in ongoing research projects focused on cross-cultural psychology and mental health disparities. Students learn how to conduct research that makes appropriate use of sociocultural variables in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of results. All students have opportunities to present their work at scientific conferences and publish scientific findings. Graduate students also develop their own related research interests in collaboration with their mentor. Applying for fellowships and predoctoral grants is encouraged.

Developing Culturally-Competent Clinicians

The Centre for Psychological Services and Research (CPSR), which serves clients from both the community and the University, provides a major portion of practicum experiences for clinical psychology students. The CMHD lab will be partnering with the CPSR to serve a wide range of diverse clients, providing additional learning opportunities for students training to become mental health professionals. More about the clinical psychology graduate training program...

Coursework with a Broader Perspective

Several graduate courses at the university are taught by Dr. Williams, which ensures exceptional coverage of multicultural issues. Such courses have included clinical psychopathology, assessment and treatment of ethnoracial minorities, and advanced workshops in diversity, community, and clinical topics.

Teaching Experience

Graduate students may have appointments as teaching assistants for Dr. Williams, which is an excellent introduction to academic teaching, and some students in the CMHD have been TAs for Multicultural Psychology. Students are also given opportunities to provide guest lectures in related courses taught by CMHD faculty, including Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Psychology. Students also strengthen their presentation skills by presenting research at academic conferences.

Prospective Graduate Students

Applicants are encouraged to send email directly to Dr. Williams to express interest. Applicants should submit a complete application to the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa and indicate that they are interested in working with Dr. Williams.

Preference will be given to competitive applicants with an interest in racialized populations, cross-cultural psychopathology, or mental health disparities. Bilingualism is a plus.

What makes for a strong application?

  • Undergraduate education at a competitive university with a good psychology department
  • Good undergraduate grades, especially in your psychology courses (explain any poor grades)
  • Clinical or counseling experience of any type, including volunteer work
  • Research experience through an independent research studies course or job
  • Evidence of research ability in the form of an honor's thesis, posters, or publication
  • Strong letters of recommendation from mentors that you know well
  • A cogent, well-written statement indicating a passion for psychopathology research and mental health

More information about the clinical psychology program and how to apply...

Publication Outlets

The following journals have been receptive to the work of the CMHD Lab.

Research and Publishing the CMHD Lab

Teamwork

Most projects will be completed in teams, therefore the ability to work well with others is required for success in the lab. Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way, with a group of interdependent individuals who work together towards a common goal. Although each student will have unique primary areas of focus and projects they are leading, all students are expected to assist with all projects as needed. Students who persistently do not get along with labmates, who interfere with learning, or who engage in uncollegial behaviour may be asked to leave.

Authorship

All students who are in the lab for more than one semester will be provided opportunities to publish or present research, and it is expected that graduate students will be co-authors on lab manuscripts. Authorship ordering will be determined based on contributions once the manuscript is complete. Contributions do not just apply to writing, but also conceptualization, data collection, editing, revising, and shepherding the manuscript through the publication process. Therefore, doing the bulk of the writing does not guarantee a first author position. Students who have not written journal articles before should not expect to be first author right away as it is a learning process. Publishing a manuscript requires perseverance, as the process can take anywhere from months to years. Additionally, students who fail to complete lab projects in a timely matter or abandon projects in progress may be removed as authors and instead be listed in the Acknowledgements. However, students who relocate due to internship or graduation may assist in completing projects remotely if they wish to ensure they will be retained as authors.

Peer-Review

A note on what 'peer-review' means: A manuscript is submitted to the editors of a specific journal, who then sent it to anonymous reviewers, who, along with the editors, provide feedback and suggestions (or demands) for specific changes. Those requested changes are incorporated into the final published version or otherwise addressed (e.g., shown by the authors, to the editors' satisfaction, to be unwarranted or otherwise unnecessary). This peer review process can help ensure quality control in the scientific enterprise, although it can also hinder or prevent the publication of ideas and findings that challenge the conventional wisdom of editors and reviewers.

Text Recycling

According to BioMedC Central (BMC), text recycling, also known as self-plagiarism, occurs when sections of the same text appear (usually un-attributed) in more than one of an author's publications. The term 'text recycling' is intended to differentiate from true plagiarism (i.e., when another author's words or ideas have been used, usually without attribution).

In general, authors should consider how much text they will recycle. The reuse of a few sentences is clearly different to the verbatim reuse of several paragraphs of text, although large amounts of text recycled in the Methods might be more acceptable than a similar amount recycled in the Discussion. Recycling may be unavoidable when using a technique that the author has described before, and it may actually helpful when a technique that is common to a number of papers is described. However, text recycling is almost always unacceptable in the Results section if it duplicates previously published data. Also Conclusions should not be recycled.