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Prospective PhD Students

Please note page was inspired by the #GradSchoolAccess letter—aiming to make graduate school admissions processes more accessible—led by Drs. Danielle Burchett and Justin L. Matthews at California State University, Monterey Bay. We followed this initiative and lab FAQ’s developed by Dr. Craig Rodriguez-Seijas and Dr. Jessica Schleider, and other colleagues including Dr. Lauren Ng, in preparing this material. We hope to join in efforts to make graduate school admission processes more accessible. Thank you to all who shared resources and knowledge. 

This document was prepared and adapted with the support of Kristen Regenauer (current graduate student), Morgan Anvari (current graduate student), and the rest of the GMAP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Student and Staff Recruitment and Retention Team. Please read more about our lab’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion here.

Updated: 22 September 2023

FAQs for applying to join GMAP (Global Mental Health and Addiction Program) as a PhD student

Jessica F. Magidson, PhD

Director, GMAP

Why did you post this information?

We are sharing this information to help increase accessibility and transparency of the clinical psychology PhD application process. We recognize that the clinical psychology PhD application process is an uneven playing field. Applicants without access to strong mentors, or without professional connections, may have less guidance when applying. By sharing this FAQ document—adapted for this lab based on examples indicated above—we hope to help “level the playing field” across applicants to our lab.

Please note that all responses in this document reflect only the opinions of our lab. They may not reflect those of the University of Maryland or other faculty in our clinical psychology program.

How do I know if I am a “good fit” for GMAP?

When reviewing prospective students’ applications, I am most interested in the goodness of fit between (1) applicants’ prior research experiences, interests, and goals; and (2) the lab’s mission, our research focus, and my own mentoring approach.

Overall, applicants who would likely be “good fits” would…

  •  Demonstrate commitment to a career in research. We look for applicants who have accrued both independent research experience (e.g., by leading a senior thesis, research project, and/or first-authored posters, talks, or papers) and collaborative research experience (e.g., by working as an investigator or research assistant in a lab, collecting data, conducting data analyses, co-authoring a poster, talk, or paper). More specifically, applicants interested in the implementation of evidence-based interventions in resource-limited settings, improving access to substance use treatment for underserved, minority individuals, and improving health outcomes, including for HIV and TB, through improving adherence and reducing stigma, will be a particularly strong fit. 

  • Demonstrate commitment to GMAP’s mission to increase access to evidence-based substance use treatment in resource-limited clinical settings globally. Our overall aim is to reduce health disparities and improve the lives of underserved, underrepresented, and marginalized individuals. Commitment to this mission may be demonstrated through your past experience (both research and applied, including employment and volunteer experience), your personal statement, and letters of recommendation.

  • Demonstrate commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion including, but certainly not limited to, race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, sexuality, and gender. Our lab is committed to anti-racist action—please read our official lab statement here. Applicants to this lab should be open-minded and dedicated to educating themselves while reflecting upon personal biases.

  • Demonstrate commitment to the clinical psychology PhD path. My current graduate students have worked full-time in careers or labs related to mental health or public health in low-resource settings. While not required to apply to this lab, these experiences are incredibly valuable to gain research skills and to ensure that this is the right program and fit for you.  

More specifically, applicants with the following research interests may be good fits to our lab:

  • Task sharing, and in particular, task-sharing with peer providers with lived experience, including of substance use disorder, across resource-limited settings globally and locally

  • Implementation science to improve access to substance use treatment in resource-limited settings, with a particular focus on South Africa and Baltimore

  • Examining models to reduce stigma around substance use to improve engagement in health care services

  • Designing, adapting, and implementing brief psychosocial, behavioral interventions for substance use disorders and/or medication adherence

We recognize that having access to previous mentors who can facilitate such independent research experience is in itself a form of privilege. If you believe that your prior research experience does not reflect your potential as a future scientist, please provide more detail on your independent roles in research that may not be reflected through publications or presentations. Additionally, you may (1) ask one of your recommenders to share more about your circumstances to help me holistically assess your achievements, or (2) provide this information in your personal statement. 

As a mentor, I feel best-prepared to support students who are interested in careers that involve applied, clinical, and/or intervention research. This includes a wide variety of career paths, including academic faculty positions (e.g., in departments of psychology, psychiatry, or public health); combined clinical-research careers (e.g., in academic medical centers); and in non-academic careers in applied research, public health, or health policy.

I believe that strong training in evidence-based practice is essential to becoming an effective, informed scientist. I am a licensed psychologist and have been a provider at a hospital-based setting and independent practice prior to my current position at UMD. I fully appreciate and support clinical work and believe clinical practice is essential for guiding effective research. However, I may not be the most effective mentor for applicants who are interested entirely in clinical practice careers.

What projects would I work on in GMAP?

Please see the “Research” section of the GMAP website for examples of our current research projects. The website introduces our projects based on global and local projects.'

Currently, we have active 3 NIH-funded trials in Cape Town, South Africa, all focused on the integration of substance use and HIV care, including peer-delivered interventions and stigma reduction. Domestically, we two studies currently: 1) an NIH HEAL Initiative study in Baltimore, MD designed to evaluate a peer-delivered behavioral intervention to improve retention in methadone treatment; 2) an NIH R01 evaluating a peer-delivered behavioral activation intervention delivered on a mobile treatment unit in rural Maryland. We also have a number of collaborations and studies that are wrapping-up.

In addition, my graduate students often develop and lead their own research projects. Current student projects include a study applying syndemics theory to understand barriers to successful opioid use disorder treatment outcomes, understanding key characteristics and hiring practices for selecting community health workers in task sharing models, and understanding the relationship between substance use stigma and HIV outcomes in South Africa. I encourage students to develop new and novel research that are feasible and further the mission of the lab and I am interested in learning about new ideas you may have.

 

My undergraduate GPA is below 3.5. Will this remove me from consideration?

No. Many factors can influence one’s GPA including competing commitments (e.g., working part-time while in school), family obligations, and health challenges. Academic achievement is very important, but context is too. If you believe your GPA (or other aspects of your application) do not reflect your potential as a future scientist, please provide more detail as you feel comfortable doing so, and clearly highlight this either in your personal statement or you can ask one of your recommenders to share more about your circumstances to help me holistically assess your achievements.

 

Should I email you to express my interest in applying to your lab? 

You are welcome to email me; however, it is not required. I unfortunately do not have enough time to set up individual phone or video calls with all prospective students. However, if you have specific questions that are not addressed in this document or on our lab website, please feel free to email me with those questions and I will do my best to address them. You may also reach out to the current graduate students to help answer questions about their experience. Prospective students are encouraged to review our website, which are designed to answer many common questions about our research directions and our lab culture and values. In particular, prospective students may want to review the What We Do page, Our Research page, Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion page, Our News page, and the questions answered on this page.

 

What should I include in my personal statement?

I find it helpful when applicants include the following in their personal statements:

1)    A clear statement of your general research interests, relevant prior research and/or work experiences if applicable, and how they relate to GMAP’s mission and work 

2)    A clear statement of why you are interested in our lab in particular versus other labs that focus on global mental health, substance use interventions or interventions in low-resource settings

3)    A statement about your career goals (even if they are approximate/ might change, it is helpful to see your current thoughts and aspirations!)  

4)    Discussions of your independent research experience(s)—or career/life experiences related to our lab’s research—and what you learned from them. I suggest emphasizing (1) the skills you developed from working on each project (e.g., data collection; coding/ running analyses; interviewing skills; partnering with community members; creating a protocol or IRB application; writing sections of a paper; submitting/ presenting a poster), and (2) what your “takeaways” were from the project—e.g., new research ideas or questions your work inspired.

5)    The work I do usually involves quite a bit of community partnerships and work with marginalized populations both within the United States and around the world (largely in sub-Saharan Africa). If you have experience working collaboratively with diverse communities, please provide these details.

6)    It is most helpful if you convey the skills that you have learned. How can your skills be further developed by my mentorship? Please illustrate it with some examples of how you think my research and clinical skills can help you get where you want to be. In addition, don’t just share that you are passionate about the GMAP mission, show me that you have experiences that demonstrate your commitment to the lab mission!

 For a few annotated examples of graduate student personal statements with commentary, please see this resource that Dr. Craig Rodriguez-Seijas (University of Michigan) put together. To see examples of graduate student personal statements, please see this resource that Dr. Craig Rodriguez-Seijas (University of Michigan) and Dr. Jessica Schleider (Stony Brook University) put together.

Additionally, having access to mentors who can help you craft personal statements is very helpful, but it is also a privilege that might not be equally available to all. There may be resources at your own undergraduate institutions that can help with this, like writing centers, library personnel, graduate students, or faculty. Additionally, this spreadsheet lists various academics who may be willing to help field questions and look over application materials.

 

What is your mentorship style/what types of PhD students are a good fit in your lab?

I aim to provide a collaborative, supportive, and respectful lab environment and mentoring relationship. I care about my mentees well-being and balance in addition to their academic success and productivity. I aim to provide hands-on support and guidance while also promoting independence. I encourage mentees to take on leadership roles, to reflect upon their own passions, interests, and goals, and to develop strong relationships with community and academic partners. I support mentees to present their work and publish both collaboratively and as lead authors. I aim to strike a healthy balance in our work together of humor, enjoyment, and productivity. Mentees who have prior work and research experience, feel comfortable working independently, and are able to bring their own independent research questions within larger studies in the lab are likely to be successful in our lab. I look for students who are passionate about improving the lives of underserved, marginalized individuals, who are detail-oriented, problem-solvers, and who do not shy away from the unavoidable frustrations and challenges of the research process. Most importantly, I aim to recruit individuals in the lab who are committed to building and maintaining mutual respectful relationships with other students, collaborators, and the communities where we work.

Do you currently have clinical psychology PhD students in your lab?

Yes. For more information about our current graduate students, please see our Research Team website page.

While some of the current graduate students applied to the lab with a master’s degree, this is not required. However, I do strongly recommend postbac work experience prior to applying to graduate school.

I have never had to write a CV—just a regular resume. HOW should I organize this document?

Please feel free to use these resources

Where else can I find information and guidance for my application process?

I recommend these resources: