The Neuropsychology Fact-Finding Casebook : A Training Resource

Use of a structured fact-finding approach that is based on sound clinical judgment and applied flexibility facilitates good clinical decision making and patient care in neuropsychology. This Casebook is a standardized approach to fact-finding that training programs at various levels can use to help trainees develop significant evaluation skills such as case conceptualization, differential diagnosis, and recommendations for patients with a wide range of presenting problems.

Formal training in clinical neuropsychology introduces trainees to diverse patient populations with a variety of conditions and disorders. Learning to competently apply a structured, fact-finding approach to case conceptualization, differential diagnosis, and treatment planning is an essential goal at all levels of training. This approach provides a valuable exercise and method of examining practitioner competence. The structured approach to case analysis promotes good clinical decision making, and exercises based on such an approach can help prepare clinicians for the oral exams that are a part of board certification. The Neuropsychology Fact-Finding Casebook is a resource for both supervisors and trainees in clinical neuropsychology, as well as for clinicians preparing for board certification. The volume provides 24 compelling and diverse fact-finding cases, one for each month of a two-year residency. Each case is presented in a stepwise fashion: presenting problem and referral question, background information and patient report, behavioral observations, and test findings. At the end of each case, a summary, diagnostic impression, recommendations, and questions are provided to assess, reinforce, and teach core competencies; an outcome section describes what occurred after the full case evaluation is completed; and critical teaching points are discussed. This Casebook is a standardized approach to fact-finding that training programs at various levels can use to help trainees develop such evaluation skills.