The profession of neuropsychologist in Canada: Findings of a national survey

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographic characteristics, academic training and types of professional activities of clinical neuropsychologists in Canada. Method: 282 participants completed an online-based survey. Results: Respondents were women for the most part and had a mean age of 43 years. They typically had doctoral-level training (85%) and about one-quarter had postdoctoral training (23%). Nearly half (47%) had a lifespan practice, over one-third (37%) had an adults-only practice, and about one-sixth (16%) had an exclusively pediatric practice. Most worked full-time (79%). Respondents were almost evenly split three ways between those who worked in the public sector, those who worked in the private sector, and those who worked in both. The most common professional activities related to assessment (95%), although clinical supervision (43%) and rehabilitation (42%) were also quite frequent, whereas research (27%) and teaching (18%) were less so. The most common reason for referral was to determine a diagnosis (79%). Pediatric neuropsychologists worked primarily with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and neuropsychologists working with adult populations worked primarily with individuals with emotional disorders, acquired neuropsychological disorders (traumatic brain injury, stroke/vascular), and neurocognitive disorders (dementia). Conclusions: At time of study, Canadian neuropsychologists seemed to enjoy a fairly balanced situation: Their level of training and the ratio of neuropsychologists per population were both high. However, these varied widely across Canada. This suggests that the profession and public interest would stand to gain from seeing training standardized to some extent nationwide.

Automated summary

This study investigated the demographic characteristics, academic training, and professional activities of clinical neuropsychologists in Canada. The results showed that Canadian neuropsychologists had a high level of training and a relatively balanced ratio to the population. However, there were significant variations across different regions in Canada, indicating the need for standardization of training nationwide.