Article archive / February 2018
Originally published: . Volume 9, No. 2. Source pages: 9.
Tulane Psychology will offer a certificate in health psychology to students in the Psychological Science PhD program at the university, beginning in Fall 2019 to be coordinated by Dr. Michael Hoerger.
Health psychology is the scientific discipline that seeks to understand and change the psychosocial factors affecting physical health outcomes.
“The certificate program goes into effect Fall 2019,” current Chair of the Department of Psychology and Professor, Dr. Janet Ruscher said, “and is only available for students enrolled in our psych doctoral programs. It draws upon existing graduate courses in Health Psychology and Behavioral Health Research Methods, as well as faculty expertise in psycho- oncology, stress, and health disparities.”
The certification program will be led by Dr. Michael Hoerger, clinical health psychologist. Dr. Hoerger has focused his career on conducting interdisciplinary research and has served over 30 professional journals. He serves on the editorial board of Health Psychology, manages the charitable foundation web site for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and reviews grants for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. He was Tulane’s first faculty member to complete the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center’s Roadmap Award.
In completing the certificate, students focus 15 of their credits on health psychology foundational courses, advanced courses in methodology and statistics, and clinical or disease-specific courses. The training will empower students to improve public health and well- being through health psychology research careers in academic, medical, and other settings.
Dr. Hoerger’s research draws from the perspective of translational psychological science.
His psycho-oncology studies are informed by basic psychology research and theory related to personality, emotion, and decision- making. This includes Dr. Hoerger’s seminal work on ‘affective forecasting’ and ‘delay of gratification.’ He is known for his methodologic expertise in study design, survey development and measurement, statistics, and web design.
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