pSyTORM Lab
pSychological Training, Operations, and Research in the Military Lab

 

pSyTORM (pSychological Training, Operations, and Research in the Military) Lab

The pSyTORM (pSychological Training, Operations, and Research in the Military; pronounced ‘storm’) Lab is a unique joint training environment that is led by current and former uniformed military psychologists. The pSyTORM Llab is focused on developing military psychologists as leaders in both clinical application and responsible conduct of research focused on military psychology. Students in the pSyTORM Llab are expected to develop research skills that complement the work of active duty clinical psychologists as scientist-practitioners. This includes an emphasis on program evaluation and quality improvement as well as conducting collaborative research across the Military Health System with anticipated relevance at all levels from tactical to strategic. The lab operates under a co-mentorship model which involves joint mentorship meetings and weekly planning meetings with lab members, while providing an opportunity for individualized mentorship as needed. Research projects focus on a wide range of military-focused applications and adjust based on the operational needs of the services. For all projects, students receive training and focus in mixed methodology, to include explicit training on qualitative methodology (e.g., conducting interviews and analyzing narrative data). Students also have the opportunity to conduct independent quantitative analysis and often present at local and national conference as well as co-author manuscripts. Specific additional clinical experiences are described below.

 

Inside the lab

More about Dr. Landoll
Publications
 

68%

Unplanned Pregnancies in Single Female Service Members

29.5%

Decrease in Purchased Care Costs Achieved with PCBH “First Stop” Innovation

72

Total training hours in joint interprofessional Behavioral Health at Bushmaster field exercise

1/3

Proportion of high-performing learners endorsing self-care as critical to their academic success

 

Areas of Focus

Active projects in the pSyTORM Lab:

  1. Military Active-duty Reproductive + Sexual Health (MARSH) Research Program. The MARSH Research Program, founded in 2017, is co-led by Dr. Ryan Landoll at USU, Dr. Sara Vargas at The Miriam Hospital/Brown University, and Dr. Candy Wilson at Florida Atlantic University in collaboration with over 12 military treatment facilities and the Defense Centers for Public Health - Portsmouth (DCPH-P). MARSH focuses on improving service member readiness and wellness through the development of a smartphone-based psychoeducational sexual and reproductive health intervention, Mission Wellness. This ongoing research has been continuously funded by the USU Military Women’s Health Research Award, TriService Nursing Research Program, and DCPH-P with current agreements through 2028 and projected future funding.
     
  2. Behavioral Health at Bushmaster. This area of research, led by Dr. Landoll, is focused on evaluating military disaster mental health training programs for behavioral health trainees and professionals and leveraging simulation education for behavioral health. There are two active studies as well as other work related to this research. This research is funded by an award from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 19 (D19) for military psychology and the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP). 
     
  3. Academic Success Program Evaluation.  In collaboration with the Office for Student Affairs (OSA) and the Long-Term Career Outcomes Study (LTCOS), under the supervision of Dr. Landoll, the Academic Success Program Evaluation explores various aspects of military health professions education. This research is partially funded by the Northeastern Group on Educational Affairs (NEGEA) within the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). The focus is on application to the warfighter and other healthcare education platforms. Other projects that fall under evaluation of OSA’s focus on academic advising, career advising, and well-being support for military medical students allow for the application to other specialized and high-performing military operational units. 
     
  4. Grit & Growth: Resiliency Curriculum Program Evaluation. Resiliency Curriculum Program Evaluation. Grit & Growth is a four-module resiliency building program for Army medical students administered during the first summer of medical school adapted from the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Model. In collaboration with OSA, this evaluation examines the impact of the Grit & Growth program on medical students. The 4-level Kirkpatrick model of training evaluation is the framework upon which the evaluation is based. Research assistants also have the opportunity to facilitate the resilience curriculum to the Army medical students
     
  5. Improving Family Readiness (iFAR) through School-Based Behavioral Health. iFAR is funded by the Military Operational Medical Research Program (MOMRP) and seeks to evaluate a model of family readiness in a school-based setting. iFAR is led by Dr. Landoll, in collaboration with Dr. Jill Ehrenreich-May at the University of Miami, author of the Unified Protocol for the Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents. iFAR is in the process of developing and evaluating through a pilot trial an adaptation of the Unified Protocol in a primary school-based behavioral health setting for children of parents in the U.S. military.  Opportunities for students include training in and experience executing the Unified Protocol.
     

Past Projects for Continued Opportunities:

  1. Forensics: Competency to Stand Trial (CST) & Criminal Responsibility (CR) in the Military.  This project was a student-driven collaboration with the Center for Forensic Behavioral Sciences (CFBS) and evaluated the personality profile (as rendered by the MMPI-2-RF) differences between those recommended for CST & CR in the military justice system and compared it to civilian controls.

 

Other projects based on the research interests of both students and faculty advisors may also be possible.

 

Getting Results

The strategies for success in high performing learners can provide insight into interventions – both in medical education as well as other elite performance units. In this study, Drs. Landoll and Bennion, along with their colleague Dr. Lauren Maggio, identified that high performing learners tended to independently cite the importance of self-care in their success, along with the well-established education principles of spaced repetition and retrieval practice. (Medical education)

Medical Education

The Department of Defense has been a leader in the Primary Care Behavioral Health model since it was piloted almost 25 years ago. The Air Force’s Behavioral Health Optimization Program (BHOP)’s “First Stop” initiative re-aligned behavioral health treatment within primary care with impressive results in patient satisfaction and health care costs. (PCBH)

PCBH

Operation Bushmaster is a capstone military field practice for medical students and graduate nursing students. Since 2018, it has also been a joint interprofessional exercise for clinical psychology graduate students and students in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. Dr. Landoll and Dr. McClenen serve as primary faculty for this program, which has also provided training for psychology residents in the military as well as collaborations with international military psychologists. (Operation Bushmaster) 

Operation Bushmaster

Contact Information

pSyTORM@usuhs.edu
301-295-5303