Interview with Dr. Paula Hartman-Stein for the Psychologists in Long Term Care newsletter, Spring 2012. Interviewed by Stacy Ogbeide, Student Representative

 Dr. Hartman-Stein is the recipient of the 2011 Psychologists in Long Term Care Professional Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education, Science and Practice in Long Term Care.

 Q: How did you get into the field of geropsychology? How has your career developed over time, and how do you see it developing in the future?

In 1978, two years after I received my master’s degree from West Virginia University in psychology, I worked in a teaching hospital on the psychiatric consultation- liaison team. Each morning the psychiatrist assigned to this service and I made in-patient rounds on units for patients with chronic illness and/or somatization disorders. Many of the patients were older adults, triggering the beginning of my interest in clinical geropsychology.

 My plan had been to work a few years and then pursue a doctoral degree. The University of Akron has the Institute for Life Span Development and Gerontology, but it did not offer a clinical degree. So back in 1977-78 I audited Dr. Harvey Sterns’course, the Psychology of Adulthood and Aging, which cemented an interest in gerontology. In the fall of 1979 I entered Kent State University’s clinical psychology program. There were no older adult or health psychology tracks, but I was able to work part time at a local hospital during my years in grad school. Both my internship and post- doctoral year were spent in a health psychology program designed by Dr. Jeanette Reuter from Kent State. I rotated through specialty units such as endocrinology, neurology, rheumatology, and cardiology. I saw many older adult patients, deepening my exposure and interest in geropsychology.