Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Vol 19(4), Nov 2025, 253-255; doi:10.1037/tep0000537
This special issue introduction provides a strategic overview of the evolving landscape of health service psychology, highlighting key challenges and opportunities for training and workforce development. The field confronts a projected future where only 55% of the demand for psychological services will be met by 2037, a deficit compounded by geographic maldistribution and shifting career paths of graduates. The articles in this special issue (Chmielewski et al., 2025; Cicero et al., 2025; Ruggero & Gum, 2025) collectively provide an empirical picture of this challenge, underscoring the need to view psychology training as a powerful systems-level intervention. The introduction argues for the necessity of an empirical approach to defining the scope of practice as well as the urgent need for psychological training to include technological literacy. It concludes that the training community must proactively lead on these issues to ensure that health service psychology remains an effective and equitable force for public health in a rapidly changing world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)