(a) Is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; and

(b) Is of good moral character. The applicant must have successfully been cleared for licensure through an investigation that consists of a determination as to good moral character and verification that the prospective licensee is not guilty of or in violation of any statutory ground for denial of licensure. For the purposes of this chapter, good moral character includes an absence of felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions involving moral turpitude as established by a criminal background check. Applicants shall undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the Mississippi central criminal database and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history database. Each applicant shall submit a full set of the applicant’s fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by the board, which shall be forwarded to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (department) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Identification Division for this purpose; and

(c) Is not in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted under this chapter, and is not currently under investigation by another licensure board; and

(d) Holds a doctoral degree in psychology from an institution of higher education that is: regionally accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education, or authorized by Provincial statute or Royal Charter to grant doctoral degrees. From a program accredited by the American Psychological Association, or the Canadian Psychological Association, and from a program that requires at least one (1) year of continuous, full-time residence at the educational institution granting the doctoral degree. For graduates from newly established programs seeking accreditation or in areas where no accreditation exists, applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology that meets recognized acceptable professional standards as determined by the board. For applicants graduating from doctoral level psychology training programs outside of the United States of America or Canada, applicants for licensure shall have completed a doctoral program in psychology that meets recognized acceptable professional standards as determined by the board; and

(e) Has two (2) years of supervised experience in the same area of emphasis as the academic degree, which includes an internship and one (1) year of supervised post-doctoral experience, that meet the standards of training as defined by the board. Each year (or equivalent) shall be comprised of at least one thousand eight hundred (1,800) hours of actual work, to include direct service, training and supervisory time. A pre-doctoral internship may be counted as one (1) of the two (2) years of experience; and

(f) Demonstrates professional knowledge by passing written (as used in this paragraph, the term “written” means either paper and pencil or computer administered or computerized testing) and oral examinations in psychology prescribed by the board; except that upon examination of credentials, the board may, by unanimous consent, consider these credentials adequate evidence of professional knowledge.