Undergrad & Master's in Psychology, research experience at hospital, what now?

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After taking a few years off with the birth of my children, I am ready to start thinking about being employed again.

I have a BA in Psychology (minor was in cellular/molecular Biology) with a 3.6 GPA, and a MA in Behavioral Science/Psychology with a GPA of 4.0. After getting the master's, I worked for 2 years at a large cancer hospital in their behavioral science department as a Research coordinator (one step above a Research Assistant - all I could get with no previous experience.) I was basically recruiting and training patients on studies.

That job involved heavy patient interaction, but not in a medical way (only behavioral, though I was required to have an understanding of some medical terminology in order to prescreen potential study candidates).

Though I have always thought I would enjoy the medical side of things, I was never able to invest the time/money in medical school. And from what I knew about nursing (mainly the strange hours/shifts) I never had interest in that field.

In my work at the hospital, I observed Physician Assistants and it seems like a career I would enjoy, but again I don't know with three very young children that I would be able to invest the time/money in an additional master's degree (especially considering that I'm missing many prerequisites in chemistry and anatomy.) Another field I thought about was Genetic Counseling, but again the same problem with the time/money and missing prerequisites. I'm not sure I want to do the PhD in Psychology either; I don't really want an academic job, but rather something more hands-on with patients and probably more on the medical side.

The reason I don't want to go back to doing what I was doing before as a Research coordinator is that the pay was just way too low to justify putting three kids in daycare. The pay was in the mid $30k's, and to justify working I really need to be making at least $50k per year.

I'm looking for some suggestions or ideas, please! I'd really appreciate some help.

Sorry, I don't have any help to offer. However, I was wondering if you could provide me with some info.

I'm currently in a MS Psych program and I'm looking for a research position at a hospital. How did you go about securing your position? Did you just apply directly through the hospital's website? Also, do you know of how I could go about locating other research opportunities, as in where do you find listings for research positions?

I'm single w/o kids so the salary you mentioned wouldn't be a problem right now. I'd really just like to land a research-relevant job. Any advice?

Oh, also..I noticed your info says you're in the Houston area. I'm looking for jobs in the Dallas area..not sure if that helps but I thought I'd add that in.

Hi AK123,

I was reading your post and it sounds like you have a lot of experience. I'm only working on my BA in psych right now with the hopes of getting into a psyd program. I'm still contemplating my future.

Anyway, you wrote in your post, "I'm not sure I want to do the PhD in Psychology either; I don't really want an academic job, but rather something more hands-on with patients and probably more on the medical side."

Have you thought about getting a Psyd, because it would be more hands on, but seeing as you seem to like the medical field, what about Ocupational Therapy?? It's hand on and you can work in different settings.

Well, I'd say options for not going back to school are infinite... but we gotta be creative.

If you have any interest with kids, you might be able to get state dept of ed licensure to become a behavior specialist in the schools. They would offer you a trainee appointment and then, after 500-2000 hrs, you could get full licensure and paid at the specialty level. (depending upon how they do it in your state, I'm totally guessing)

You could become a mental health program coordinator for a community agency. I would think that your organizational experience would be invaluable. Program management requires basically the same skillset as research coordination.

You could even shoot as high as exec dir of a small nonprofit. Highlight your experience managing the grant, public marketing, recruiting, supervision, documentation, etc...

If these are on target, let me know and I'll head more in that direction... if they are totally off... let em know, and I can try another direction

good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions.

I will look into those.

Not sure about occupational therapy - will look into it. But I suspect I'm probably missing tons of prereqs and would need lots more school. I'd rather just start working again and get on-the-job experience, as opposed to doing more school.

As far as children - I'm not much for working with the youngest population. Just not an interest to me. That's why I haven't really considered getting qualified to work in school districts.

Program coordinator positions sound interesting. I'll have to look into that. In my previous position before the research hospital one, I was actually a technical recruiter for computer engineers. It was almost like running my own little business. What I didn't like about it was the uneven income and cut-throat nature of some other recruiters.

After talking further to others the last few months, I don't think physician assistant / nursing would be right for me. I think I'd need less people interaction and more creativity than those career choices would allow.

I enjoyed my last position in research, however the pay was just too low. Starting around $35k. Not enough to justify putting 3 kids in daycare. I need to make closer to $50k+ in my next position.