Any neuropsychologists out here willing to share what a day in their life is like?

[theanongirl]

I'm currently finishing up my 4th year as a neuroscience major and up until a couple of months ago, was set on going the med school route. I've been lucky enough to shadow in different specialties and found the experience to be awarding but realized (too late) that my heart just wasn't set on medicine anymore. I'd prefer to do something more therapy orientated. Call it denial/graduating nerves but I just can't believe that I'm about to submit my petition to graduate yet have no idea what I want to do. So, I've been doing some research and found out about clinical psychology. I've taken a couple of psychology courses for my minor (health care) and for general interest and truthfully, found them to be far more interesting than my major courses. Because of my interest and background in neuroscience, I'm particularly interested in neuropsych. Are there any clinical neuropsychologists who are on the forums who are willing to share about what a day in their life is like? What are your primarily interested in? Who are your patients in general? Would you change careers if you could go back in time? Did you choose a PhD program or a PsyD program? Why?

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[Therapist4Chnge]

You should check out:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/is-psychology-a-desk-job.1090641
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/describe-your-typical-week-in-practice.1029911/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...y-viability-utility-future-directions.806330/

They aren't exactly what you asked, but it will give you a flavor of the speciality area in regard to day to day challenges.

 

[theanongirl]

Thanks Therapist4Chnge! It's may not be exactly what I was looking for but it definitely provides far more information than I was hoping for. It's giving me a better idea behind the specialty Now, it sounds like something that I'm interested in!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

My typical day: patient in the morning or afternoon, and then records review, scoring, and report writing the rest of the day. Rinse and repeat 4-5x/week, and throw in 2-4 feedback sessions along with a variety of other activities such as administrative duties (e.g., requesting that appointments be scheduled, entering notes and billing codes, attending various committee and treatment team meetings, etc.), completing required trainings, delivering talks to interns, etc., and you've got my typical week. I also try to stay involved in conducting research, although that occurs outside my scheduled work time.

 

[psych844]

Mind sharing what the usual referral questions are?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Mind sharing what the usual referral questions are?

Where I'm currently located, which is all outpatient, I get a mix--most are related to cognitive decline later in life, so the typical differentials are various types of dementia, effects from medical and/or psychiatric conditions, etc. I also get occasional h/o TBI (usually mild, although a few have been moderate/severe) as well as requests to verify diagnosis of ADHD.

I don't do any therapy at the moment, but do attempt to conduct feedback with every patient, so I use that opportunity to throw in a mix of psychoeducation and "motivational enhancement" regarding the recs I make.

 

[Existenz]

-Gather background info via medical records; seek collateral info
-Assemble test batteries
-Test patient
-write,score, etc
-provide feedback to patient and treatment team
-drink lots of coffee
Other days I just mostly write and 20% of time is spent on research.