Can't decide between Psychiatry and Neuropsychology

[kuziamoisha]

Hi all,

I can't seem to decide if I should go for a Ph.D. in neuropsychology or pursue psychiatry and go into medical school. Currently, I am a third year at UCI in cognitive sciences psych major. I know my strengths are psych and bio related classes, but I'm not very strong in chem and physics (which is basically why I'm afraid that I won't be a good candidate for medical school or even if I could make it through medical school since you have to be strong in all of those things).

I have always wanted to be a psychiatrist, but now I'm thinking that since I'm not very strong in both physics and chem that maybe I should choose the neuropsych path (since it's more bio and psych based). I've researched both and still don't really see a difference (besides the salaries and the whole prescribing drugs thing) between the two. Could you guys give me some more details about like maybe what a psychiatrist does on a regular work day and what neuropsych does? What are their differences basically? (Sorry I'm sure everyone has asked this question before)

I also heard that psychiatry residency programs are easier to make it into due to the smaller amount of competition it has. Is that true? As opposed to the neuropsych programs, where it's really hard to make it into grad school already but then finding practicums and an internship or mentorship right after grad school is extremely competitive as well.

Thanks!

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[TexasPhysician]

I'm average at chem/physics and did quite well in med school. Med school is all about memorizing and accumulating data at a fast rate.

To keep this simple. Psychiatry is heavy on medication management of mental health diagnoses. Neuropsych involves testing for neuro + psych pathology to help establish a better treatment plan. There are times when the diagnosis is muddy, and I'll consult neuropsych to get a better idea of functioning and deficits.

The most difficult part of becoming a physician of any kind is getting into med school.

 

[kuziamoisha]

This may be a stupid question but does it really matter where you go for medical school? Will the school impact your chances for residency?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Do you want to spend your days largely testing, evaluating, and consulting on cognitive disorders; or do you want to diagnose and treat mental illness?

(And where you go for medical school within the US will not matter nearly as much to your future career in medicine, than the decision on where to go to graduate school will figure in your career development in neuropsych.)

Oh--and you only need to be "strong enough" in chem & physics to get a decent MCAT score to get into medical school. Beyond the MS1 year, it won't matter so much....

 

[kuziamoisha]

@OldPsychDoc The problem with the whole physics and chem part is that both have lowered my GPA. I'm afraid that if I continue taking those classes my GPA may suffer ever more. Whereas if I decide to go towards the neuropsych route then I wouldn't have to those classes anymore (since I was mainly taking them for medical school) and my GPA wouldn't be too bad (3.6).

 

[NontradCA]

@OldPsychDoc The problem with the whole physics and chem part is that both have lowered my GPA. I'm afraid that if I continue taking those classes my GPA may suffer ever more. Whereas if I decide to go towards the neuropsych route then I wouldn't have to those classes anymore (since I was mainly taking them for medical school) and my GPA wouldn't be too bad (3.6).

Have you considered studying harder and getting some tutored assistance? I think the path you are setting out on might lead to a regret down the road if all that's stopping you from med school is basic chem and physics.

 

[Merovinge]

In case it's not clear, two of the biggest differences in the day-to-day of the two fields are acuity and volume. Neuropsychiatry specifically sees consults for folks who are fairly cooperative, modestly stabilized and spends a long amount of time with each patient. Depending on the nature of the consult, 1-2 patients and their write-ups may be a full day of work. Psychiatry, like other areas of medicine, handles acute crisis/emergency services, inpatient services (along with outpatient care and psychotherapy). Meds are a big difference as well that you pointed out, but I think your ultimate happiness will be more how you envision a good day of work.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Hi all,

I've researched both and still don't really see a difference (besides the salaries and the whole prescribing drugs thing) between the two.

This is like saying you don’t see the difference between Machu Picchu and the Sahara desert except the mountains, temperature, foliage, and humidity.....

 

[PsyDr]

Go to med school. Do a combined neuro/psych residency if you want.

Look at the Sweet Salary Survey for neuropsychology. Eliminate the two outliers (one owns a healthcare system, the other did a massive once in a lifetimes lawsuit). Then look on APA careers and see how many neuropsych jobs there are.

Now look at Medscape's compensation survery. Notice the median is almost 70-100k more. Then look at how many jobs there are for psychiatrists.

 

[erg923]

Most neuropsychologists do assessment/testing only and do not do any treatment at all.
Most psychiatrists do not do any psychometric testing at all.

Besides the fact that both encounter same psychiatric and cognitive phenomena, the jobs have nothing in common.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I don't think becoming a neuropsychologist should ever be a plan B. In other words, psychology is a highly competitive field, as well. Sure an undergrad psychology degree is easier. The universities like to keep it that way to keep undergrads happy who have the typical interest in psychology that most humans have. A bachelors in psychology got me a job selling funeral supplies for $8.50 an hour. To become a psychologist you will need to go above and beyond. Read some of the threads in the psychology forum about trying to get into doctoral programs to get an idea of what you will be facing. Here is one recent discussion of the credentials of a student who didn't get accepted http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...gh-clinical-experience.1140564/#post-16558868

 

[thoffen]

As others have pointed out, neuropsychologists and psychiatrists generally do very different things, and you should spend some time with each to get the best idea you can on which appeals to you.

As others have pointed out, you need little actual physics and chemistry acumen for medical school. The prerequisites aren't much, and you should take advantage of any help you can (e.g. tutoring) to get over the hurdle.

Personally I wouldn't recommend going to medical school without passion for medicine as a whole. It's ok to plan for specialization in psychiatry and even focus entirely on psychotherapy after all is said and done, but before then you will need to think medically and will ultimately be responsible for the medical care of your patients in varying degrees depending on the clinical setting.

 

[Merovinge]

I don't think becoming a neuropsychologist should ever be a plan B. In other words, psychology is a highly competitive field, as well. Sure an undergrad psychology degree is easier. The universities like to keep it that way to keep undergrads happy who have the typical interest in psychology that most humans have. A bachelors in psychology got me a job selling funeral supplies for $8.50 an hour. To become a psychologist you will need to go above and beyond. Read some of the threads in the psychology forum about trying to get into doctoral programs to get an idea of what you will be facing. Here is one recent discussion of the credentials of a student who didn't get accepted http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/supposedly-not-enough-clinical-experience.1140564/#post-16558868

Er, are you suggesting becoming a physician should be someone's plan B? I would never deny the competitiveness of stipend paid PhD psychology programs, but given that this person's alternative is going to medical school I'd say the question focuses more on the actual career rather than barrier to entry.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Er, are you suggesting becoming a physician should be someone's plan B? I would never deny the competitiveness of stipend paid PhD psychology programs, but given that this person's alternative is going to medical school I'd say the question focuses more on the actual career rather than barrier to entry.

That thought made me chuckle. I was more stating that thinking of a doctoral degree is not really a fallback plan and if you can't get into med school you might not be able to accomplish the goal of being a psychologist and then becoming a board-certified neuropsychologist is not a lock either. I wouldn't pretend to know much about difficulty of med school but I was pre-med many years ago and those "difficult" science classe were not an issue for me. Neither were the research method concepts, psychometrics, and statistics in psychology. Some people who want to be a psychologist can't hack some of those more challenging classes and I surmise that there is a significant overlap in the two groups.