- Joined
- Oct 24, 2014
- Messages
- 18
- Reaction score
- 12
My main source of hesitation with a school where I have held an offer for quite a while now has been its research-heavy clinical science model. Now that things are getting down to the wire, I'm wondering how this program would fit if my wait list program does not work out.
I am interested in clinical work. It's why I got into this field and I enjoy it very much. That said, I am not a "just wanna go do therapy" person. The science piece of things is incredibly important to me, and I feel very strongly that clinical work should be informed by research, clinicians should know how to conduct and digest research, etc. I understand that research is necessary to produce the empirical evidence that forms the foundation of our field. I am open to conducting research after grad school, so long as it's complemented by clinical work.
When I was looking at schools, I looked first at research fit and second at program orientation (with scientist-practitioner as ideal). I saw that the school where I now hold the offer was a clinical science model (7 on insider's guide), but the research fit was absolutely ideal, so I thought I would apply anyway. At the interview, I got along really well with the PI and think they would be a great mentor. They are very productive and well-respected in my subfield (as is the program as a whole). I would be funded on a research assistantship for a project I'm really excited about and would probably involve some clinical work.
At the interview, the program was very clear about their focus on training people to go into tenure-track research or AMC positions and explicitly stated they're not into training people for primarily clinical settings. The clinical training seems to be quite good as well, though, as it begins in first year and I don't think students have issues getting enough clinical hours. My main concern is that I'd be pretty unable to be upfront about career goals (I spoke to a couple of students with clinical goals, but they were pretty hush-hush about it) and potential tension with my mentor if they knew what I wanted to do. I like research. I just like clinical work more.
I don't want to go to grad school just because I got in to a program, but the thought of applying again next year is really daunting and there truly were very few schools that met my criteria in the first place (most of the schools with PIs that focus on my area are research-heavy clinical science). Words of wisdom would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I am interested in clinical work. It's why I got into this field and I enjoy it very much. That said, I am not a "just wanna go do therapy" person. The science piece of things is incredibly important to me, and I feel very strongly that clinical work should be informed by research, clinicians should know how to conduct and digest research, etc. I understand that research is necessary to produce the empirical evidence that forms the foundation of our field. I am open to conducting research after grad school, so long as it's complemented by clinical work.
When I was looking at schools, I looked first at research fit and second at program orientation (with scientist-practitioner as ideal). I saw that the school where I now hold the offer was a clinical science model (7 on insider's guide), but the research fit was absolutely ideal, so I thought I would apply anyway. At the interview, I got along really well with the PI and think they would be a great mentor. They are very productive and well-respected in my subfield (as is the program as a whole). I would be funded on a research assistantship for a project I'm really excited about and would probably involve some clinical work.
At the interview, the program was very clear about their focus on training people to go into tenure-track research or AMC positions and explicitly stated they're not into training people for primarily clinical settings. The clinical training seems to be quite good as well, though, as it begins in first year and I don't think students have issues getting enough clinical hours. My main concern is that I'd be pretty unable to be upfront about career goals (I spoke to a couple of students with clinical goals, but they were pretty hush-hush about it) and potential tension with my mentor if they knew what I wanted to do. I like research. I just like clinical work more.
I don't want to go to grad school just because I got in to a program, but the thought of applying again next year is really daunting and there truly were very few schools that met my criteria in the first place (most of the schools with PIs that focus on my area are research-heavy clinical science). Words of wisdom would be much appreciated. Thanks!