How to get into med school with a psych degree -- soon to be senior

[aj1210]

Hi Everyone,

I wasn't sure if this was the correct place to post this, but I tried. Anyway, in this upcoming fall semester I will be a senior with a major in psychology and minor in neuroscience. After researching careers with psychology, I learned that I will probably end up poor and hating my job, even if I pursue a masters and maybe even a doctorates. I know you can major in anything and still get into med school, but I'm not sure about me with the classes I've taken. I will be graduating in spring, but I really want to go into medical school, but I have not taken a chemistry course, calculus course, physics course, biology course (except for the foundation classes like 101 and 102, and some neurobiology classes). For my minor, I was not required to take chemistry, calculus, etc but it would have been different if I had majored in neuroscience. Should I stay in undergraduate an extra year and take those physics, calculus, chemistry and biology courses? Is that even possible after I've completed my major and minor? I'm so lost and my advisors are offering no insight and are very discouraging.

Basically, I'm asking what are my options? I would love to go into a health psychology field that pays well if you guys have any suggestions, or actually any suggestions at all. I'm dying.

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[LizzyM]

With a doctoral degree and even with a masters degree you can provide mental health counseling. With a doctoral degree you can do testing for neuropsychiatric conditions like Alzheimer's disease, learning disabilities, most people will specialize in old folks or young folks. Some who work with older people may be in academic medical centers also doing research on better ways to measure memory, executive function, etc while at the same time providing assessments for clinical and research purposes. There are academics doing research in things like using computer based interfaces including smartphones to provide counseling and lower cost. Behavioral Psychologists are studying how to get people to eat less, move more, smoke less, and improve their sleep habits.

If on further reflection you decide on medicine, your best bet may be to look into post-bac programs that offer students to take the courses you didn't take in college which may include biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, biochemistry, and sociology. (of course, you took plenty of psychology). A good post bac program will have an advisor who will direct you to opportunities for volunteerism in a hospital setting and research in a lab. Their goal is to get you into medical school or help you realize before you apply that med school is not the best choice for you. As you look at programs, ask what proportion of the students who start the program end up matriculating to med school; some have a high proportion of drop-outs (high attrition).