Psychiatry into humanities

[jumpingjack]

Are there programs where you can do a Clinical Psych + Psychiatry combination?

I want to do academic psychiatry or something like that, as close to a professor in philosophy of mind, and less so seeing patients.

(I am starting med school this august)

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[masterofmonkeys]

well you shouldn't be going to med school then. Hate to break it to you.

I say this as a guy who is a philosophy nerd who's very into this issue himself. No medical school is going to want a guy who sticks to philosophy of mind issues. And any graduate program who desires a professor with such a niche, is going to wonder why you didn't do a PHD.

http://www3.utsouthwestern.edu/aapp/ This is the only group I'm aware of even remotely into that kind of thing. And this kind of itnerest is very much on the fringe of psych. FWIW I was recommended to look into this group based on my interest in philosophy.

Maybe I'm missing something here. I dunno. But 'academic psychiatry' means either 'clinical', where you see patients, take residents and med students, and if you can be bothered, occasionally lecture one or the other group. Or 'research' where you do clinical, translational, or basic science research.

Sad as it is, the reality is that 'academic medicine' is just about money as private medicine is. Either its clinical billing or grants...

 

[watto]

You could also develop an interest in neuroscience and attempt to use principles from the field to enrich an understanding of consciousness--like this guy:
http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/

 

[whopper]

I want to do academic psychiatry or something like that, as close to a professor in philosophy of mind, and less so seeing patients

I am impressed that you want to have such an open mind on the human mind. However academically, certain majors & professions push people into certain directions for better or worse.

Eric Kandel was for example a psychiatrist by training, but wanted to branch out to do other things such a research in the neurosciences. He went on to do some incredible things. However the currents of medical school push people into residency that then push people into practice.

You of course do not have to follow that current, but will do so at an incredibly large amount of debt.

Another track that may be too late for you to consider if you are already going to medical school is being a psychology Ph.D. since if you were a psychology professor, you'd have the oppurtunity to interact with several other departments in a college or university.

Another factor to consider is that psychiatry is the application of the medical sciences into treating mental illness. We psychiatrists are not trained to understand as much as of the human experience as possible. Our training is limited to the treating mental illness. Psychology is the study of the human mind in general. Mental illness is only one aspect of several things that can happen in a human mind.

you could become an academic psychiatrist, working with psychologists and doctors of other fields if in a university setting.

In any case, you still have plenty of options, and you can still pursue the unorthodox. However be mindful of these currents are there for reasons, and can make things more difficult for you if you decide to paddle against it.

 

[jumpingjack]

bump incase someone can has something new

 

[LM02]

It's a minor point, but clinical psychology is a social science. Philosophy is firmly implanted within the humanities. What you describe sounds more like the latter - clinical psychology isn't really going to provide what you're looking for.

 

[howelljolly]

It's a minor point, but clinical psychology is a social science. Philosophy is firmly implanted within the humanities. What you describe sounds more like the latter - clinical psychology isn't really going to provide what you're looking for.

Agree.

And as whopper says, the currents of med school...

even the currents of clinical psychology will pull you into the mainstream, and prevent you from following more esoteric pursuits. Youd be forced to stick with 'what works' and not have much time for theoretical stuff.

If you stayed in general psychology, and specialized in social or cognitive psych, you could stay on the theoretical side of things, and incorporate philosophy into your work.

If anything, youre better off sticking to philosphy, and branching off into 'philosophy of the mind'. You'd be better supported by faculty and mentors, who'd be happy to support a concrete application to philosophy (mind, law and justice, etc)

 

[Summit02]

Are there programs where you can do a Clinical Psych + Psychiatry combination?

I want to do academic psychiatry or something like that, as close to a professor in philosophy of mind, and less so seeing patients.

(I am starting med school this august)

I am not sure what you mean by clincial psych+psychiatry. I know a lot of psychiatry residencies are light on the therapy teaching they provide and get too biological but in general you learn clinical psychology in great detail.
Psychiatry=Clinical Psych+Medicine.

As for the philosophy angle. Psychiatry is a clinical field. Its great that you want to be a professor in mind philosophy but don't waste your time in medical school. Their are better approaches to that depending on your interest.