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I am going into my senior year of undergrad and I will be graduating with a degree in Psychology. I studied abroad in India for 6 months and helped conduct research with Iraqi refugees and this summer I am doing research with an incredibly well-respected professor and one of his graduate students in California. Though I feel comfortable doing research and confident that a PhD in Clinical Psychology is my ultimate objective, I don't want to go to grad school without experiencing life a little more.
That said, my question is really two-fold. The first part being, my ideal scenario would include conducting research abroad on children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. What is the best way to go about this? Should I just try and look into research institutes or hospitals abroad? E-mail them?
The second part of my question is, how does taking a couple years off to do research affect my future applications to PhD programs in clinical Psychology? Does it significantly decrease/increase my chances of being admitted into a good program (especially noting that the research very well might be done abroad)? Originally I intended on moving directly into graduate studies because I have wanted to finish my graduate studies and be able to have a family while I'm young enough to run around with my kids and not be simultaneously bogged down by school. However I'm feeling more and more like this may be my only real opportunity to see the world and do some cool research. I'm sorry, I know I'm beginning to babble-needless to say, I'm relatively conflicted about what I should do and how I should go about doing it.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice in advance!
That said, my question is really two-fold. The first part being, my ideal scenario would include conducting research abroad on children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. What is the best way to go about this? Should I just try and look into research institutes or hospitals abroad? E-mail them?
The second part of my question is, how does taking a couple years off to do research affect my future applications to PhD programs in clinical Psychology? Does it significantly decrease/increase my chances of being admitted into a good program (especially noting that the research very well might be done abroad)? Originally I intended on moving directly into graduate studies because I have wanted to finish my graduate studies and be able to have a family while I'm young enough to run around with my kids and not be simultaneously bogged down by school. However I'm feeling more and more like this may be my only real opportunity to see the world and do some cool research. I'm sorry, I know I'm beginning to babble-needless to say, I'm relatively conflicted about what I should do and how I should go about doing it.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any advice in advance!
