Undergrad major for psychiatry

[Futurepsych77]

I am an undergraduate very interested in pursuing psychiatry. An obvious major choice which would help me be prepared for a career in this field would be psychology (for example, material like psychopharmacology and psychotherapy will then be repeated). An advisor warned me about this major though: since there are so many psych majors, most classes are taught by graduate students. She said that since I was experiencing college once, I might want to select a department where I am taught by full professors. I am interested also in philosophy and english and that is true of these departments. Do you guys think that philosophy or english could also be helpful with psychiatry? Why? Or, is it best to be around the psychology material as much as I can no matter who is teaching it. I know that I can choose any major and still go to medical school.

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[claduva94]

Major doesn't matter at all. It also won't help you in terms of preparing for a specialty. At this point you should pick a major based on what topic most interests you since getting a high GPA is priority number 1.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

I'm not sure why most of the classes would be taught by graduate students... I mean they would still be under the tenure professor who would lead lectures and they would probably be the ones in recitation. Not sure how big of a harm your advisor is seeing...

Anyways in my opinion, and from what I have seen in counterparts in psychology, is that people come in feeling strong about psychiatry because they like psychology but end up finding other areas of psychology more interesting. If you like psychology I think you would benefit from majoring in it because you will be better able to explore the various fields. I took a few courses in profession and research in clinical, counseling, and developmental. I've seen pre-meds change their minds to grad school in clinical, neuro-cognitive, language, child development and many others after getting their feet wet in the courses. I found a stronger love for neuropsychology, and biological basis, psychiatry/neurology fit better. Who knows what you will find. Taking English brings you no closer to knowing if psychiatry is where you want to be.

Just my .02¢

 

[Mad Jack]

No one cares what your undergrad major is at all. You could take underwater basket weaving with a minor in indigenous Swahili and no residency program will ever care.

 

[superpom_7]

Your major doesn't matter.

 

[Boolean]

Choose something you find interesting / something that will operate nicely as a backup if medical school doesn't work out.

 

[deleted407021]

College is where you will get the opportunity to explore a variety of different fields of study. Get some exposure to something more "exotic" like anthropology/archaeology or foreign languages. You might find something you never thought you'd be into. Explore.

Majors don't matter for med school admissions and they matter <0% for residency matching.

 

[Futurepsych77]

Thanks for all the advice. I do understand that you can major in anything and still apply to medical school if you have the required courses. I was asking something more in the way of whether or not it was felt that english or philosophy could also be helpful to a future psychiatrist.

 

[deleted407021]

Thanks for all the advice. I do understand that you can major in anything and still apply to medical school if you have the required courses. I was asking something more in the way of whether or not it was felt that english or philosophy could also be helpful to a future psychiatrist.

Everything psychiatrists need they learn in med school and through residency and lit reviews. It's likely (and unfortunate, but that's how the brain works) that much of what you learn in undergrad will be forgotten by then. Pick something that will enrich you now, not later.

I'm a senior psych major and I really enjoy it.

 

[Mad Jack]

Thanks for all the advice. I do understand that you can major in anything and still apply to medical school if you have the required courses. I was asking something more in the way of whether or not it was felt that english or philosophy could also be helpful to a future psychiatrist.

All of the medical stuff you'll need to know to be a psychiatrist you'll learn in residency and medical school. The best things you could do in undergrad to prepare you for a future in psychiatry would just be exposure- exposure to different groups of people, exposure to the mentally ill, exposure to different cultures. The sort of stuff you don't get from courses, really. You will forget 99% of what you learn in undergrad by the end of residency, but the skills you get from actually interacting with and understanding other people will last you a lifetime.