Which major should I do

[RYost234]

Hello,
I am a senior in High-School and I want to be in the medical field. I am currently taking AP Psychology and I believe I want a career that is more towards the mental side rather than physical (PA) for instance. With that in mind, the three that I am interested in right now are Psychiatry, Psychology and PMHNP. Currently the main thing holding me back from being a Psychologist is the amount of years in college for the salary, and from what people say on Forums, they're not respected. From what I get from online about being a psychiatry, Psychiatrists evolved from doing psychologist type therapies to basically only giving medicine. Is this true? On one thread on here someone said PMHNP provides more of a psych profession to it, I believe he/she called it "the psychologist that can prescribe". Is this true? Overall I am looking for a psychology based major that makes <85k, so if you could give me some ideas that would be great. Also, I'm currently interning with PT's or else I'd try to intern with a psychiatrist/Psych/PMHNP :/ Thanks!
Rob

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[st2205]

On one thread on here someone said PMHNP provides more of a psych profession to it, I believe he/she called it "the psychologist that can prescribe". Is this true?

Not even close. If you were to go over to the psychology forum and ask of psychiatrists were psychologists who prescribe, they may crucify you. If you were to instead suggest a PMHNP was a psychologist who prescribes (someone with significantly less [any?] psychotherapy training than a psychiatrist), it's possible their mind would explode.

At the risk of offending every mid-level (and probably a handful of psychologists), the ways in which a PMHNP would in any way approximate being "a psychologist who prescribes" would be they may prescribe like a psychologist prescribing.

If you ultimately do medical school, there are a handful of psych classes to take, but the major is unnecessary (I majored in psych). I'd recommend stats, research methods and psychological testing. Major in something you can use in life, like auto mechanics or culinary arts. That's only if you go to med school though.

 

[hamstergang]

You be a psychiatrist if you want to be a doctor. You be a PMHNP if you want to be a nurse. You be a psychologist if you want to be a, well, psychologist.

If you don't know what these really are, then you can't really choose between them. If you enjoy psychology, why not major in it? You can then easily go into psychology or med school (or nursing school? I know nothing about it). Or you could still do anything else with your life.

And while you're working on that major, you can learn more about these fields to see if they interest you or not. Just looking at their salaries is a poor way to decide the rest of your life.

 

[Shikima]

You can be any major - English Major if you should choose, to get into medical school as long as you have your pre-req's complete.

 

[slappy]

Absolutely. But do choose a major you like so you can ace your exams with relative ease.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

While it is true that you can choose any major to get into med school as long as you do the prerecs, the most important thing is that you choose something you will get a strong GPA in. Translated, this is something you like. Psychology does have some advantages if you go into psychiatry, but if you don’t get into medicine, any psychology degree short of a PhD is fairly worthless. Biology majors, biochemistry majors probably can say the same thing. More employable BS degrees are things like chemistry or Biomedical engineering. They often require the pre-med courses anyway. Alternately, you can do computer science or business, but you have to use elective time to do organic chem and physics. Not the most fun ways to do electives, but you will have a job if you stop at the bachelor’s level. Art history is interesting and fun, but if you don’t get in to a US med school, you will be an IMG, or be asking if you want fries with that.

 

[RYost234]

Do you guys have any comments on psychiatry? In a few threads I've looked at the majority say they use almost no psychology in it, mainly just prescribe medicines then leave. If this is true, I don't think I'd like that profession one bit

 

[st2205]

Do you guys have any comments on psychiatry? In a few threads I've looked at the majority say they use almost no psychology in it, mainly just prescribe medicines then leave. If this is true, I don't think I'd like that profession one bit

It really depends on what you mean when you say psychology. It's an umbrella term that encompasses many things. Typically people mean clinical psychology and, by that, envision a patient laying on a couch. It's hard to say whether or not the average psychiatrist practices does "psychology" without knowing what that means. Also keep in mind there's a great variety of psychiatric practices. This board has a bias to being a bit higher quality of care than you will typically see out in the community, in my opinion.

 

[IN321]

Hello,
I am a senior in High-School and I want to be in the medical field. I am currently taking AP Psychology and I believe I want a career that is more towards the mental side rather than physical (PA) for instance. With that in mind, the three that I am interested in right now are Psychiatry, Psychology and PMHNP. Currently the main thing holding me back from being a Psychologist is the amount of years in college for the salary, and from what people say on Forums, they're not respected. From what I get from online about being a psychiatry, Psychiatrists evolved from doing psychologist type therapies to basically only giving medicine. Is this true? On one thread on here someone said PMHNP provides more of a psych profession to it, I believe he/she called it "the psychologist that can prescribe". Is this true? Overall I am looking for a psychology based major that makes <85k, so if you could give me some ideas that would be great. Also, I'm currently interning with PT's or else I'd try to intern with a psychiatrist/Psych/PMHNP :/ Thanks!
Rob

Hey Rob,

I'm glad your interested in the mental health field. I think that you should first consider the basics and college before you decide which mental health field you want to go in to. Even though all of the above mentioned deals with mental health, each path is VERY different and for very good reasons.

Psychiatry Path:
1)Undergraduate College - any major (4 years)
2)Medical School (4 years)
3) Residency in Psychiatry (this is the specialization portion) (4 years)

Psychology Path:
1) Undergraduate College (4 years)
2) Graduate School for Masters or PhD/PsyD (2-6 years depending if you decide on PhD/PsyD)
----PhD/PsyD takes longer then Masters

Nurse Practitioner Path
1) Undergraduate College can be done before getting your degree in Nursing, but not necessary)
1) B.A./B.S. in Nursing (4 years roughly)
2) Masters in Nursing with a focus on mental health (2-3 years roughly)

LCSW Mental Health Clinician
1)Undergraduate College (4 years)
2) Masters in social Work (2-4 years)

Its easy to get confused in high school because you see all of these people treating mental health patients and assume that there is one main path, but each one is very different and rightfully so. A psychiatrist is the only one of the above that is a physician(doctor), with the best training to combine therapy with medication, and be qualified to treat the patient medically if/and/or there are complex situation arise or are present. The psychologists and LCSW are therapy oriented. Nurse Practitioner would be also be able to prescribe medication, but they are not well suited for medical complexities compared to a physician.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

And while you're working on that major, you can learn more about these fields to see if they interest you or not. Just looking at their salaries is a poor way to decide the rest of your life.

Will you invest 200k in a degree that can only get you 50k-70k/year? I agree that looking at ONLY salary to decide on a career is not wise, but salaries should be a MAJOR component when one is going to borrow money to finance your education...

 

[hamstergang]

Do you guys have any comments on psychiatry? In a few threads I've looked at the majority say they use almost no psychology in it, mainly just prescribe medicines then leave. If this is true, I don't think I'd like that profession one bit

I second the question of what you mean by using psychology. I will say that last year, I treated many outpatients by prescribing medications. But by reading your posts, I doubt it was as boring, simple, or void of psychology as you imagine.

 

[hamstergang]

To explain some more, it takes some actual medical understanding to choose the appropriate medication and properly monitor it and adjust the dose. Understanding and addressing the patient's resistance to taking the medications and making other life changes is also important. Plus, depending on the setting, a psychiatrist can also do psychotherapy with the patient.

You say you want to be in the medical field and on the mental side. Can you explain why, and what your understanding of these are? Like why do you want to be in the medical field and what do you think people in it actually do?

 

[RYost234]

To explain some more, it takes some actual medical understanding to choose the appropriate medication and properly monitor it and adjust the dose. Understanding and addressing the patient's resistance to taking the medications and making other life changes is also important. Plus, depending on the setting, a psychiatrist can also do psychotherapy with the patient.

You say you want to be in the medical field and on the mental side. Can you explain why, and what your understanding of these are? Like why do you want to be in the medical field and what do you think people in it actually do?

Well, all the way up to my junior year I've wanted to become a physical therapist, but now that I'm taking AP Psych in high school, I've found that I enjoy learning what behaviors people have under certain environments, for example why someones embarrassed, or upset etc.. and I think I would find it more rewarding and fun to do because I'm sure its always a mixed bag when it comes to mental disabilities. By "using psychology" I mean using psychotherapy and methods of that nature to assist in helping the patient get better or to find out what medicine tot use.

 

[st2205]

Well, all the way up to my junior year I've wanted to become a physical therapist, but now that I'm taking AP Psych in high school, I've found that I enjoy learning what behaviors people have under certain environments, for example why someones embarrassed, or upset etc.. and I think I would find it more rewarding and fun to do because I'm sure its always a mixed bag when it comes to mental disabilities. By "using psychology" I mean using psychotherapy and methods of that nature to assist in helping the patient get better or to find out what medicine tot use.

If you enjoy psychology then you can learn more about that. As I said, psychology is a very broad field and clinical psychology is only a sliver of that, so keep that in mind when you do AP psych. Also keep in mind that both clinical psychology and psychiatry are much different than AP psych.