Clinical Neuropsych or experimental?

[sarahcatie]

Hi Everyone,

I'm having a little bit of a dilemma. In undergrad I double majored in neuroscience and psychology. I've been working in neurobiology labs since then (almost three years). I've recently realized that I'm really much more interested in cognitive neuroscience rather than neurobiology. So, I applied to a few PhD programs this past year and didn't get in (I did it really last minute and definitely didn't apply to enough programs). Since my GPA could use a little help and I need some more background in cog neuro/ cog psych I applied to a couple masters programs and got into them. Now, I'm trying to figure out my eventual plans for a PhD so I can tailor my masters to that as much as I can. I'm definitely a people person and like to have a lot of interaction with people in my work and I've considered neuropsychology, but from what I can tell neuropsychologists spend most of their time doing assessments and I'm wondering if that will be stimulating enough for me. I also don't think my GPA will be competitive enough for clinical programs. I also am hesitant because I'm not interested in most aspects of clinical psych - just neuropsych - but I'll have to take all those classes anyway on my way to my specialization.

But...academia is really hard. And I'm worried about not having a stable job/career if I go into research. I'm really genuinely interested in the brain and how it works but I'm not sure I'll get to work with people in a way that will make me happy (although I plan on doing research that involves people as subjects...will get a lot of interaction that way). Anyone have any insights?

By the way, undergrad GPA 3.1 (with upward trend), GRE 158 verbal, 154 quant, 4.5 writing, 2 publications, 3 posters all in neurobiology.

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[WisNeuro]

but from what I can tell neuropsychologists spend most of their time doing assessments and I'm wondering if that will be stimulating enough for me.

I am a neuropsychologist and I do clinical work, research, and training/teaching. There are also purely academic neuropsychologists. Although, if you aren't interested in clinical psych at all, may not be a good fit. A good neuropsychologist is a good clinical psychologist first, the neuro comes second.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I've mentioned it before in response to another poster, but a different option may be the MD/PhD route. The MD would of course offer some pretty stellar job security, and the "less-related" course work would be much more biologically-based than you would find in a psych grad program (which may be more tolerable for you, depending on your interests). Plus, you'd then likely be able to have your PhD focus solely on neuroscience.

Downside being that it basically adds 3-4 years onto the existing 4 years of med school + whatever residency you choose to go into, so it's of course a longer road than going solely for a PhD in neuroscience. Other downside being that you'd need to complete the pre-med course work and take the MCAT. I'd imagine your research background could make you fairly appealing to MD/PhD programs, though.

I agree with WisNeuro in that if you aren't interested in clinical psych at all, then a clinical psych grad program could be a tough slog.

 

[mountainstream]

Binghamton University professor Donovick has a degree in an experimental psych area. Decided he wanted to do clinical work, learned to administer tests during a sabbatical and was a practicing neuropsychologist without any formal training in applied or clinical psychology. So if you are trained in an experimental area, you may save loads of time and training hours by doing what he did. Seems this is a way some bypass lengthy clinical training, clinical internships or all those pesky practicum hours.

 

[WisNeuro]

Whoah, someone has a bone to pick. Donovick went to grad school about 25 years before the Houston Conference guidelines were written. That stuff doesn't fly anymore. And, I think you will see more and more states like Minnesota adopt a policy that you need to be boarded to bill for specific CPT codes. I wouldn't suggest this route.

Edit* He also graduated from Wisconsin-Madison, and has several very good post-grad training experiences. The man most likely has a better foundation than most of us on here. Keep the personal vendettas private.

 

[mountainstream]

No bone. Dr Donovick has no formal clinical training-post grad training was not formal clinical training. While the Houston guidelines were not written there were certainly clinical ones that he did not have to bother with. Degree is in physiology. Has had no formal post doc clinical training. If you believe he has a better foundation than anyone else his approach may not be unreasonable for Sarah and would cut time in training. I take you it, WisNeur, that you don't put much stock in the idea that clinical training adds much. Just something to consider.

 

[WisNeuro]

I have no idea what any of that meant. Who is Sarah?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

New member name, though I know another poster used to complain about a professor in their program doing neuropsych stuff w/o any background in it. It sounds awfully similar….reincarnated member?

 

[mountainstream]

Sarahcatie is the original poster. I am not complaining about anything. I've not posted about Donovick before. I am saying that it is a flexible field. The OP can start in one area and switch if she'd like. It has been done before. Many people find they can take a back door into a field. Saves a lot of time. It is perfectly fine to do as long as you read some. As I think you said, formal training is not essential. I will disagree about Donovick having a strong foundation, certainly not in applied work, but it does not seem to limit him. Shouldn't limit OP either.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Sarahcatie is the original poster. I am not complaining about anything. I've not posted about Donovick before. I am saying that it is a flexible field. The OP can start in one area and switch if she'd like. It has been done before. Many people find they can take a back door into a field. Saves a lot of time. It is perfectly fine to do as long as you read some. As I think you said, formal training is not essential. I will disagree about Donovick having a strong foundation, certainly not in applied work, but it does not seem to limit him. Shouldn't limit OP either.

 

[WisNeuro]

The backdoor into neuropsych may have worked 20+ years ago, when there were no guidelines or boarding process. It is definitely not the way to go now if you want to be reimbursed.