Discussion re: SDN user statuses

[futureapppsy2]

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Hi all,

I just wanted to start an open discussion re: SDN user statuses, as there seems to be some inconsistency regarding how people are using them, especially in regards to "pre-psychology student"/"psychology student"/"psychologist" and "MD/PhD".

I've always thought of it as:
Pre-psychology=someone not yet in psych grad school (e.g., undergrad, applicant)

Psychology student=someone in psychology grad school (Masters or PhD/PsyD)

Psychologist=someone with a PhD in psychology (alternately, someone who is licensed psychologist)

MD/PhD student=This is actually specific to medical forums and refers to someone in a joint MD/PhD program. AFAIK, it wasn't intended to mean MD student OR PhD student.

While I can definitely see the confusion over "psychology student" and "pre-psychology student" (would it help if we changed them to "psych undergrad" and "psych grad student"?), I'm honestly kind of baffled when I see someone with the user status "psychologist" posting about still being in undergrad.

So, what do you all think? What would make the system more clear, and how to do you interpret different user titles? (SDN cannot add more titles--we've reached the limit of our technology on that, so that isn't an option).

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

That's always the way I've interpreted it as well, so that at least makes two of us.

I feel that Pre-Psychology should be fairly self-explanatory, as it makes use of the familiarity attached to Pre-Med (especially considering the host of these forums). The "Psychology Student" label is probably the most ambiguous; I agree that changing it to "Psychology Grad Student," "Psych PhD/PsyD Student," or something similar, would help clarify things.

"MD/PhD Student" also seemed fairly clear. Changing it to "Joint MD/PhD Student" could help eliminate any confusion. However, it might be that PhD-"only" students who chose that label did so because, as you've mentioned, there's some ambiguity regarding the "Psychology Student" tag, and there isn't a plain "PhD Student" option. Thus, if the Grad insertion suggested above is made, it could eliminate the desire to erroneously pick "MD/PhD Student."

Oh, and yeah, I'd be happy to see "Psychology Intern" added as an option so that those who wish to designate their internship status wouldn't have to choose "Resident."

 

[aequitasveritas]

I def chose the PhD/MD option for the reason stated above.

Yet since we're trying to standardize here I will change it to Psych Student.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

The OPs descriptions make sense.

 

[Ollie123]

Truth be told, I never actually look at them and couldn't have even told you what the options were until you listed them. Though for what its worth, what you listed made sense to me. I've seen a couple instances where people made a big deal out of it (calling someone out, especially new posters, for what they had listed themselves as). I never cared, its an anonymous forum so people could put anything they wanted anyways and its almost always immediately obvious what stage someone is at from their posts. Its not like I trust the things someone says more because they are listed as "Psychologist" vs. "Pre-Psychology" vs. "Physician" or whatever else.

I say eliminate them entirely, and save yourself the trouble of this discussion🙂

 

[Jegg]

Hi all,

I just wanted to start an open discussion re: SDN user statuses, as there seems to be some inconsistency regarding how people are using them, especially in regards to "pre-psychology student"/"psychology student"/"psychologist" and "MD/PhD".

I've always thought of it as:
Pre-psychology=someone not yet in psych grad school (e.g., undergrad, applicant)

Psychology student=someone in psychology grad school (Masters or PhD/PsyD)

Psychologist=someone with a PhD in psychology (alternately, someone who is licensed psychologist)

MD/PhD student=This is actually specific to medical forums and refers to someone in a joint MD/PhD program. AFAIK, it wasn't intended to mean MD student OR PhD student.

While I can definitely see the confusion over "psychology student" and "pre-psychology student" (would it help if we changed them to "psych undergrad" and "psych grad student"?), I'm honestly kind of baffled when I see someone with the user status "psychologist" posting about still being in undergrad.

So, what do you all think? What would make the system more clear, and how to do you interpret different user titles? (SDN cannot add more titles--we've reached the limit of our technology on that, so that isn't an option).

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

It would be great if they kept one as "Psychology Student" and changed the other title to "PhD/PsyD Student."

The first is broad enough to encompass everyone studying psychology (undergraduate, MS/MA, and doctoral students), and the second allows people who wish to disclose their doctoral status the ability to do so.

 

[aequitasveritas]

I just changed my status to psych student and then typed PhD Student in my signature.