Is a PhD in Neuropsychology worth it?

[OhAnon]

I'm planning on pursuing a career in Pediatric Neuropsychology and I've read a lot about people regretting a Ph.D. in Clinical psychology and how the money and time you spend is not worth the amount you get paid. But I'm confused if this still stands when going into clinical neuropsychology since the salaries there are about an average of 80-100k vs clinical psychology's average of 60-80k Most of the things I've read have been negative and so it's been pushing me away from a career in psychology. Many also said that it takes as much school as a medical school to get through your bachelors, Ph.D., and internship. With that I started to wonder if it would be better to become a psychiatrist since the compensation is much better on that end. I'm not only interested in money but I do hope that by the time I reached thirty I'd be living comfortably. Is this too idealistic when going into a career in neuropsychology psychology?

So I guess I'm asking a few things:

Is it too idealistic to expect to live comfortably by the age of 30 when becoming a Neuropsychologist

Is the work put into a Ph.D. > then the compensation (in both satisfaction and salary) for Neuropsych?

Is employment reliable for Neuropsychologists?

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[erg923]

1. Without even even taking into account the validity of the claim or quibbling with it, 20-30k/year is really not that much more and is eaten by the tax bracket here.

2. Most people are going to tell you to not pay for graduate school/avoid debt (ie., go to fully funded program), get good training, and not accept poor offers (whatever your specialty within psych).

3. Much of America lives on less than this and does ok. That said, the compensation rates, if you want to have a normal 40/hour work week and not have anything to do with the business aspect of healthcare might be underwhelming given how much time and work you have put into it.

4. "Living comfortably" by 30 probably has more to do with you, your habits, and your money management skills than it does with what you do for a living.

5. Never met a well-trained trained neuropsychologist who couldn't get a job. Lay offs of said positions are also rare in employment situations. Needs/demand and salaries vary by region. Most of this will depend on you, your work ethic, flexibility, etc.

 

[OhAnon]

Thanks for the help I guess the reason I was worried about the availability of jobs is that I've read about a lot of people saying they couldn't in a job or the only jobs they found were very low paying. I guess I can assume that would most likely happen in a different field of psychology.

1. Without even taking into account the validity of the claim or quibbling with it, 20-30k/year is really not that much more and is eaten by the tax bracket here.

If by the validity of claim you mean my salary estimate; I know I'm probably wrong. I gave an educated guess based on salary estimates I've seen online. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about them

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Beware of program marketing...a Ph.D. in neuropsychology will likely not be APA-acred. Make sure to attend a funded and university-based APA-acred Clinical or Counseling program. Get good foundational training. Only apply to APA-acred internship sites. Secure a fellowship that meets the Houston Guidelines.

If you do all of those things...it would be surprising if you couldn't find a good job with a solid training background.

 

[WisNeuro]

If you go the right way, fully funded, board certification, and have good money habits, it can be worth it. I work 35ish hours a week, make over 6 figures, and have no debt. Last time I looked for a new job, I had multiple offers, and that was looking in one specific city that I wanted to live. If you have good training, job flexibility is good and >100k is pretty easily attainable.

 

[Kadhir]

I think it is important to evolve with any field. Neuropsychology is arguably more interdisciplinary than other psych specialties, so there are plenty of niches and ways to branch out. INS today is a ton of neuroimaging... maybe not the case a decade ago. There are a lot of ways to exploit our position at the interface of psychology and neuroscience. I've been finding the training particularly valuable in bringing clinical perspectives to clinical neuroscience research studies conducted by basic scientists.

 

[Kadhir]

PCSAS – Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System

Or, a more balanced program. Whatever you do, in general, you'll want to avoid programs that charge you tuition.

Many of these programs are also quite balanced. May place a premium on research in philosophy but also offer much in the way of clinical breadth and depth. AFAIK every single one is fully funded.