Is it practical for a middle aged person to consider going back to school for neuropsychology?

[Afksocialworker]

Hello to the list,

I am currently a social worker who has a specialization in geriatrics. I have worked in adult daycare settings only so far. I have a daughter at home who still is a bit young. I'm the main caregiver because my husband is in his own business and is away often. Some years ago when my daughter was in preschool I had a conversation with a classmate's mother who told me she is/was a neuropsychologist. I had never heard of that before! (I know what a clinical psychologist is). I thought her job sounded fascinating! About two years ago I suspected that my daughter had ADD. I tried to have her assessed by the school child study team, but they pushed back and claimed she was fine. I ended up getting referred to a neurospychologist in my state and I took her there for testing and my thoughts were confirmed-she has ADD.This was my first real exposure to a neuropsychologist/neuropsychology evaluation.
Since then I have been thinking about perhaps changing to a career in neurospsychology. I enjoy working in adult daycares but I feel I'd like to do something more with my life. I may try a job doing therapy with the elderly as a social worker. I didn't enter psychology because I only thought the job had a clinical side to it and I have a gut feeling though that I wouldn't be a good counselor (but I guess you never know until you try something). I would either specialize with the elderly since I have experience there or perhaps work with children like my own who were turned away from the school system. I have a Bachelor's in elementary education and my first career was with children. Social work was a midlife career change for me. So I have experience with both ends of the age spectrum.
Anyway, I have been told that the climb to become a neuropsychologist is long. I am already 45 years old. Social work takes mature students because they value people's life experiences. I am here because I wanted to ask if it is even feasible for me to decide to go back to school for neuropsychology? I would probably hope to start a program within a year-two years. My daughter has a Bat Mitzvah coming up then and I would hope to wait until all of that planning is over before starting out. Plus by then I think she will have more maturity and won't need me as much. Is it worth it for me to start a career at this stage in the game? Also, would I most likely be the oldest person in my class? And lastly, is there job discrimination in this field against older applicants (I have had a few people I know in the field discourage me)? I'm only at the very beginning of exploring this career. I don't know if it's worth it for me to keep exploring or to just give up and stay where I am....
Any input (good and bad) will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!

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[Afksocialworker]

Hello to the list,

I am currently a social worker who has a specialization in geriatrics. I have worked in adult daycare settings only so far. I have a daughter at home who still is a bit young. I'm the main caregiver because my husband is in his own business and is away often. Some years ago when my daughter was in preschool I had a conversation with a classmate's mother who told me she is/was a neuropsychologist. I had never heard of that before! (I know what a clinical psychologist is). I thought her job sounded fascinating! About two years ago I suspected that my daughter had ADD. I tried to have her assessed by the school child study team, but they pushed back and claimed she was fine. I ended up getting referred to a neurospychologist in my state and I took her there for testing and my thoughts were confirmed-she has ADD.
Since then I have been thinking about perhaps changing to a career in neurospsychology. I enjoy working in adult daycares but I feel I'd like to do something more with my life. I may try a job doing therapy with the elderly as a social worker. I didn't enter psychology because I have a gut feeling though that I wouldn't be a good counselor (but I guess you never know until you try something). I"m not sure clinical is the route for me.
Anyway, I have been told that the climb to become a neuropsychologist is long. I am already 45 years old. Social work takes mature students because they value people's life experiences. I am here because I wanted to ask if it is even feasible for me to decide to go back to school for neuropsychology? I would probably hope to start a program in a year-two years. My daughter has a Bat Mitzvah coming up then and I would hope to wait until all of that planning is over before starting out. Plus by then I think she will have more maturity and won't need me as much. Is it worth it for me to start a career at this stage in the game? Also, would I most likely be the oldest person in my class? And lastly, is there job discrimination in this field against older applicants (I have had a few people discourage me)? I'm only at the very beginning of exploring this career.
Any input (good and bad) will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!

 

[erg923]

Hello to the list,

I am currently a social worker who has a specialization in geriatrics. I have worked in adult daycare settings only so far. I have a daughter at home who still is a bit young. I'm the main caregiver because my husband is in his own business and is away often. Some years ago when my daughter was in preschool I had a conversation with a classmate's mother who told me she is/was a neuropsychologist. I had never heard of that before! (I know what a clinical psychologist is). I thought her job sounded fascinating! About two years ago I suspected that my daughter had ADD. I tried to have her assessed by the school child study team, but they pushed back and claimed she was fine. I ended up getting referred to a neurospychologist in my state and I took her there for testing and my thoughts were confirmed-she has ADD.This was my first real exposure to a neuropsychologist/neuropsychology evaluation.
Since then I have been thinking about perhaps changing to a career in neurospsychology. I enjoy working in adult daycares but I feel I'd like to do something more with my life. I may try a job doing therapy with the elderly as a social worker. I didn't enter psychology because I only thought the job had a clinical side to it and I have a gut feeling though that I wouldn't be a good counselor (but I guess you never know until you try something). I would either specialize with the elderly since I have experience there or perhaps work with children like my own who were turned away from the school system. I have a Bachelor's in elementary education and my first career was with children. Social work was a midlife career change for me. So I have experience with both ends of the age spectrum.
Anyway, I have been told that the climb to become a neuropsychologist is long. I am already 45 years old. Social work takes mature students because they value people's life experiences. I am here because I wanted to ask if it is even feasible for me to decide to go back to school for neuropsychology? I would probably hope to start a program within a year-two years. My daughter has a Bat Mitzvah coming up then and I would hope to wait until all of that planning is over before starting out. Plus by then I think she will have more maturity and won't need me as much. Is it worth it for me to start a career at this stage in the game? Also, would I most likely be the oldest person in my class? And lastly, is there job discrimination in this field against older applicants (I have had a few people I know in the field discourage me)? I'm only at the very beginning of exploring this career. I don't know if it's worth it for me to keep exploring or to just give up and stay where I am....
Any input (good and bad) will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!

This is a equatable to going to medical school in your mid to late 40s. I think one has to feel that there is literally no other way to actualization because it will take 7 years at the least least, it probably won't be financially rewarding/beneficial this late in life, and the material and the work load are quite different and unrelated to your current job. You will also need to be able to move (maybe more than once) as it is extremely difficult to get graduate school, internship, and the 2 year post doc fellowship in neuropsychology all in the same city.

Also keep in mind this is not something that you can just start in the fall should you decide to. You may have to do some things to make yourself more competitive, and you may have to go through more than one admission cycle even then. Doctoral programs in clinical psychology are extremely competitive. And your years as a social worker really don't make you any more competitive.

 

[WisNeuro]

Practical is all relative. As erg said, if you need this to be fulfilled, why not? But, as he said, it's a 7-8 year journey from the start of graduate school until you are actually practicing. 4-5 years grad school, 1 year internship, 2 year specialized postdoc. So, you'll have to crunch the numbers and decide how much long you're willing to forgo retirement, most likely. Can you support a family on your savings, with a possible grad school stipend of 16k-ish a year, for 5 years? On internship that jumps up to around 25kish, and then on postdoc 40-50kish. For me, that'd be a huge part of my decision.

I'd take a long look at some other neuropsych positions first as well. ADD/ADHD evals are not our bread and butter. Many of us refuse to do them because insurance rarely reimburses it, and neuropsych testing does not diagnose it, clinical history does. Talk to someone at the VA, maybe private practice, etc, to get a feel for what their day to day really looks like. Most of us spend far more time in front of a computer screen than in front of patients.

As for the age thing. You will likely be the oldest person in your cohort in grad school, internship, and postdoc. That's not to say that older non-trad individuals make their way through, just that it's not common. As far as age discrimination, I haven't personally seen it, but I am sure that it will make things harder at some places. It exists.

 

[PsyDr]

Best case scenario:

You start grad school at 46, complete coursework at 50, have a geographical move for internship at 51 which would coincide with your daughters senior year of high school or start of university, start earning like $20k at 51, post doc likely in another geographical location earning around $35-40k from 52-54, start earning the median for early career neuros at around $80-90k, earn the median for 3rd year out around $130k at 57, continue until retirement at 68 assuming you have no health problems unlike the majority of Americans.

How feasible that is depends on how much you have saved for retirement, what your home equity looks like, if you can get into a fully funded program, if your household income can swing like $150k in loans at 6.8% which double every 7 years, if you have a partner who can cover your living expenses while in grad school and cover the mortgage while you move, what your college savings for your daughter look like, if no partner you'd need a plan for the gap between financial aid for your daughter and university costs because your debt to income ratio would be a disqualification for many parent loans, what your retirement plans are and it better not be to work until you die because statistically that doesn't work out for the majority, if you're cool with at least one geographical move and getting an internship and post doc in town better not be your plan, etc etc etc.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Neuropsych is also one of the hardest sub-specialties in the field (in regard to competition for the limited # of spots available for fellowship). Securing a formal fellowship is important for training purposes and is also a requirement for boarding. Boarding is the expectation within the field, so there is less flexibility in the training path.

 

[Afksocialworker]

Thank you all very much for your assessment. And for giving me detailed information. Too bad I didn't hear about this career years ago. I will most likely look into other options. Thank you all again!

 

[Existenz]

Why not consider becoming a psychometrist?

 

[NeuroLady]

Why not consider becoming a psychometrist?

My thought too. Depends on what you like about neuropsych.