Looking for advice

[wellscripts]

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Hey,

I am a student with a serious interest in studying mental health, psychology, etc.

My question is, how do I know if psychiatry (as opposed to psychology)is right for me? When did you decide to pursue psychiatry, before or after entering Med School? Why did you choose psychiatry over psychology? Did you have a major interest in becoming a M.D. and you discovered Psychiatry along the way or was psychiatry your ultimate goal even before entering Pre-med courses? If psychiatry WAS your ultimate goal, was med school a burden seeing as your main interest was mental health and not all the other areas covered in med school?

I really appreciate the help!

Thanks!

 

[ClinPsycMasters]

First things first: how much do you know about clinical psychology? Your mentioning of couches and fireplace is a reference to Freudian psychoanalysis I presume. That's only one of the options, and not the most popular one. Most schools are research-oriented and emphasize cognitive and behavioral approaches these days. And most psychiatry programs also teach various therapeutic approaches (psychodynamic, CBT, etc) on top of the biological approach to mental illness and medications. I suggest you do some research on clinical psychology first.

 

[whopper]

This question has been asked on the forum several times. Do a forum search and you'll find the threads.

IMHO it boils down to these issues...

Are you willing to spend several years (at least 5) in a non-mental health curriculum. E.g. are you willing to deliver a baby, pull all-nighters on medicine call, memorize antibiotics, etc to attain the ultimate end of being a psychiatrist? If no--steer away from being a psychiatrist.

What is your preference in your field of study? The medical model or statistics? If it's the latter steer toward psychology.

I'm very happy to be a psychiatrist, but I hated medical school. The problem here is most type A personalities will see that as a "temporary set back." Yes it's temporary, but IMHO not temporary enough. Your life on this planet is temporary! By the time you finish medical school you will not even be the same person. Unfortunately, once you start one track, it's difficult to step back and try the other.

Another factor is money and job security. Psychiatrists are in a better situation.