Medical Psychologist Curriculum

[dentite001]

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My thinking is in agreement with PublicHealth and Svas. However, if the APA wants to be taken seriously, the medical psychology should begin with specific prerequisites starting in undergraduate. I've listed a proposed outline of courses that could be taken for a BSc in psychology that would prepare for a professional 4 year 'medical psychology' program.

Psychology Courses:

Intro - Introduce the basics
Developmental
Basic stats
Neuroscience I
Psychopathology
Neuroscience II
Behaviour Modification techniques
Advanced Stats
Psychopharmacology
Psychometrics


Biology Courses:

Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
Genetics
Human Physiology

Chemistry Courses:

Inorganic Chemistry I
Organic Chemistry I
Inorganic Chemistry II
Organic Chemistry II
Introductory Biochemistry

Physics

Physics I
Physics II
Cellular Biophysics
Physics of Medical Imaging

Others

Introductory English
Business Ethics
Psychiatry Coop Placement

I've listed 26 half credit courses. The remaining fourteen could be filled with more social electives taken to round out a liberal education. Beyond this, entrance would require a letter of reference each from a psychologist, traditional scientist, and a psychiatrist. Finally, a strong performance in an aptitude test designed for the medical psychologist would be required.

If they are able to survive all this, I certainly think they would be prepared for advanced training in order to prescribe medications in conjunction with psychotherapy.

 

[Svas]

Aside from my thoughts about the list being impractical for an undergrad and that all we're really doing is defining another set of pre-requisites for medical school (part of the central core of the argument is the question as to whether medical school is actually required for psychologists to safely prescribe) . . . that . . .

along with some classes that are superfluous, think that there is not enough math in your list below. However, I think that the program you've listed below is very interesting and I probably would have chosen it over my p-chem major (which I finished so long ago . .. the earth's crust was still cooling).

S

( I wonder why so many English majors got into medical school last year?)

My thinking is in agreement with PublicHealth and Svas. However, if the APA wants to be taken seriously, the medical psychology should begin with specific prerequisites starting in undergraduate. I've listed a proposed outline of courses that could be taken for a BSc in psychology that would prepare for a professional 4 year 'medical psychology' program.

Psychology Courses:

Intro - Introduce the basics
Developmental
Basic stats
Neuroscience I
Psychopathology
Neuroscience II
Behaviour Modification techniques
Advanced Stats
Psychopharmacology
Psychometrics


Biology Courses:

Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
Genetics
Human Physiology

Chemistry Courses:

Inorganic Chemistry I
Organic Chemistry I
Inorganic Chemistry II
Organic Chemistry II
Introductory Biochemistry

Physics

Physics I
Physics II
Cellular Biophysics
Physics of Medical Imaging

Others

Introductory English
Business Ethics
Psychiatry Coop Placement

I've listed 26 half credit courses. The remaining fourteen could be filled with more social electives taken to round out a liberal education. Beyond this, entrance would require a letter of reference each from a psychologist, traditional scientist, and a psychiatrist. Finally, a strong performance in an aptitude test designed for the medical psychologist would be required.

If they are able to survive all this, I certainly think they would be prepared for advanced training in order to prescribe medications in conjunction with psychotherapy.