Mental health Counselor to psychiatrist

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CBFutureHelper14

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I am applying to grad schools for mental health counseling. I am hoping to become a Licensed Mental health clinician. I was also considering furthering my studies into medicine to specialize in psychiatry after a decade or so as a LPC. Has anyone done this or does anyone know of someone who has done this? I am not set on either right now because it depends on admittance. Just curious.

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That doesn't sound terribly bright. The only reason to go to med school is because you're set on it. If you're meh about being a doc, it just totally isn't worth it.

Being an LPC won't help you get into med school and won't really have much bearing on being a psychiatrist. You also won't earn enough as an LPC to be able to make med school any more affordable.

I knew an LCSW once who went to med school. And some nurses who have done it. That wasn't their original plan though. They started working in the field and developed a passion that could only be satisfied by becoming a doctor.

Phrased another way, what you're proposing is: "I'm going to go to school for a couple years so I can work a relatively low paying job for ten years before putting my life on hold for another eight years while going into massive debt and working my tail off. Then after that, I can devote the rest of my working life to paying for it"

Don't do it if you're not passionate. And if you're passionate, why not do it now?


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That doesn't sound terribly bright. The only reason to go to med school is because you're set on it. If you're meh about being a doc, it just totally isn't worth it.

Being an LPC won't help you get into med school and won't really have much bearing on being a psychiatrist. You also won't earn enough as an LPC to be able to make med school any more affordable.

I knew an LCSW once who went to med school. And some nurses who have done it. That wasn't their original plan though. They started working in the field and developed a passion that could only be satisfied by becoming a doctor.

Phrased another way, what you're proposing is: "I'm going to go to school for a couple years so I can work a relatively low paying job for ten years before putting my life on hold for another eight years while going into massive debt and working my tail off. Then after that, I can devote the rest of my working life to paying for it"

Don't do it if you're not passionate. And if you're passionate, why not do it now?


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Thanks for the advice. I am incredibly stuck right now. I have always wanted to be a doctor and I didn't want to give up on that dream. When things didnt go as planned, I considered counseling instead. I am afraid if I choose counseling over med, I'll regret not doing med. But i also do not want to embark on a med jorney that may once again not work. So right now I am pretty stuck. I am trying to decide which would be best for me by shadowing docs and observing counseling sessions. I also volunteer at the hospital and with a crisis hotline. I'm still young and I have some time to figure things out. Whichever I choose, I want to be truly happy doing it and not regret it.
 
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Sunlioness is right.

I took a similar route to what you are proposing, CB. I worked in mental health during grad school doing counseling, groups, etc while working on my psychology PhD. As soon as I decided I would rather be a psychiatrist (two years later), I focused on going to med school. It was a long road and not the easiest way to do it. But, I guess life is like that sometimes.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I am incredibly stuck right now. I have always wanted to be a doctor and I didn't want to give up on that dream. When things didnt go as planned, I considered counseling instead. I am afraid if I choose counseling over med, I'll regret not doing med. But i also do not want to embark on a med jorney that may once again not work. So right now I am pretty stuck. I am trying to decide which would be best for me by shadowing docs and observing counseling sessions. I also volunteer at the hospital and with a crisis hotline. I'm still young and I have some time to figure things out. Whichever I choose, I want to be truly happy doing it and not regret it.

What was it that didn't go as planned?

It sounds like you're going about it the right way. Gathering information and experiences is always good. And if you realize that you do want to go to medical school, there are ways to improve your grades and resume that don't involve an entirely different degree. Don't rush into anything. And don't go to school for the sake of going to school. There may have been a time when that worked. But the price is just too high these days.
 
What was it that didn't go as planned?

It sounds like you're going about it the right way. Gathering information and experiences is always good. And if you realize that you do want to go to medical school, there are ways to improve your grades and resume that don't involve an entirely different degree. Don't rush into anything. And don't go to school for the sake of going to school. There may have been a time when that worked. But the price is just too high these days.

I entered college as an intended nursing major and criminal justice minor. I got to Chem 1150 and made a D. Grade replaced it and made a C. Took anatomy/physiology which is required for nursing but not med and made a C. By that time i was technically in my third year of college still trying to do the prereqs for nursing. I was at about 90+ credits. Tuition surcharge is applied when you go over 140 credits. I was advised to switch majors so as not to incur a tuition surcharge. I changed my major to criminal justice and graduated in 2014. When I graduated I thought medicine was impossible for me so last year I applied to counseling programs. Currently I have applied to two programs and I have an interview for one of them in two weeks. I am also applying to a third as a safety school. Now I am second guessing my choice to move on. I got to thinking that med maybe isn't impossible. But I have spent all this time and money for counseling programs and i dont want to feel i wasted money. But I also do not want to regret anything. I also thought about, if i dont get into the counseling programs, i could go ahead and go back and do med. So right now I do not know
 
@CBFutureHelper14 :

First and foremost, you need to figure out whether you want to go into medicine. Don't forget that you go to medical school to become a physician and not just a psychiatrist, which entails learning quite a bit of anatomy and a whole lot of physiology/pathology/pharmacology plus all the clinical rotations besides psychiatry (which include internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, primary care +/- neurology +/- emergency medicine) - you'll have to work really hard on all of that and the stuff related to psychiatry is really a very small part of medical school. In other words, make sure you have the stomach for all of medicine, not only psychiatry. Volunteering at an ER and shadowing doctors *other than psychiatrists* may give you some idea, though it's still a very far cry from actually practicing medicine.

Second, your grades in chemistry and especially anatomy/physiology are concerning (I honestly don't think chemistry is terribly relevant to medical school stuff, though of course you need to know the basics, but anatomy/physiology *is* the stuff of medicine). As you know, one needs fairly a high GPA to get accepted into medical school, which translates into having to get mostly As and some Bs in both required (biology/chem/o-chem/physics) and non-required classes. Now, even with your current grades in chemistry and anatomy/physiology not everything is lost: 1) there are programs like Fresh Start in Texas that will allow you to start your pre-med in TX from an academic blank slate, so that you can apply to TX medical schools with the GPA from your Fresh Start pre-med only (though of course you'll have to bust your *ss for that shiny new GPA); 2) osteopathic schools can "forgive" your lower grades if you retake these classes and do better on your retakes (osteopathic schools are also generally more open to non-traditional applicants); 3) you can take pre-med classes at community colleges - yes, you can - which are substantially cheaper and supposedly easier (though not always) than a regular college (but you'll have to bust your *ss there to prove your worth, too). For more information, check out the non-trad forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/nontraditional-students.110/).
The real issue is, why did you get these grades? If there was a specific problem related to these classes that you can fix now, it's fine. But keep in mind that medical school is *very rigorous" and you have to be pretty good at studying science not only to get into it but to survive it. Moreover, you'll have a very hard time in medical school if you don't love science because it's all science all the time (at least in the preclinical stage). In fact, I really don't know how people who don't *love* science can bear medical school - I have a very strong science background and I love science, but I'm studying for my Step 1 right now and hating everything with passion (also, my gluteus maximus is getting numb bilaterally).
Bottom line: poor grades are potentially fixable, but you have to have stomach for studying a whole lot of science in medical school, too.

But in the end, as was mentioned by people with more experience above, the most important question is whether you want to do medicine. If you're interested in mental health and want to work at a more advanced level but are not into harder science/medicine in general, have you considered graduate programs in psychology? (Now I admit I have no idea about education and careers in psychology, but it may be the right field for you.)
 
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@CBFutureHelper14 :

First and foremost, you need to figure out whether you want to go into medicine. Don't forget that you go to medical school to become a physician and not just a psychiatrist, which entails learning quite a bit of anatomy and a whole lot of physiology/pathology/pharmacology plus all the clinical rotations besides psychiatry (which include internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, primary care +/- neurology +/- emergency medicine) - you'll have to work really hard on all of that and the stuff related to psychiatry is really a very small part of medical school. In other words, make sure you have the stomach for all of medicine, not only psychiatry. Volunteering at an ER and shadowing doctors *other than psychiatrists* may give you some idea, though it's still a very far cry from actually practicing medicine.

Second, your grades in chemistry and especially anatomy/physiology are concerning (I honestly don't think chemistry is terribly relevant to medical school stuff, though of course you need to know the basics, but anatomy/physiology *is* the stuff of medicine). As you know, one needs fairly a high GPA to get accepted into medical school, which translates into having to get mostly As and some Bs in both required (biology/chem/o-chem/physics) and non-required classes. Now, even with your current grades in chemistry and anatomy/physiology not everything is lost: 1) there are programs like Fresh Start in Texas that will allow you to start your pre-med in TX from an academic blank slate, so that you can apply to TX medical schools with the GPA from your Fresh Start pre-med only (though of course you'll have to bust your *ss for that shiny new GPA); 2) osteopathic schools can "forgive" your lower grades if you retake these classes and do better on your retakes (osteopathic schools are also generally more open to non-traditional applicants); 3) you can take pre-med classes at community colleges - yes, you can - which are substantially cheaper and supposedly easier (though not always) than a regular college (but you'll have to bust your *ss there to prove your worth, too). For more information, check out the non-trad forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/nontraditional-students.110/).
The real issue is, why did you get these grades? If there was a specific problem related to these classes that you can fix now, it's fine. But keep in mind that medical school is *very rigorous" and you have to be pretty good at studying science not only to get into it but to survive it. Moreover, you'll have a very hard time in medical school if you don't love science because it's all science all the time (at least in the preclinical stage). In fact, I really don't know how people who don't *love* science can bear medical school - I have a very strong science background and I love science, but I'm studying for my Step 1 right now and hating everything with passion (also, my gluteus maximus is getting numb bilaterally).
Bottom line: poor grades are potentially fixable, but you have to have stomach for studying a whole lot of science in medical school, too.

But in the end, as was mentioned by people with more experience above, the most important question is whether you want to do medicine. If you're interested in mental health and want to work at a more advanced level but are not into harder science/medicine in general, have you considered graduate programs in psychology? (Now I admit I have no idea about education and careers in psychology, but it may be the right field for you.)

@Amygdarya I am volunteering and trying to set to shadowing experinece so that I know for sure medicine is what i want to pursue. I have the option of retaking the chem and anatomy classes as well as completing the rest of the prereqs. I am not solely looking at psychiatry. I am considering many specilaties. As a kid I wanted to be a pediatrician. Volunteering and shadowing will help me decide. I have talked to med students, residents, but their experineces are different than mine. I even shadowed RNs in the Childrens ED at the hospital I am volunteering at. I am reallly weighing all my options here because I do not want to rush into anything. That includes counseling. I have met with counseling program coordinators and spoken with current counseling students as well as practicing counselors in my university's student counseling center. I am gathering all possible information for both fields. Eventhough i have applied for counseling programs for this Fall 16 term, i want to make the best decision for me and I am continuing to research both fields. In the end it is ultimately my decision. Thank you for responding though.
 
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@Amygdarya I am volunteering and trying to set yo shadowing experinece so that I know for sure medicine is what i want to pursue. I have the option of retaking the chem and anatomy classes as well as completing the rest of the prereqs. I am not solely looking at psychiatry. I am considering many specilaties. As a kid I wanted to be a pediatrician. Volunteering and shadowing will help me decide. I have talked to med students, residents, but theur experineces are different than mine. I even shadowed RNs in the Childrens ED at the hospital I am volunteering at. I am reallly weighing all my options here because I do not want to rush into anything. That includes counseling. I have met with counseling program coordinators and spoken with current coubseling students as well as practicing counselors in my university's student counseling center. I am gathering all possible information for both fields. Eventhough i have applied for counseling programs for this Fall 16 term, i want to make the best decision for me and I am continuing to research both fields. In the end it is ultimately my decision. Thank yoj for responding though.

At the end of the day, it is possible your academic performance will make the decision for you, unfortunately. Whatever you decide, just...don't go Caribbean. It is obviously possible to be successful as an IMG for the moment, but you are not setting yourself up for success and are guaranteeing a great deal more wailing and gnashing of teeth down the line.
 
At the end of the day, it is possible your academic performance will make the decision for you, unfortunately. Whatever you decide, just...don't go Caribbean. It is obviously possible to be successful as an IMG for the moment, but you are not setting yourself up for success and are guaranteeing a great deal more wailing and gnashing of teeth down the line.

What is an IMG?
 
International medical graduate, i.e. someone who attends a medical school outside of the United States. The premed forums might be able to give you more immediately useful and targeted advice, honestly.

I dont plan on going outside of tge US for med if I choose med.
 
If you believe some of the better IMG diploma mills have match rates of about 50% of their graduates, you should understand that a lot of people spend a lot of money and don't graduate. It is very likely the match % will go down as USMGs numbers grow. Increasingly the tough advice will be "know when to give up".
 
If you believe some of the better IMG diploma mills have match rates of about 50% of their graduates, you should understand that a lot of people spend a lot of money and don't graduate. It is very likely the match % will go down as USMGs numbers grow. Increasingly the tough advice will be "know when to give up".

I do not plan on going to international med schools. I don't trust them. I am not concerned about international med schools.
 
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@Amygdarya I am volunteering and trying to set to shadowing experinece so that I know for sure medicine is what i want to pursue. I have the option of retaking the chem and anatomy classes as well as completing the rest of the prereqs. I am not solely looking at psychiatry. I am considering many specilaties. As a kid I wanted to be a pediatrician. Volunteering and shadowing will help me decide. I have talked to med students, residents, but their experineces are different than mine. I even shadowed RNs in the Childrens ED at the hospital I am volunteering at. I am reallly weighing all my options here because I do not want to rush into anything. That includes counseling. I have met with counseling program coordinators and spoken with current counseling students as well as practicing counselors in my university's student counseling center. I am gathering all possible information for both fields. Eventhough i have applied for counseling programs for this Fall 16 term, i want to make the best decision for me and I am continuing to research both fields. In the end it is ultimately my decision. Thank you for responding though.
Great, so you're already doing the right thing by collecting information about different fields and weighing your options. Best of luck in your quest!
 
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