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Hi everyone!
I am from Brazil. I've been having a hard time to decide whether I should become a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I know that in order to practice medicine in the USA and other places abroad one has to pass through a different process, when compared to the one here in Brazil, where you finish high school being able to do an university entrance exam like SAT to study medicine directly as a graduation (6 years), with the first 2 years being about "the basics", something like the "pre-med" and later, after the 6 years,the residency programs \ specializations take place. Nowadays, I study for those exams to get into a medical school.
I've read plenty of threads from this and other websites about "psychology vs psychiatry", and some other articles, and I would like to share what I've seen this far, considering my personal interests.
I love to read about the human mind and behavior. When I read self-help books, about real stories, about memorization, setting goals, about developing specific qualities such as charisma, discipline, I always wonder how could I help a future patient of mine to solve his or her own struggles. I've been meditating for 2 years and have realized how much it is important to dedicate some time to ourselves consistently. I am so much more focused... It has positively affected the way that I cope with difficult situations, stress, negativity, especially anxiety. It's a practice that I intend to keep during medical school(sleeping 5 hours a day followed by 1 hour of meditation), which has enabled me to sleep better, start the day fresh. So, I've always liked to get to know about different aspects of the human mind, and also have a curiosity to integrate that knowledge with a medical background, that means integrating mind-body-spirit. I've been thinking about creating hypnosis and guided meditation recording in the future as an extracurricular activity.
What I've seen this far is that with the development of psychopharmacology, in the 20th century (correct me if I am wrong) there has been a drop in the amount of psychiatrists that are interested in doing therapy, considering that insurance companies have been limiting the amount of time that these professionals spend with their patients, in public community health clinics in general, making them restrict their jobs to prescribing medications in appointments lasting 15-20 minutes, and sending their patients to psychologists, social workers, to do therapy. There are some psychiatrists that would like to invest in therapy, but wonder if it's reasonable, considering the reasons before, the idea of limiting the amount of patients they see (making less money). But I've also seen that, in private practice, the doctor has more flexibility to determine how much time he\she wants to dedicate to do therapy, even if it means making a lower income than those that only prescribe medications.
I don't mind studying other things beyond the human mind... I think that it is interesting to do it and gives me other ways to help people. But I want to commit my job to self-exploration and self-development of patients, with a medical background and a “therapeutic background”... I don’t mind about how long it takes. I am just concerned if will be able to reach my goals.
I have an idea of what I might do as a psychiatrist: I want to specialize in cognitive behavior therapy and later to become an integrative medicine doctor, focusing on the patient as a whole, enabling me to be relationship-centered in my approach to medical care. I am also considering later to become a certified personal trainer. I want to make a difference in other's peoples lives, using medications only when necessary to treat patients, turning to them as a LAST RESORT. I wanna be able to provide exercise related education, motivational support, nutritional counseling, self-care strategies, life coaching.
Integrative medicine seems to be one of the best ways to go, despite the fact that it is a recent area of study, not very know here in Brazil. I am definitely considering traveling to the USA in the future, where I've found out with my researches to be one of the best places to study about it, specially in Arizona (https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/)
It is rare to see a psychiatrist who dedicates a fair amount of time doing therapy well. I wonder how good he is to do it, considering that most residency programs don't promote a deep study of psychotherapy. However, I've understood that it's up to him to have the urge to study that more profoundly later, if he is willing to take that time... Furthermore, I've seen that private practice doctors usually have more flexibility, being able to determine how much more therapy he wants to do...
What I ask you is: is it worth it to "go against the flow" to become this kind of doctor, this idealized mental health professional (integrative medicine doctor, CBT, psychiatrist) that cares about the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle, or should I just spare me these concerns :
1- The huge amount of time to study medical related subjects
2- Being or not being able to make appropriate use of therapies and to invest in other interests
- and become a psychologist once and for all, whose focus is primarily on the mind and human behavior?
On the other hand, these interests (human behavior) might help me to become a better, different doctor, specifically an aspiring psychiatrist, considering that I know that I can study hard and pass succeed in medical school. I know that a psychiatrist make more money than a psychologist, but I just wanna be very specific about being able to do what I want to do.
How realist and promising are my ideas as a doctor, in the future of medicine, which
nowadays seems to be leaning towards more frequent use of medications in psych?
How flexible can a psychiatrist's job be after medical school?
I am from Brazil. I've been having a hard time to decide whether I should become a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I know that in order to practice medicine in the USA and other places abroad one has to pass through a different process, when compared to the one here in Brazil, where you finish high school being able to do an university entrance exam like SAT to study medicine directly as a graduation (6 years), with the first 2 years being about "the basics", something like the "pre-med" and later, after the 6 years,the residency programs \ specializations take place. Nowadays, I study for those exams to get into a medical school.
I've read plenty of threads from this and other websites about "psychology vs psychiatry", and some other articles, and I would like to share what I've seen this far, considering my personal interests.
I love to read about the human mind and behavior. When I read self-help books, about real stories, about memorization, setting goals, about developing specific qualities such as charisma, discipline, I always wonder how could I help a future patient of mine to solve his or her own struggles. I've been meditating for 2 years and have realized how much it is important to dedicate some time to ourselves consistently. I am so much more focused... It has positively affected the way that I cope with difficult situations, stress, negativity, especially anxiety. It's a practice that I intend to keep during medical school(sleeping 5 hours a day followed by 1 hour of meditation), which has enabled me to sleep better, start the day fresh. So, I've always liked to get to know about different aspects of the human mind, and also have a curiosity to integrate that knowledge with a medical background, that means integrating mind-body-spirit. I've been thinking about creating hypnosis and guided meditation recording in the future as an extracurricular activity.
What I've seen this far is that with the development of psychopharmacology, in the 20th century (correct me if I am wrong) there has been a drop in the amount of psychiatrists that are interested in doing therapy, considering that insurance companies have been limiting the amount of time that these professionals spend with their patients, in public community health clinics in general, making them restrict their jobs to prescribing medications in appointments lasting 15-20 minutes, and sending their patients to psychologists, social workers, to do therapy. There are some psychiatrists that would like to invest in therapy, but wonder if it's reasonable, considering the reasons before, the idea of limiting the amount of patients they see (making less money). But I've also seen that, in private practice, the doctor has more flexibility to determine how much time he\she wants to dedicate to do therapy, even if it means making a lower income than those that only prescribe medications.
I don't mind studying other things beyond the human mind... I think that it is interesting to do it and gives me other ways to help people. But I want to commit my job to self-exploration and self-development of patients, with a medical background and a “therapeutic background”... I don’t mind about how long it takes. I am just concerned if will be able to reach my goals.
I have an idea of what I might do as a psychiatrist: I want to specialize in cognitive behavior therapy and later to become an integrative medicine doctor, focusing on the patient as a whole, enabling me to be relationship-centered in my approach to medical care. I am also considering later to become a certified personal trainer. I want to make a difference in other's peoples lives, using medications only when necessary to treat patients, turning to them as a LAST RESORT. I wanna be able to provide exercise related education, motivational support, nutritional counseling, self-care strategies, life coaching.
Integrative medicine seems to be one of the best ways to go, despite the fact that it is a recent area of study, not very know here in Brazil. I am definitely considering traveling to the USA in the future, where I've found out with my researches to be one of the best places to study about it, specially in Arizona (https://integrativemedicine.arizona.edu/)
It is rare to see a psychiatrist who dedicates a fair amount of time doing therapy well. I wonder how good he is to do it, considering that most residency programs don't promote a deep study of psychotherapy. However, I've understood that it's up to him to have the urge to study that more profoundly later, if he is willing to take that time... Furthermore, I've seen that private practice doctors usually have more flexibility, being able to determine how much more therapy he wants to do...
What I ask you is: is it worth it to "go against the flow" to become this kind of doctor, this idealized mental health professional (integrative medicine doctor, CBT, psychiatrist) that cares about the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle, or should I just spare me these concerns :
1- The huge amount of time to study medical related subjects
2- Being or not being able to make appropriate use of therapies and to invest in other interests
- and become a psychologist once and for all, whose focus is primarily on the mind and human behavior?
On the other hand, these interests (human behavior) might help me to become a better, different doctor, specifically an aspiring psychiatrist, considering that I know that I can study hard and pass succeed in medical school. I know that a psychiatrist make more money than a psychologist, but I just wanna be very specific about being able to do what I want to do.
How realist and promising are my ideas as a doctor, in the future of medicine, which
nowadays seems to be leaning towards more frequent use of medications in psych?
How flexible can a psychiatrist's job be after medical school?
