Please help, what should I do?

[PsychStudent]

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I'm a second-year clinical psychology PhD student, and for various reasons I feel like medicine would be a better match than psychology. I actually really love my PhD program and what I'm learning, but it's very research-based and I'm having a hard time picturing myself in the type of career I'd be qualified for after I get my degree.

After much thought, I decided that that the best route would be to stay in my program but perhaps take some pre-med classes in addition to see if the hard sciences are doable for me. I remember liking biology a lot in high school but having some trouble in chem and physics, so I certainly don't want to drop out of my PhD program if I can't handle it (I didn't take any sciences classes as an undergrad).

I talked to my advisor about taking chemistry this year and bio next year (the school I'm at is very well-respected academically, and as a grad student I could take undergrad classes for free) to supposedly improve my non-existent science background. She basically gave me a flat-out "no" because she thought it would be too time-consuming, irrelevant to my training, and take time away from my research. She told me this about a month ago, so I accepted it and decided to try to pursue the pre-med thing after I get my PhD.

Fast forward a month, and the class starts on Wednesday. All of a sudden, I'm desperate again to take it so I can either give this pre-med thing a real try or decide that psychology is the way to go. Should I just beg her tomorrow to let me take the class? I really don't want to tell her I'm having second thoughts about my PhD program because I feel like that could come back to haunt me if medicine doesn't work out (my program really looks down on people who want to be practioners and there's a huge stigma). I'm so confused and upset about this whole thing. I'm 22 so I know I could pursue medicine after getting my PhD, but I also want to have a family before I'm 30 so I do feel a lot of time pressure.

 

[NapeSpikes]

Go ahead and beg. What have you got to lose? Alternatively, can you opt out at the Master's level?

If neither of these options pans out, you may have to quit the PhD program, or wait until after.

 

[PsychStudent]

Thanks for the advice thus far. If she still says no to chem, should I try shadowing a doc perhaps (my main interest is peds)? Will that make it clearer to me if medicine is the right choice for me?

 

[MaryWrathers]

"(my program really looks down on people who want to be practioners and there's a huge stigma)."

Why is this? Just curious....

 

[PsychStudent]

It's a research-based program. They want us to be academics (like them).

 

[Pretty POHA]

It's a research-based program. They want us to be academics (like them).

I'm a psych-major undergrad...
I have received no support whatsoever from my PhD advisors in the department regarding my goal of earning my M.D, with the far future goal of going into forensic psychiatry.
Because I have not felt the support I need and deserve from my PhD advisors in my department of choice (psychology), I am changing my major.
Life is too short, and my education is far too important to have ANYONE in any advisory role hinder or discourage me from attaining my dreams.
Just thought I'd tell you that I empathise and remind you that only you have the knowledge to know what you want to do, and ultimately YOU will be the one that makes the best decisions for you!
Good luck!

 

[little_late_MD]

I'm 22 so I know I could pursue medicine after getting my PhD, but I also want to have a family before I'm 30 so I do feel a lot of time pressure.

Hold on doing some math......

22.......second year PhD student.........carry the one.........find the remainder......

WTF!!!! What rigorous academic research university let a 20/21 year old into a PhD program? You are either a pyschology wunderkind, or something else is going on there.

This sort of situation is why univerisities like you to have a few years of practice/research under your belt before you are admitted into a PhD program. It looks really bad when a PhD student drops out to pursue another career entirely.

You have to understand what a PhD is. It is a degree in research that in it's most naked form serves to open up doors to tenure-track professorships. If you do not want to sit in your office looking up articles, pouring over studies, writing articles, and occasionally teaching snot-nosed psych majors, then a PhD is not the right path for you.

However, if you are not sure about medicine, then that is most definitely not a path you should take right now. By your second or third year of medical school you will be thinking of what else you could have done with your life, and if you make it to your residency, your fifth or sixth 80 hour week will pretty much put the nail in that coffin.

If you're not sure what direction you want to go in, then take your time and find out what is right for you. I don't know the specifics of your school's program, but if you finish all the classes up to your dissertation, then usually you are awarded a master's degree. Finish this year, take some medicine-related classes, maybe do some psych work in a hospital, and figure it out. You're only 22, not 42. Doctors of all stripes (MDs, DOs, PhDs) often have to put their careers before family. That is the nature of the beast. If you're not willing to sacrifice one for the other, then perhaps neither of these paths is for you. The most important thing is not to rush into anything. Time is the one quantity you have in abundance. Don't make the youthful mistake of trying to get it all done now.