Possibility for Research With Cheaper Online PHD

Started by Young Grasshoppa
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Young Grasshoppa

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Hi,
I am most likely going to end up in graduate school for Social Work for practical reasons. However, I am very research-oriented and would like to eventually spend time doing proper research and perhaps even publishing.

Is there any chance of being able to enter the world of research with a DSW or a non-clinical PHD in psychology?

Does it matter whether it's an R-1 university etc?
 
It’s unlikely to work. Getting a phd is almost meaningless. The real benefit of the PhD program is getting a publication history, and a history of getting funding. Usually grad students publish under someone else’s grant, then get baby grants, and then get even more funding… all while publishing. This history tells employers “hey, this person is going to come here, find their own stuff, and publish.”

An online PhD isn’t going to provide you with that.
 
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The primary reason for getting a PhD that isn't licensure-eligible is to prepare for an academic and/or research career, and getting such jobs is highly dependent on the mentoring you get in your program, both due to networking and because mentoring means you get access to high quality supervision and monetary/institutional support to do quality research and get notable publications. It really is not possible to do that online, and most PhD employers will know and care.
 
While I'm sure there is one out there, I've literally never met someone with an online doctorate who "made it" in the research world. There are certainly folks who work in research settings, but generally lower-level roles they could do without a doctorate.

I would very, very, very strongly urge you against going to an online program if you want research to be a substantive part of your career.
 
Agree with all the above points. An online Ph.D. will hurt you more than not having the degree in academia. It will be a giant waste of your time and money.
 
Ollie123 said:
While I'm sure there is one out there, I've literally never met someone with an online doctorate who "made it" in the research world. There are certainly folks who work in research settings, but generally lower-level roles they could do without a doctorate.

I would very, very, very strongly urge you against going to an online program if you want research to be a substantive part of your career.
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(William) Jeff Bryson, Ph.D. Associate Faculty - Clinical Psychology - Expert with Fielding Graduate University | ExpertFile

This guy from Fielding is now faculty at Fielding. Does that count?
 
EnPsychlopedia said:
Impressive list of specialities he’s got there…somehow simultaneously an expert in trichotillomania and other OCRDs, neuropsychology, sleep disorders, weight-related dysphoria, somatic disorders…
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Well, when someone defines "expertise" as having attended a CE about it, or read an article on it...
 
Why did it take him 3 years after internship to finish his degree?
1709480106288.png
 
Sanman said:
(William) Jeff Bryson, Ph.D. Associate Faculty - Clinical Psychology - Expert with Fielding Graduate University | ExpertFile

This guy from Fielding is now faculty at Fielding. Does that count?
Click to expand...
I don't know- maybe this guy should be cut a little slack. It has been said many times here that it's not that ALL grads of such programs are bad, but that a much higher percentage (compared to low cohort programs) are bad. We can speculate all we want about the time he took between education and career events, as well as his reasons for going to Fielding. However, he seems to be a practicing clinician who adjuncts (not a professor who "stayed on after graduating"). He has also published some stuff post Ph.D. and presumably while practicing, which is pretty decent, seemingly rare for Fielding, and something many of us would espouse around here. I don't know about the impact of the journals, and there doesn't seem to be actual experiments, but still- he did the time to look at some clinical stuff in detail and disseminate what he found in peer-reviewed publications. The list of expertise is a bit over the top (what is an expert in "introduction to clinical psychology"), but it's very "check this box when doing a bio statement stuff, and may or may not have been titled "expertise" on the online form he was completing. He has published on several of the things that are indicated, which begs the question "what is expertise anyways?" This looks like a guy that made the most of what he was faced with and seems to be informing his practice with research and making a few extra bucks (and staying on top of the literature) with an adjunct gig on the side. Most likely not the modal outcome of that program, but is this someone really deserving of our scorn?
 
ClinicalABA said:
I don't know- maybe this guy should be cut a little slack. It has been said many times here that it's not that ALL grads of such programs are bad, but that a much higher percentage (compared to low cohort programs) are bad. We can speculate all we want about the time he took between education and career events, as well as his reasons for going to Fielding. However, he seems to be a practicing clinician who adjuncts (not a professor who "stayed on after graduating." He has also published some stuff post Ph.D. and presumably while practicing, which is pretty decent, seemingly rare for Fielding, and something many of us would espouse around here. I don't know about the impact of the journals, and there doesn't seem to be actual experiments, but still- he did the time to look at some clinical stuff in detail and disseminate what he found in peer-reviewed publications. The list of expertise is a bit over the top (what is an expert in "introduction to clinical psychology"), but it's very "check this box when doing a bio statement stuff, and may or may not have been titled "expertise" on the online form he was completing. He has published on several of the things that are indicated, which begs the question "what is expertise anyways?" This looks like a guy that made the most of what he was faced with and seems to be informing his practice with research and making a few extra bucks (and staying on top of the literature) with an adjunct gig on the side. Most likely not the modal outcome of that program, but is this someone really deserving of our scorn?
Click to expand...

The expertise part is deserving of scorn, IMO. He is responsible for how his faculty page is portrayed. I see nothing in his background that comes even remotely close to being an "expert" in neuropsychology.
 
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WisNeuro said:
The expertise part is deserving of scorn, IMO. He is responsible for how his faculty page is portrayed. I see nothing in his background that comes even remotely close to being an "expert" in neuropsychology.
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Yeah- a good lesson to all to make sure that how you are represented to the public is actually in line with who you are. I hate those seemingly all inclusive pull down or force choice lists, especially when they have such broad topic areas. What would it even mean to be an expert in Neuropsychology, as it's so broad a field that there are maybe only a handful of people who even ever came close to be an expert in all of it,How can that even be a choice?

This guy is definitely not the worst I've seen. I like when someone is an expert in CBT and psychodynamic treatments (including DBT, REBT, and EMDR) for anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, attachment disorders, and developmental delays for children, teens, adults, and elders.
 
ClinicalABA said:
Yeah- a good lesson to all to make sure that how you are represented to the public is actually in line with who you are. I hate those seemingly all inclusive pull down or force choice lists, especially when they have such broad topic areas. What would it even mean to be an expert in Neuropsychology, as it's so broad a field that there are maybe only a handful of people who even ever came close to be an expert in all of it,How can that even be a choice?

This guy is definitely not the worst I've seen. I like when someone is an expert in CBT and psychodynamic treatments (including DBT, REBT, and EMDR) for anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, attachment disorders, and developmental delays for children, teens, adults, and elders.
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At the bare minimum for someone trained in the last 20 years, would be making sure that you are at least board eligible, if not board certified. HE is definitely neither.

And yeah, there are definitely worse examples out there, but that doesn't mean we should be happy for being only relatively terrible 🙂
 
ClinicalABA said:
Yeah- a good lesson to all to make sure that how you are represented to the public is actually in line with who you are. I hate those seemingly all inclusive pull down or force choice lists, especially when they have such broad topic areas. What would it even mean to be an expert in Neuropsychology, as it's so broad a field that there are maybe only a handful of people who even ever came close to be an expert in all of it,How can that even be a choice?

This guy is definitely not the worst I've seen. I like when someone is an expert in CBT and psychodynamic treatments (including DBT, REBT, and EMDR) for anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, attachment disorders, and developmental delays for children, teens, adults, and elders.
Click to expand...

Expertise is a funny thing. I know how to do PE and CPT. I was trained in a VA PTSD clinic, I still treat a few cases of PTSD here and there due to access issues. I have no expertise in PTSD compared to someone with multiple years working in trauma services. I have a lot of expertise compared to your average PP therapist.
 
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Sanman said:
Expertise is a funny thing. I know how to do PE and CPT. I work trained in a VA PTSD clinic, I still treat a few cases of PTSD here and there due to access issues. I have no expertise in PTSD compared to someone with multiple years working in trauma services. I have a lot of expertise compared to your average PP therapist.
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Yeah- I think people often confuse "expertise" with "competence." I'm an expert in very little-if anything- but competent in quite a bit.
 
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