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Anybody done this (see title)/know of anyone whose done this/have thoughts on the possibility of doing this? Toying with this idea..
Anybody done this (see title)/know of anyone whose done this/have thoughts on the possibility of doing this? Toying with this idea..
Thanks, all for your feedback! Hopefuldoc97239, good idea - I'll mention it to my advisor. 🙂
I'd be REALLY careful about that--it could seriously backfire, as most advisors aren't going to want to pour time and resources into a student if they explicitly know there's a good probability that the student will "jump ship" into another profession in a year or two, especially if that would mean not completing the PhD program.
If your advisor cares about you (or is just a decent human being) then they aren't going to treat you differently just because you don't want to be just like them. Their job as an advisor is to help you find your own path... not all advisors realize this, unfortunately, but if you talk to enough professors you'll find that many do feel this way.
I'm wondering why you don't just not attend grad school and then go pre-med. It seems like a waste to do all that and then just end up going to med school.
The extra letters behind your name count for something, too. It can be helpful for residencies. I doubt a psych PhD would count for much for someone who wants to go into radiology oncology, but if you want to do a residency in psychiatry at Mass Gen or UCSF, I think that a clinical psych PhD would improve your chances!
Even if this would appeal to the OP, it isn't really an option. An unfinished degree is almost always a kiss of death to your med school application.
But I hope that the OP doesn't look at grad school as a waste of time. Hopefully he/she is learning skills that will be beneficial in medicine. Hopefully, someone with a psychology background will have some good training in how to talk to people--a skill that's too often lacking in medicine!
The extra letters behind your name count for something, too. It can be helpful for residencies. I doubt a psych PhD would count for much for someone who wants to go into radiology oncology, but if you want to do a residency in psychiatry at Mass Gen or UCSF, I think that a clinical psych PhD would improve your chances!
IIRC, the OP is planning to start grad school this fall.
Your conceptualization of a clinical psychology PhD as a nice "add-on" to an MD and a degree where you learn "how to talk to people" can of bugs me, to be honest. Even a first year (in school psych, not clinical), I've learned far more about evaluating EBT; statistics and research methods; differential diagnoses; administering, scoring, and interpreting cognitive and academic achievement assessments; writing and presenting assessment/case reports' and conducting and disseminating research than I have about the nebulous area of "how to talk to people" (although that is important, of course).
Thanks again, everyone, for your feedback on this! I'll just first clear up a couple of things. I'm a 2nd year grad student in a Developmental psyc PhD program getting my master's in a couple of weeks, definitely 100% committed to completing the PhD. I agree that it would have been the easier route to not go to grad school in the first place, and just have gone from undergrad to med school. Wish I would have done that, but I didn't and I'm committed to finishing out what I started, even if that means I would be older than I'd like if/when I started a MD program. If I do go the medical route, it would be a long haul and a lot of things would have to go right along the way so I could even get into a program. There are some issues that lead me to hypothesize that my advisor would really withdraw from investing himself in training me if I told him my interest in going into medicine after the PhD. It sucks because I've made this 4-year + commitment to psychology that now I feel like makes the whole med school thing inconvenient. Don't get me wrong, I really like psyc and I am committed to my training in psyc. Ever just feel like you made a huge life choice that limits other options? That's how I feel now. Sucks.
Edit: and when I say "limits other options", I want to clarify that I am very well aware that any life choice is going to limit other options. I do realize that decisions and commitments require sacrifices, and that's not what I'm complaining about. I've gladly sacrificed for my education thus far. I'm basically bitching, I guess, because I wish that I could be forever young and do many things - whatever I want that I have the ability to - and it'd all be gravy, baby 😉. Maybe irrational, yes, but I just want to do more!
Thanks again, everyone, for your feedback on this! I'll just first clear up a couple of things. I'm a 2nd year grad student in a Developmental psyc PhD program getting my master's in a couple of weeks, definitely 100% committed to completing the PhD. I agree that it would have been the easier route to not go to grad school in the first place, and just have gone from undergrad to med school. Wish I would have done that, but I didn't and I'm committed to finishing out what I started, even if that means I would be older than I'd like if/when I started a MD program. If I do go the medical route, it would be a long haul and a lot of things would have to go right along the way so I could even get into a program. There are some issues that lead me to hypothesize that my advisor would really withdraw from investing himself in training me if I told him my interest in going into medicine after the PhD. It sucks because I've made this 4-year + commitment to psychology that now I feel like makes the whole med school thing inconvenient. Don't get me wrong, I really like psyc and I am committed to my training in psyc. Ever just feel like you made a huge life choice that limits other options? That's how I feel now. Sucks.
Edit: and when I say "limits other options", I want to clarify that I am very well aware that any life choice is going to limit other options. I do realize that decisions and commitments require sacrifices, and that's not what I'm complaining about. I've gladly sacrificed for my education thus far. I'm basically bitching, I guess, because I wish that I could be forever young and do many things - whatever I want that I have the ability to - and it'd all be gravy, baby 😉. Maybe irrational, yes, but I just want to do more!
I'm confused... Your previous posts indicate that you were applying to Clinical Psych PhD programs. So, you're in a Developmental Psych PhD program, applied to Clinical Psych PhD programs (decided not to go?), and are now wanting to go into medicine? Just clarifying. 🙂
That's unfortunate... everyone on my dissertation committee (including my advisor) knew where I was headed and they didn't change their support. And let me tell you something, the 36Cl- radiotracer I was using was not cheap! (Imagine a grain of salt that costs $1000!)
It really will be hard for you to get into medical school without the support of your advisor in the form of a really strong letter of recommendation, so if med school is where you think you're headed then you do have to sort this out eventually. There has to be someone you can talk to confidentially about your situation. You could ask the director of your grad program for a confidential meeting, or perhaps some other professor whom you have good rapport with.
Otherwise, (please don't do this just because I said so, but I have to say it) your option may only be to cut and run with the master's, and start building new relationships for your letters of recommendation. If you stay for the PhD, then you're going to need your advisor's blessing to get into med school.
Thanks for the advice hopefuldoc! The thing with my advisor is that, since I have demonstrated a lack of commitment to the program by applying elsewhere (even though I eventually chose to stay), I just think if I told him so short after the app process is over that eventually I'm gonna want to go into something else anyway, he would really withdraw his investment in my training. I've already seen him do this and I think it's due to my applying elsewhere. It's unfortunate but I guess I can understand from his perspective. I'm not saying he wouldn't write me an awesome letter of recommendation, he's a good person and I think he'd help me out with that. I'd just be concerned about his investment during the time I have left training with him. So I'm going to think about it and decide where to go from here. Again, I appreciate all y'all's help! 🙂