Prospective Student-Questions for Psychologists/Phd students

[BahrozeRakeen]

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[Doctor Eliza]

At this point, it makes sense to keep your options open. If I were you, I would take both the premed and psych requirements. I would also get involved with a professor's research lab.

I think one thing that would be helpful is for you to have a sense of which is the biggest priority for you: teaching, research, clinical work. That can help guide your decisions. MD's don't have the training that PhD's do in research (which is why MD's really interested in research sometimes seek a PhD in addition). You mentioned the "wide employment opportunities" of clinical psychologists. I think there is a difference between being able to work in different settings and having a lot of job opportunities. Search the job postings in your area. I know for me (looking for clinical positions) there have been very few recent postings for psychologists (and usually they are looking for certain specialties like Autism) but tons of positions for psychiatrists. I don't have a sense of the market for professors of psychiatry vs. psychology. Perhaps someone else can shed some light on that for you.

I know you mentioned that money wasn't a priority for you; however, I urge you to research this aspect of the career a little further before dismissing finances as an issue. I think people tell themselves (I know I did) so psychiatrists make more, but psychologists still make a good income. Many people way over estimate the earning potential of psychologists. Yesterday, I had a client (who has a PhD in another field) state with an air of authority that I was making 6 figures. Ha! I would have to double my income for that to be the case! Recently there was one thread on here where the poster was taking about his goals in life (e.g., having his wife stay home with their children, having a house in CA, and a few other things). There was virtually no way that he could accomplish what he wanted on a psychologist salary. Think about what you would like to accomplish and see if it is consistent with what psychologists actually make. The department of labor publishes statistics on such things.

And don't stress too much about this too early on. You are in college. Enjoy the journey!

Best,
Dr. E

 

[wigflip]

A few tidbits re: the academic job market--

--There was a recent thread on this, not in terms of pay, but in terms of positioning oneself by balancing the "type of publications" (search for recent threads with "publications" in the title).

--A lot of the economic upheaval we've been seeing over the past few years has impacted higher education, particularly in certain states such as CA. At least in my state, you can easily search state employees' salaries by visiting the Sacramento Bee's website. That will give you an idea of what new and old hires in the UC and CSU are making. It can be underwhelming. Keep in mind as well that unis are shifting teaching to part time instructors in lieu of bringing in new hires at the assistant prof level.

--community college jobs in my area are advertising for FT profs (in various disciplines, including psych) to teach 10 courses per year, with 5.5 office hours weekly, plus the usual committee work, etc. 47-70K. 70 would be nice, but 10 classes for 47 K is commensurate with adjunct pay in some places.

--speaking of adjuncts, visit the Adjunct Nation site. I think they have reported salaries at a variety of schools. Not strictly psych, but you'll get an idea what some folks are earning to teach part time.

--Best deal I've heard of any of my friends on the academic job market getting was a SLAC job for 70K (social psych, not clinical). In a desirable location, manageable teaching load. But this is after many years of study at a really top school, and several years on the academic job market. From what I've seen, the SLACs seem to be paying better than public.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

One note re: neuropsychology vs. clinical psychology: they're actually one and the same in that a neuropsychologist is a clinical (or possibly counseling/school) psychologist who obtained additional specialized training in neuropsychology. Thus, you generally wouldn't be choosing between programs for neuropsychology vs. clinical psychology so much as you would between clinical psych advisors/programs that offer practica and coursework in neuropsychology vs. other areas.

There are some doctoral programs that actually have neuropsychology degrees and/or tracks, although that's certainly not the norm, nor is it necessary to attend such a program in order to be a neuropsychologist. As things currently stand, the majority of currently practicing neuropsychologists attended "general" clinical psych programs.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

@ AcronymAllergy, that is really good to hear, it will be amazing to be able to choose neuropsychology as a specialty in a clinical psychology program. If thats the case then i will probably end up pursuing that option.
However from the research i have done in several universities within my state (CO), i have not seen them specify subspecialties in clinical psychology. The behavioral neuroscience or neuropsychology program i have found is usually a track in a neuroscience PhD program.
But thanks for mentioning that i will talk to a graduate adviser and see if they offer neuropsychology as a specialty in clinical psychology program. i have only focused in my state i have not looked at other universities outside of colorado, but i will look into that.

I'd actually be a bit surprised to see a neuropsychology specialty in a neuroscience program, although I wouldn't doubt that it does indeed happen. The norm, though, is for an individual to obtain their doctorate in clinical psychology, and to get additional training in clinical neuropsychology at the doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral levels. Keep in mind that many/most clinical psych programs aren't going to explicitly list a neuropsychology specialty or track; more often than not, it's just a matter of working with a POI who is a neuropsychologist/in a neuropsychology lab and/or obtaining neuropsychology experience via practica and coursework. Thus, it's going to fall to you to identify which advisors at which programs are neuropsychologists and/or which programs will offer training in neuropsychology.

Another key point to keep in mind is that if you go the neuroscience program route, your degree might not be license-eligible. Thus, you would not be able to conduct any type of clinical assessment or intervention; any assessment you did would have to occur solely in a research context.

The take home message, as you'll see often on this board if you do a search for neuropsychology, is that a clinical neuropsychologist is a clinical psychologist first. It's very important to obtain a solid foundation of generalist training in clinical psychology prior to/concurrent with pursuing training in neuropsychology.