Psychiatry or Nursing?

[Kayhend314]

I'm currently a freshman In college majoring in Nursing to become a Neonatal nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist. I know that I would enjoy working with kids. I am taking a psychology course and I am really interested in it. I'm thinking heavily about changing my major to psychology to become a child and adolescent psychiatrist. I've read that psychology degrees will not get you a job. Is this true? I also know that with nursing, you'll always have a job. I'm just not sure on what to do. Please help!

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[nitemagi]

First read about the difference between psychiatry and psychology.

 

[Kayhend314]

Yes I know the difference. I know that there's a different path of training to become a psychiatrist. I'm more interested in psychiatry than psychology.

 

[nitemagi]

So the first question is do you want to go to medical school.

 

[Kayhend314]

Yes. I've read that in order to get a decent job with bachelors in psychology, you'll have to attend medical school. I've already read education requirements and I feel like I can do it.

 

[Shikima]

Then take the MCAT and apply.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Is the question "Who is more likely to have a stethoscope at work?"?

 

[Wilf]

OP, please don't take this the wrong way (and I hope the thin skinned people who frequent the psychiatry forums don't take it the wrong way) but you seem like a simple person. I'd work towards nursing.

 

[allantois]

6 years later - the OP is working as a psych NP

 

[Armadillos]

Your a college freshman, don't stress careers too much, just make good grades and it will keep your options open.

As an aside neonatology and child psychiatry are about as far apart as two medical specialties can possibly be

 

[hamstergang]

Yes. I've read that in order to get a decent job with bachelors in psychology, you'll have to attend medical school.

This makes it sound like you really don't know what you're talking about. Getting a bachelors in psychology has basically nothing to do with medical school -- you can major in anything in undergrad and still go to medical school (so long as you do the pre-req's). If you like your psychology course so much and want to major in psychology, why not pursue a PhD in psychology and become a psychologist? That makes more sense than pursing psychiatry just because you like psychology, since they really are different fields that do different things and learn different things.

What it sounds like is that you don't really know what you want to do yet, and you don't know what things (various career/educational paths) are. But that's fine, you're only a college freshman. Take some time to learn more about what's what before planning things out 10 years.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Way back when I was premed, biology was the degree to take. Has that changed? Also, a psychology undergrad degree is usually pretty poor preparation for either psychiatry or even psychology. Mainly because it has to be dumbed down for all of the non-motivated types who take it becuase "I have to go to college but I hate school so psychology sounds like the least boring". I leaned very little in my undergrad psychology degree that was applicable to clinical practice. My advice is that unless you dream of being a psychologist and know that is your calling, then aim for med school, and figure out your specialty after you get there. If you can't make the grade, nursing is a great fallback plan that also offers a wide variety of options for practice area.

 

[nitemagi]

In general, bachelor's degrees don't get you jobs, aside from vocational degrees (BSN). Bachelor's in psychology doesn't qualify someone to do anything, really. One needs a masters or above.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Way back when I was premed, biology was the degree to take. Has that changed? Also, a psychology undergrad degree is usually pretty poor preparation for either psychiatry or even psychology. Mainly because it has to be dumbed down for all of the non-motivated types who take it becuase "I have to go to college but I hate school so psychology sounds like the least boring". I leaned very little in my undergrad psychology degree that was applicable to clinical practice. My advice is that unless you dream of being a psychologist and know that is your calling, then aim for med school, and figure out your specialty after you get there. If you can't make the grade, nursing is a great fallback plan that also offers a wide variety of options for practice area.

I think it will certainly be institution-dependent--many major university departments will have more of a behavioral neuroscience emphasis in this day and age.

 

[WalterDonnie]

see if you can find psychologists, psychiatrists, and nurses that will let you shadow them. Then you will actually have an idea of what each job entails so you can make an informed decision. If you are considering being an Nurse practitioner I would encourage you to look into being a Physician Assistant as a possibility as well.

 

[birchswing]

OP, please don't take this the wrong way (and I hope the thin skinned people who frequent the psychiatry forums don't take it the wrong way) but you seem like a simple person. I'd work towards nursing.

Or, there are different personality types, and some people aren't cynical and are willing to learn by asking open-ended questions even if that exposes them to correction. Some people don't mind being in a situation others would find embarrassing and/or asking for help. They could be good doctors, as well.

 

[thoffen]

No need to call out the OP on being simple or ignorant. If anything, the OP is showing a degree of foresight in asking these questions at their level. Unfortunately, it is just unreasonable to be able to answer them in any satisfactory way at this time. That's because the answer to will I be satisfied doing xyz has little to do with concrete and measurable parameters.

I suppose to best predict what you would be satisfied with, I would recommend multiple diverse shadowing experiences within the fields you are interested in, taking care to understand that provider's perspective and demands rather than being fascinated by the patients you see.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

When pondering nursing vs psychiatry, two words come to mind: bed pans.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Way back when I was premed, biology was the degree to take. Has that changed? Also, a psychology undergrad degree is usually pretty poor preparation for either psychiatry or even psychology. Mainly because it has to be dumbed down for all of the non-motivated types who take it becuase "I have to go to college but I hate school so psychology sounds like the least boring". I leaned very little in my undergrad psychology degree that was applicable to clinical practice. My advice is that unless you dream of being a psychologist and know that is your calling, then aim for med school, and figure out your specialty after you get there. If you can't make the grade, nursing is a great fallback plan that also offers a wide variety of options for practice area.

I don't think there's really any preferred major for premeds these days. Not majoring in biology doesn't put you at a disadvantage, and at some schools, a biology major might be a bit of a disadvantage because you don't stand out. I had a liberal arts completely non science type of undergrad degree, and it wasn't a disadvantage either for applying or succeeding in medical school. The basic thing is just to do well in whatever you major in so you're not ruled out for grad school admissions based on having a low gpa.

It is true that a bachelors in psychology probably doesn't set you up well for a job straight out of college unless you want to make $11/hour working for a community health organization in one of their group homes. Of course you could probably do that with whatever major. A masters in clinical psychology also seems like a bad bet unless you can really make a private practice thrive. As noted above, most bachelors degrees don't lead directly to good jobs aside from things like nursing and engineering types of fields.

 

[birchswing]

Also, anyone talking about people being too "simple" to be a doctor should watch Ben Carson in either of the Republican debates.

 

[Wilf]

Also, anyone talking about people being too "simple" to be a doctor should watch Ben Carson in either of the Republican debates.

This is sad.
When you criticize someone who is much better and infinitely more accomplished than you, it doesn't reflect poorly on them.

 

[birchswing]

This is sad.
When you criticize someone who is much better and infinitely more accomplished than you, it doesn't reflect poorly on them.

I don't believe there is such a thing as a reductive being that could be described in one word, let alone the word simple.

*You* called a young nursing student simple. I put the word in quotation marks because I was quoting *you*.

Ben Carson is an interesting person. He's not one thing and he can't be described in one word. I think it's remarkable that a world-class pediatric neurosurgeon can have a worldview that rejects major findings of science. He rejects the theory of evolution and the impact of climate change.

He can't be described as just simple. I used your words to make a point. Someone a person might stereotypically believe to be simple in his very rudimentary understanding of major scientific findings is both a pediatric neurosurgeon and a presidential candidate.

As far as your ad hominem attacks, you don't know who I am. I am a government major, and I am quite well versed in areas of governance. I probably have more formal training in various political theories and frameworks than Ben Carson does.

As to your original discouragement of the OP, here is Ted Cruz's why I'm running for president stump quote. I thought you might like it as you seem to be supporting him:

"I'm running for President because we need to build a dynamic nation where anybody with nothing can achieve anything."

Meaningful, isn't it?

 

[Noomm]

I am a government major, and I am quite well versed in areas of governance.

LOL at you not even knowing that the major is correctly called Political Science

 

[clausewitz2]

LOL at you not even knowing that the major is correctly called Political Science

Even a cursory Google search yields dozens of institutions where there is a department of Government rather than Political Science. Facts before snark, please.

 

[Noomm]

Even a cursory Google search yields dozens of institutions where there is a department of Government rather than Political Science. Facts before snark, please.

A cursory Google search can yield anything. That's not even a good piece of concrete evidence. Show me a reputable institution (that people have actually heard of) with Government as a major.

 

[clausewitz2]

You know, you're right, only shady, fly-by-night scam colleges would ever offer such a major. Like, you know, Dartmouth:

https://govt.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/majorminor

EDIT: For educational purposes, when evaluating the truth conditions of a statement like "nobody calls X by Y name", demonstrating that in fact there are large numbers of people who call X by Y name is dispositive evidence. Also, man, medical training could use more discussion of how to reason when regurgitating textbook facts and the prejudices of older clinicians is inadequate.

 

[Noomm]

You know, you're right, only shady, fly-by-night scam colleges would ever offer such a major. Like, you know, Dartmouth:

https://govt.dartmouth.edu/undergraduate/majorminor

EDIT: For educational purposes, when evaluating the truth conditions of a statement like "nobody calls X by Y name", demonstrating that in fact there are large numbers of people who call X by Y name is in fact dispositive evidence. Also, man, medical training could use more discussion of how to reason when regurgitating textbook facts and the prejudices of older clinicians is inadequate.

I have no idea what "dispositive evidence" means bro

 

[clausewitz2]

I have no idea what "dispositive evidence" means bro

That is a significant deficiency of your education. I promise you you will encounter this concept again.

 

[Noomm]

I would tell you what it means but I don't know what it means either.

That's what I got out of that

 

[clausewitz2]

I'll give one last effort at honest engagement, because I am optimistic like that.

"Dispositive" describes evidence that allows one to make a disposition, i.e. allows one to choose between alternatives or eliminate possibilities. So if my theory is "some ravens are black," and I see one black raven, bam, done, my theory is correct - the observation is dispositive. If my theory is "all ravens are black" one raven ain't enough - in fact, no number of black ravens short of all ravens currently living would be dispositive.

SDN is way too quick to call people trolls, please don't give them more ammunition

 

[Amygdarya]

This is sad.
When you criticize someone who is much better and infinitely more accomplished than you, it doesn't reflect poorly on them.

Aside from the fact that I have an issue with someone calling a young person looking for information "simple" (trying to make an informed decision is anything but "simple", we're certainly not born with all the information we need in life), I have 2 issues with the quoted post:

1) So OK, presumably accomplishments can be compared objectively. Still, this is an anonymous forum and you're making assumptions about someone you don't know.

2) Even more problematic is your statement that Ben Carson is "much better" than birchswing. Better at what? Pediatric neurosurgery, possibly (assuming birchswing isn't an accomplished pediatric neurosurgeon). But this wasn't specified. "Much better" at what else? Salsa dancing? Hot dog eating? Fly fishing? Better listener? Better friend? (these can't even be evaluated objectively) You can't just say that one person is "much better" than the other, it's meaningless.

Bottom line is, personal attacks are not pretty but they often don't make much sense anyway.

 

[birchswing]

A cursory Google search can yield anything. That's not even a good piece of concrete evidence. Show me a reputable institution (that people have actually heard of) with Government as a major.

I'm not going to say which college I attend (here's a clue: it's a university but it refers to itself as a college for historical purposes), but if you browse my former posts it should be pretty easy to find out.