Psychopharmacology research - clinical or experimental?

[suprsonik]

I'm planning on applying to Ph.D. programs this year, and I'm starting to question whether clinical psychology is the path I want to go down. I had always thought that a clinical degree was every bit as good as an experimental one for research, but with more flexibility and the option of clinical practice.

My interests are primarily related to research in behavioral psychopharmacology - preferably with human participants. As I research universities and professors of interest, I find that most clinical psychologists with these interests work in psychiatric or medical departments and do not accept psychology graduate students, which makes me wonder how they even got their position. However, I do find experimental programs with this emphasis.

That brings my to my questions. Are my interests outside the realm of clinical psychology? Would I be better off going into an experimental psychopharmacology program and forgetting about clinical applications for my work? Is it possible to go into a clinical program with a focus on a related topic (e.g. addiction, substance use), and move into psychopharmacology after receiving my degree? I can only imagine that's how all those clinical psychologists working in medical departments do it.

I'd appreciate any advise you all could offer.

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[teo3099]

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[Therapist4Chnge]

It is better to be license eligible, as it can offer flexibility to researchers in the event they are supervising any work that could be considered "clinical" work. A PharmD may fit your interests....but you'll run into the same license limitation as an experimental degree. I'm not sure if they have PharmD programs out there that are more research focused. I know some PharmD's who do a ton of research, though they did that in addition to their training.

 

[justme08]

I have no clue, I haven't looked before throwing this out there, but have you looked in the states that allow Rx for psychologists? Louisana and New Mexico might have something in their schools along these lines since one would think they'd be interested in this topic.

 

[Ollie123]

Nah, definitely not outside the realm of clinical psychology, though it is probably a bit less common. We do some work that is probably more "human psychopharm" than traditional clinical (i.e. studies of withdrawal, etc.), as well as some studies looking at possible mechanisms of various drugs. We're an addiction lab so it fits in well.

Don't assume that they don't take students either...my advisor doesn't have a primary appointment in the psychology dept but (obviously) takes students. Never hurts to ask.

I think the key is just finding the right folks. If you apply with someone who is used to handing stacks of questionnaires to undergrads asking about their alcohol use, and has never had a major grant in their life, its probably not going to be a good fit. I suspect many addiction researchers who do more experimental-style work and have funding (pharmaco work can obviously be quite expensive), I suspect many would be quite open to it provided it fit within their broader research area.