Michael Rack, there is no need to get upset. It was an honest mistake. I listened to everything Psych4Sure said, and appreciate the advice. They mentioned they are in their third year of medical school, which is why I had mentioned that. It's not a big deal. It's definitely nothing to get upset about. We all make mistakes. I apologize for upsetting you. It was not my intention.
I don't think MichaelRack is upset or insulted, but I think a lot us reading your posts have some concerns with the nonchalant way that you are talking about going from being a RN to a psychiatrist and your confusion with psychology and psychiatry. I think you are exploring career opportunities, which is great. But you need to know becoming a psychiatry is more than merely "studying hard."
First, I think you need to find out what a psychiatrist does. You mentioned that you have always wanted to be one, but what about psychiatry do you like? As a nurse, if you hospital has a psych unit, then I would recommend you to work there for some experiences. Yes, psychiatry has an outpatient side, but working in a psych unit will give some exposure to the field. It will give you opportunities to speak with other psych nurses, psychiatrists, and other mental health workers.
Second, being psychiatrist is a long,arduous and expensive process. Getting into medical school is tough, even for great student with a brilliant resume. Besides taking those basic sciences over again, you will have to take the MCAT and apply for medical schools. Depending on your grades and MCAT, you may have to consider osteopathic medical schools and caribbean medical schools. Once you get into medical school, you will accrue a large student loan debt-more than 100K+. Many students going into medical school thinking that they want to be psychiatrists, and many do end up as psychiatrists. But it is best to go into medical school with an open mind. Medical school is not like college, you can't pick a major. They will teach you "everything" about medicine. You will be spending most of waking time the first two years in class, studying for many exams, etc. During these 2 years, everyone takes the same basic medicine courses. You will have a little exposure to psychiatry via lectures and probably some interview classes. During your third year, you will do your core clinical rotations-usually IM, peds, obgyn, general surgery, psychiatry, FM (school dependent). In your fourth year, you will be doing elective rotations along with some school required rotations. So, you may elect to do a few months of psychiatry in your fourth year. You will be spending many hours either in hospitals or reading. On top of this, you will have to take the board exams or USMLE-step 1, CS and CK.
Third, to get into the residency that you want, you have to go thru an extensive interview and selection process that is called "the match." I won't go into it, please read the following wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine)
Basically, you won't have 100% control of if and where you will end up doing your psychiatry training. Once you get into a psych residency, the training is 4 years. Get ready to work 60 hours a week the first two years for $40-60,000 a year. There are also fellowships available if you wish to subspecialize.
So, you say that your fiance is very understanding, but it is very important that he is ready to spend the next 10-12 of your lives being in school/work constantly and may not be emotionally available for him. I have seen too many marriage failed in my medical school. It doesn't sound like you want to move, but being willing to relocate maybe necessary for medical school and residency.
