PhD/PsyD Switching from pre-med to psychology graduate programs?

[vanillawafer]

I'm in a predicament where I think I want to switch from being on the pre-med track and apply to med school to instead apply to graduate school for psychology. I want to be some type of clinician that helps evaluate mental/behavioral illnesses (clinical setting is fine/private practice, school, etc) but not sure where to start.

It's easier to navigate my way for pre-med resources since there's so many resources online -- but not so much for those who want to enter into psychology graduate programs. I can't really find much, such as pre-reqs, cost, years of school, salary and so on. I thought I'd post here and see if anyone had some advice/guidelines for me.

I'm currently a sophomore in a 4 year university.

Thank you!

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[deleted343839]

Here's a helpful place to start:

*DOCTORAL APPLICANTS READ FIRST* Helpful Threads

 

[smalltownpsych]

I'm in a predicament where I think I want to switch from being on the pre-med track and apply to med school to instead apply to graduate school for psychology. I want to be some type of clinician that helps evaluate mental/behavioral illnesses (clinical setting is fine/private practice, school, etc) but not sure where to start.

It's easier to navigate my way for pre-med resources since there's so many resources online -- but not so much for those who want to enter into psychology graduate programs. I can't really find much, such as pre-reqs, cost, years of school, salary and so on. I thought I'd post here and see if anyone had some advice/guidelines for me.

I'm currently a sophomore in a 4 year university.

Thank you!

You have to decide what type of mental health provider that you want to be. Social worker, licensed professional counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner are some of the main options. In order to determine that, you have to be able to introspect and research effectively which are two of the main skills of psychologists, by the way.

 

[SmallTownPSY]

First, just know your story is common. I know it can be stressful to make the transition, since it appears there are fewer resources. In addition to the helpful threads posted above, look up Mitch's guide to graduate school (or something like that). It was very helpful for me when I made the transition.

I don't know much about PsyD or any other field, but if you decide on the clinical PhD route know that research experience is weighed far more heavily and everything else (volunteering, shadowing, etc.) is weighed a lot less than they are for medical school. At least that's been my observation.


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[Vasilisa Jade]

I was told by a psychologist not long ago that psychiatric nurses are rare, always in great demand, and the salaries are unbelievable. She was urging me to pursue that because she wishes she would have... looking back on her choice to get her doctorate. I don't think I'm quite academically gifted enough for that, but you likely are so definitely consider it.

 

[singasongofjoy]

I was told by a psychologist not long ago that psychiatric nurses are rare, always in great demand, and the salaries are unbelievable. She was urging me to pursue that because she wishes she would have... looking back on her choice to get her doctorate. I don't think I'm quite academically gifted enough for that, but you likely are so definitely consider it.

YESSSSS I second that psychiatric nurses seem to be in short supply, in every single place I've worked. Just not enough to go around and always in demand.

 

[deleted343839]

I was told by a psychologist not long ago that psychiatric nurses are rare, always in great demand, and the salaries are unbelievable. She was urging me to pursue that because she wishes she would have...

For what it's worth, I'm glad I chose psychology after considering medicine and nursing as possible careers, but I encourage the OP to look carefully at all of the options and decide on what seems like the best fit for them.

 

[singasongofjoy]

Agreed with what @MamaPhD said above- sometimes it can be hard to know what all the options actually are though. So OP- ask around (just like you're doing) Find people who do things you think are interesting, tell them your interests and ask them what range of jobs they know that incorporate those interests. Given where you are in school this is a perfect time for information gathering!