Switching from psychology to pre-med after graduation

[LadyBrett]

Hello,
I am graduating in a few weeks with my bachelor's in psychology. I was planning on getting a phD in clinical neuropsychology after completing a pre-doctoral program at my university because my research experience is not strong enough to be competitive for clinical psych programs. My passion is working with patients with dementia and I have wanted to be involved in research involving patients with dementia. The past couple semesters, however, I have been learning more about drugs in relation to neuroscience, and I have been in awe. I love learning about drugs and the brain, and I believe that I can combine this passion with working with patients with dementia in the field of medicine in neurology or psychiatry. I have been working throughout my education as a medtech, where I give medications to the elderly in assisted living, and I feel like this has pushed me to learn more about medications. However, I have not taken many science classes. I took a lower division anatomy and physiology class and I took an upper division neuroscience class. I have taken statistics classes to fill out my math requirements. I am not sure if I should take med school pre-reqs at community college or if I should look into post-bacc pre-med programs. I have a decent GPA (3.7). I'm nervous about the debt, but I feel like this is the best path for me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[theseeker4]

Hello,
I am graduating in a few weeks with my bachelor's in psychology. I was planning on getting a phD in clinical neuropsychology after completing a pre-doctoral program at my university because my research experience is not strong enough to be competitive for clinical psych programs. My passion is working with patients with dementia and I have wanted to be involved in research involving patients with dementia. The past couple semesters, however, I have been learning more about drugs in relation to neuroscience, and I have been in awe. I love learning about drugs and the brain, and I believe that I can combine this passion with working with patients with dementia in the field of medicine in neurology or psychiatry. I have been working throughout my education as a medtech, where I give medications to the elderly in assisted living, and I feel like this has pushed me to learn more about medications. However, I have not taken many science classes. I took a lower division anatomy and physiology class and I took an upper division neuroscience class. I have taken statistics classes to fill out my math requirements. I am not sure if I should take med school pre-reqs at community college or if I should look into post-bacc pre-med programs. I have a decent GPA (3.7). I'm nervous about the debt, but I feel like this is the best path for me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Can you delay graduation and complete some of the pre reqs before you graduate? I ask because that can often make it easier and cheaper to get the required classes in if you are a degree seeking student. If you can financially afford to do so, try to avoid taking pre reqs at a CC, as many schools do not regard them as highly as university credits, and a few outright refuse to accept them at all. If you cannot take any of the pre reqs before graduating, see if you will still be allowed to register for courses at your university after graduation. This would make it easier to get them in without having to wait and apply to other schools. If that is not an option, find the cheapest university you can take the courses at, either in a formal or informal post bac. Your grades are good, so you don't have the same need for a linked program as some students attempting GPA comebacks. Linked programs are often expensive as well, and you mentioned debt as a concern.

You probably already looked at what classes you need, but you should have a year each of gen chem, organic chem, physics, and biology all with lab, plus a year of English. Calc, stats (which you have), biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, cell biology are all among recommended courses, some of which are required by some schools.

Once you have a plan for your pre reqs in place, concentrate on keeping your GPA as high as possible for at least the first semester. ECs can wait a bit, and it is much better to have a slight gap in ECs rather than to bite off more than you can handle and end up with a low GPA your first semester taking pre reqs.

The MCAT will be a big deal, of course, but you should get some successful semesters in the pre reqs behind you before worrying about that (though you may have to add a class or two if you will be taking the MCAT after 2014, as the exam changes in 2015).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and good luck!

 

[lovesfall]

That was sort of my path... actually was accepted to a PhD program when I realized that PhD clinical psychologists were becoming extinct (or swapped out for techs and MSWs) and that the job market just wasn't all that solid. I loved the material but I had a hard time justifying spending that many years with no guarantee of a job. It also didn't help that most of the psychologists I knew were unhappy about their prospects and choices. It just seems like science is evolving and that area of study may be on the decline. Some friends of mine had the same experience and did neuroscience PhDs instead and LOVE it. They are always doing really neat stuff and enjoy it a lot -- so if it sounds like neuroscience may be up your alley, maybe not rule it out entirely?

I did my pre-reqs at CC. Some schools don't take CC credits but it hasn't affected me. I would check with the schools you are interested in before enrolling just in case. I also agree that if you can postpone your graduation and just stay where you are for one more year to finish anything outstanding, it would probably be your best bet. If you have to work, you can at least usually work full time and do classes at commuter schools or CCs pretty easily. Major universities are a little tougher.