Advice needed. Stable MD vs less reliable PhD?

Pre-Med & Medical School Careers in Medicine
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<p>Next fall I will be starting my junior year (undergrad). At this point, I should probably know what I want. The problem is that I only know (generally) what I LIKE. </p>

<p>When I look at course offerings, the majority of classes which interests me is in sociology and philosophy. I was previously a psych major with some philosophy background, but my interests focus on the ethics of practicing in the mental heath field, and ironically less psych actually applies to that interest. I've been bouncing around the idea of just going to med school to do psychiatry, since it would be an interesting and stable field that I would probably enjoy on a day to day basis. My problem is that, while I just* like* science classes (I love labs, but not the lectures), if I see a class like "Ethical Issues in Public Health" I immediately get really excited. This makes me nervous because humanities and social sciences have always seemed really easy to me. I worry that if I focus too much on these classes, grad or med schools will think I just wanted to take easy A classes. More importantly though, I'm not sure if pursuing this area will lead me to an actual future.</p>

<p>The other idea that is bouncing around in my brain is that I could do a PhD. There are programs that relate to social medicine and ethical problems in health care, right? If so, what are they? I'm so confused about my options. I just think that I would really ENJOY studying this further, since I feel passionate about the topic. My problem with a PhD, however, is that I was basically raised to believe that it leads to nothing except a teaching profession. I don't think that I'd mind that, but the whole point of that path would be to keep studying ethics, not just teach... I like the idea of doing research, but an anatomy professor of mine created some anxiety about that for me with his constant lamenting about the lack of grant opportunities and options. He basically said that PhD = POOR for most people. I realize that his experiences tainted his view, but I can't help agreeing that a medical degree seems like a more stable path. Am I misjudging? NOTE: A thread on this board seems to concur with my belief about the instability of the field.</p>

<p>I could really use some feedback about my options. Part of me is just saying to go for the MD, since I could have the reliable option to practice and could just figure out something in medical ethics later. I don't know if that is really possible either though.</p>

<p>Help?</p>

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<p>PhD in clinical psychology sounds most like what you're looking for.</p>

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<p>Hi bluedevilmike. Thanks for your response. Although it seems like clinical would be a nice compromise, I'm not so sure. I'm attracted to psychiatry because medications and the way they affect the body (as well as the aspect of solving those "puzzles") are interesting to me. I wouldn't really get that in clinical. Although the puzzle part somewhat applies, I don't think that I'd necessarily be the right person to help a client go in depth with issues. Some of that would be awesome, but I would want the medical part.</p>

<p>If I did a PhD then I'd definitely want it to be in some area where I could explore ethical and social issues. Medical anthropology could be an option. If I did psych, it would be social psych. I'm not sure about all the options, but, yeah, I don't think that being a therapist would be the best choice.</p>

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<p>Clinical does a little bit of prescribing, but you're right that it's not as much. Of course, clinical doesn't necessarily have to go into practice -- there's a lot of research work on its sociological foundations that's still happening, and you could always stay in an academic setting if you wanted.</p>

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<p>isn't it true that you need to have your Ph.D in Clinical Psychology in order to qualify for being a therapist? I know you can practice with a Master in Social Work in most places, but in terms of just having a Ph.D, I was under the impression that you couldn't practice if you had one in Social Psych or Personality Psych etc. Anyone care to correct me? I understand it varies from state to state, but there's probably a general trend.</p>