<p>Hi guys! So, I'm currently torn between what to major in. I've taken two psychology classes so far and I absolutely love it. In the future, I would LOVE to become a psychiatrist because I adore helping people but my problem is that medical school doesn't really interest me. I figured that if I majored in psychology and got all of my pre-reqs in I would be on the safe side because worse-case scenario I could always go to grad school and study something related to psychology( such as neuropsychology.) Any advice? </p>
<p>to become a psychiatrist you will, need a degree in psychology and apply to med-school.
you call be DOCTOR, that is not a MD. such a psychologist, pysch PHD, or PSYD. These are basically research orientated positions.</p>
<p>I want to say be careful of the advise over the internet (mine included). I’m writing as a current Ed.S student in School Psychology interested in transitioning into clinical psychology to help bridge the gap between pediatric neuropsychology and k-12 schools to make such assessment information used more often and effectively in school settings. My research of matters related to the op’s question indicates that to become a psychiatrist one can major in any field of study as long enough hard life science course work is taken to be able to do well on the MCAT. For admission to doctoral level programs of psychology, a psychology major would offer an optimal level of preparation but a minor would be acceptable. It might actually strengthen the application if the major area outside of psych combined with a psych minor indicated a strong research match with a potential professor taking students in a given admissions cycle. The key in Ph.d programs is strong research experience which can normally be gained at the undergraduate level through working with department professors. Not to mention this research experience opens the door for strongly helpful letters of recommendation through getting known in the department as an emerging scientist-practioneer instead of a student who is just casually taking classes with no indepth interest. A clinical Psy.D program will be more forgiving of less research experience because the emphasis is more on clinical practice though strong research experience can not hurt here and should only help. The Psy.D program would look more towards your work and volunteer experience with clinical populations. The big catch with Psy.D program is that most are very expensive with little to no financial assistance outside of deficit financing through student loans. Also the Psy.D programs tend to have weaker reputations in the field compared to their Ph.d counterparts which are looked upon as the gold standard for both professional practice and especially in academic oriented careers. The free standing Psy.D programs in free standing professional schools tend to have even much weaker reputations for quality preparation than the university housed Psy.D programs. For neuropsychology the Ph.d with its strong research opportunities and student funding sources along with much stronger professional reputations is going to be the most optimal pathway to get into neuropsychology. University based Psy.D programs with a track record for successfully getting students into American Psychological Association (APA) accredited internships and matches with post-doc neuropsychology fellowships can be acceptable. Free standing professional schools that sell the dream of doctoral psychology admissions through admitting many more students than more traditional Ph.d and university based Psy.D programs will have a much harder time getting into neuropsychology because those students will be against a steeper than steep power curve in matching into APA internships of any type whatsoever and matching into anything of any reputable quality related to neuropsychology will be even less likely ESPECIALLY if the freestanding clinical doctoral program is not even APA accredited. Do not let an admissions representative from a free standing professional school like Argosy, Alliant, Walden, ect ever sell you on that it is no big deal to go to a non-accredited doctoral psychology program. Those admissions representative are under pressure to get students into the program to meet either a formal or informal quota to stay in good standing with their supervisors with minimum regard to the real professional limitations such a program will put on a student. Even an APA accredited free standing professional program from the likes of an Argosy or Alliant will be at a severe disadvantage no matter what the admissions/sales representative says because of poor reputation that the Argosy’s have for being more driven by the business model that tends to short change providing quality education which in turn facilitates a vicious cycle of post-graduation outcomes. Some Argosy/Alliant students do well inspite of Argosy/Alliant but such such students would have most likely done even better at more reputable programs and this is especially important to consider if you have an interest in neuropsychology because people there is more than enough evidence that can be found by reading message boards such as “student doctor” that applicants from free standing professional programs often get their applications trashed for neuropsychology related internships and post doctoral fellowships which are the gateways into reputable neuropsychology career paths. </p>
<p>If you want to be a psychiatrist, you need to go to med school first. As long as you complete the pre-med requirements, you can major in psychology or whatever else might interest you. With your stated interests, consider a interdisciplinary major in neuroscience, either a standalone major or a subspecialty track within a psychology department. The strongest neuroscience programs generally require a near-equivalent to the pre-med requirements, anyway, so you should be able to complete them while doing a neuroscience major or a psychology major/neuroscience track. </p>