<p>I am majoring in biology an sticking with it I would like to minor in either psychiatry or spanish. I want to be a psychiatrist. Which would be most beneficial concerning experience?</p>
<p>The one you want to do more. Practically, I would vote for Spanish if you like them the same. More useful in the long run.</p>
<p>*minor in either psychiatry or spanish. *</p>
<p>Which school offers a minor in psychiatry?</p>
<p>I’m going to the University of Arizona. So Spanish then? Which would be easier, allowing me to maintain a higher GPA?</p>
<p>They are minors, if GPA is a concern don’t do either, but frannkly minors don’t tend to be very tough. I think op means clinical psychology not psychiatry.</p>
<p>A certain number of psychology courses could be very helpful to you as a psychiatrist, but fluency in Spanish would be quite useful in many parts of the country, whether you decide to pursue psychiatry (or even medicine) or not.</p>
<p>And, as noted above, you cannot minor in psychiatry in college. If you want to be a psychiatrist, now would be a great time to learn about the difference between psychology and psychiatry.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, I don’t need to learn the difference, it was a typing error. I meant psychology minor. I’m not really worried about GPA, I’m confident in my ability to make an A in most classes. Which is more practical for the career I would like to pursue, and which is easier?</p>
<p>I’m a psychiatrist. I majored in psychology in college, but only a few of the courses I took were really relevant to the practice of psychiatry. I’m not sure it’s necessary for you to commit to fulfilling the requirements of a minor, but it wouldn’t hurt to take introductory psychology (if you didn’t take AP Psych in high school), abnormal psychology, maybe some developmental psychology and some behavioral psychology.</p>
<p>I’ll reiterate that fluency in Spanish would come in handy; again, you could attain this through some other way than committing to fulfill the requirements of a Spanish minor. Maybe do a semester in a Spanish-speaking country.</p>
<p>Neither minor would be particularly strenuous, but I suppose the rote memorization of learning a language would be more time consuming. </p>
<p>Spanish is more practical, you will learn all of the psych you need as a psychiatrist. College is an easy time to learn a second language.</p>
<p>I did take AP psychology in high school and earned credit. So maybe just take a few classes as electives and minor in Spanish?</p>
<p>I would major in bio, psych, and minor in spanish (or minor in both spanish and psych) personally. Its not that hard, and you can’t really say which will be more useful for you. If you are going to work in an area with a predominant spanish population, than spanish MAY be more useful. But, psychiatry does have alot to do with psychology. Obviously you’re interested in it, so studying it would be smart. I don’t see any reason not to study psych if you’re going to be a psychiatrist. You will learn the basis of a lot of things, and be a step ahead in studying and conducting research in the field. Thats why I would major in bio and psych, and minor in spanish. Than your in a win double win situation. And its not too difficult at all.</p>
<p>You only need like 5 classes to minor in psych generally. Gen psych, stats are givens. You took gen already, and you should take stats as a part of premed. That leaves you with 3 classes left. 3 electives, and you are done. But, you could take 5 more and get a major in it. You will be on top of your stuff. A psych major would be useful in a psychiatry fellowship I bet.</p>
<p>Somehow I doubt that any undergrad studying is going to have any impact on how well you perform in residency or fellowship.</p>
<p><shrug>
My experience was that my undergraduate courses in psychology have been helpful to me as a psychiatrist. They gave me some information that wasn’t taught in residency–a more in-depth coverage of certain topics. It’s not about “how well you perform” in residency or fellowship. There aren’t grades. It’s about being a good doctor.</shrug></p>
<p>Regarding a Spanish minor, it is often the case that minoring in a language area requires courses on the culture, literature, or other courses besides just learning to speak the language. These types of courses could be interesting but the main thing that would be helpful as a doctor is becoming truly fluent in the language.</p>
<p>@ tuft…why not?
@ deskpotato…i agree, and really the only time any of the cultural classes will come in handy is if you are in a area with a latin population. If OP works in a rural area, or wants to work in Africa the minor could be pointless. But you never know where you will end up. </p>
<p>Speaking fluently at the end doesnt matter. Because you will have to use a translator no matter how much you know a language as a doctor. You could get a masters in spanish and you will still need to use a translator. Its policy. So I am not sure how much it helps the patient doctor relationship.</p>
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<p>Dwalker, I’m afraid that isn’t entirely true. In some circumstances, yes, a translator is used (such as if requested). However, if you are fluent or even decent in the language you will use it much more often than calling a translator. I use my Spanish knowledge to check in on patients all of the time. Calling a translator to find out if the patient is nauseated is not really cost or time effective. Further, even if you do spend a lot of time in Africa, it is extremely unlikely that you will not care for at least a few Spanish only speakers during training and your career. Since only a handful of doctors are going to spend their time in Africa, for the vast majority it isn’t a bad idea to have a rudimentary grasp of the language. Latin populations can be found almost anywhere in the US and are only growing.</p>
<p>F*** it. I’ll minor in both. Thanks for the help though guys.</p>
<p>A three credit class means you’ll be going to class for roughly 40 hours a semester and will do 80 more hours of outside homework at most. Multiply that by three, you have 360 hours. You’ll do more work in your first six weeks of a (categorical) psychiatry residency, with a much much more medical focus. Not to mention that you would have been taking a non-psychiatriry medical school curriculum for the past four years along with everyone else.</p>
<p>OP,
Do both. Neuroscience classes tend to be somewhat easier than other Bio classes (accroding to my D.) D. had Music minor and Neuroscience minor. She had dropped the last one 2 classes short of completing becuase one of her Med. Schools added to its requirements, but she was very well on her way to complete both without summer classes and very high GPA. BTW, keep in mind that all minor classes are counted in total GPA.
However, if you want to choose, Spanish is the one to keep. Although, you can also just take few upper Spanish classes and keep your psych. If you place high into college Spanish, (D. placed into 3rd year, took only one semester. She said that it was one of her best college classes, she could speak after it, I witnessed her speaking freely in Mexico). Keep in mind that you will have plenty of psych. training in Med. School, but no Spanish.</p>
<p>Well, I defiantly see the purpose of knowing the language, thats why I recommended to minor in both. But it wont help EVERYONE. taking a language to help a few patients is not intelligent. Africa was my extreme case. A rural area was my primary example. And it is true, if you work there, there will be no need hardly for spanish. When I worked at the hospital, doctors always had translators when they consulted with the patient about certain things. It was unethical to do so without one. They told me this, and I heard our through orientation. Of course regular communication was allowed, but when the doctor talked about signing things and such, a translator had to be there. So I am not sure about your case, but maybe thats just this cities hospitals. </p>
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