Road to psychiatry???

<p>I am 28 hours into my college career at a local CC. I have a 3.7 with my most recent semester being the highest(4.0) My high school career was mediocre and I finished with a 2.9.</p>

<p>That being said, I have a few questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>What is the best Major to choose?</li>
<li>After I obtain my 4yr what is the next step?
3.Does the college you get your B.A. from make a huge difference?</li>
</ol>

<p>Please give me any information you can come up with. I'm finding it hard to create an actual map of my future.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Edit: It is also worth noting that i am applying for Spring 2010 transfer to FSU at the moment if that makes any difference. =D</p>

<ol>
<li><p>As long as you fufill the prerequisites for medical school, then it does not matter what major you are.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to medical school and then do residency for psychiatryy</p></li>
<li><p>Kind of. Its easier to get into a prestigious med school if you went somewhere prestigious for undergrad. But, it’s not a dealbreaker. FSU is good enough, so don’t worry about it hurting you.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Excellent answer. Thanks a ton. I still have a few follow up questions however.</p>

<ol>
<li>A B.A. in Psych is an obvious choice but I have also heard people mentioning Biology, which is more useful? Will my normal course load give me enough of the right types of credits to succeed in med school?</li>
</ol>

<p>The one that will be more useful is the one you get better grades in (or you can use for something if you happen to not get into med school, change your mind, or anything else that may come up). Biology would cover more of the pre-reqs but psych should allow for a few science classes to be taken.</p>

<p>I honestly believe I’ll do much better in Psychology. However, I don’t want to be unprepared for med school. Just curious as to whether it is a major decision (no pun intended).</p>

<p>As for med school preparation, no, it doesn’t really matter what you major in. Have you read this? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/377780-premed-forum-faqs-read-first.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/377780-premed-forum-faqs-read-first.html&lt;/a&gt; (Scroll down to the “what should I major in?” section if you haven’t read that already)</p>

<p>I haven’t yet, thanks. I scrolled through that forum but wasn’t entirely sure that where I should have been posting.</p>

<p>No, that’s fine I was just saying you could read it because it covers a lot of things you might ask. If you like psychology and do well in it, then I’d say go for it and see what happens. Just remember to have a backup plan of some sort…not saying you can’t get into med school or anything, just don’t base your major entirely on that.</p>

<p>It is quite helpful. It sounds like a lot of the things I have been wondering. I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>Also, I enjoy psychology as a whole and think it is a better back-up then biology. I was just under the impression there was an incredible amount of stuff to take care of pre-med.</p>

<p>If you like psychology it is a perfectly fine major for premedical study. It also provides a backup pathway if medical school does not work out-clinical psychology. This could be at the doctoral level to become a fully independent practitioner akin to a physician, or a masters level such as a social worker.</p>

<p>You should know that psychiatrists, as medical doctors, do not spend all that much of their time on psychology. They know much more about psychology than do other doctors, but it is not the main thing they work on. It sounds strange, but they deal increasingly with those conditions that have known biological causes, and that can be treated with medication. If you want to do more classic psychology-based talk therapy, you probably want to be a psychologist rather than a psychiatrist. </p>

<p>You should also know that academic psychology, of the type you might study in college, has relatively little to do with clinical psychology or psychiatry. It is interesting, but most of it is not directed towards diagnosis and treating human psychological problems.</p>