<p>Hi all,
I hope you don't mind me posting here--you parents seem to give great advice, so I figured it was worth it to ask. I'm a college sophomore and double major (actually, a double degree) in Psychology (BA) and Social Work (BSW) with an anticipated minor in Biology. I had different career plans coming into college, but they didn't pan out for a variety of reasons. I know it's a tad early in the process to begin looking ahead to graduate school, but I like to plan, so...</p>
<p>I'm involved in a biomedical lab (actually vaguely psychology-related as we work with serotonin receptors) and a psychology lab ([almost] all qualitative, so totally different) as well as some other on-campus origanizations. I applied for government internships for the summer but won't know if I get any "bites" until late spring until early summer. I'm also doing volunteer work at an agency for people with brian injuries and worked at a physical therapy clinic last semester but don't have any any real clinical experience (I'll apply to work at the school's sexual assault hotline next year, but there are no gurantees). I did an internship in high school working at the local branch of United Way and decided that that type of micro work isn't for me. I want to work with people or groups.</p>
<p>I'm currently deciding between pursuing an MSW or a clinical psychology PhD/PsyD after graduation. I want to work in rural-ish areas in the West/NW--I live in a pretty rural state (~60,000 people qualifies our university city as the second biggest one in the state!), and the psychology research I'm doing deals a lot with Native Americans. I'm pretty sure I don't want to do the academia thing, though I do enjoy research greatly (in both my labs).</p>
<p>Things I find applying about the MSW option includes the smaller time commitment (1 year if entertaining with a BSW), the verasitility of the degree in terms of how you can use it, and the likely wider range of program options (more programs and generally much less competitive than clinical psych!). The concerns I have about this option are finances (generally, MSWs are unfunded, but seeing as I am scholarship here, I should, Gd-willing, have enough money saved up to cover most of the most costs), the general trend out of burn out in many social workers (one wonders why this does not seem to be a problem in clinical psych...?), the fear of being typecast into policy/macro work (just not for me), lack of research, the lack of assessment training/ability, and the fact my general conceptualization of cases tends to fall more to the "medical model" side of things, though I'm starting to see that that isn't necessarily at odds with social work per se.</p>
<p>Things I find appealing about clinical psych include the extensive training in clinical work, therapy, AND research, the fact that most programs are fully funded, the use of more of a medical model perspective, and the burgening possibility of limited perscription rights. Things that worry me include the huge time commitment (I have a friend at the tail end of her program, and seeing the sheer amount of work she has had to complete [masters thesis, coursework, field placement, internship apps, internship, dissertation approval, dissertation process, dissertation writing, dissertation defense, teaching, etc, etc.] concerns me... not because I mind work but...), the EXTREME competitiveness of these programs (generally ranging from 3%-10% or 15%), the cost if one is not funded (in most cases, these wouldn't be good schools to go to anyway, though), the relative lack ofversatility, worry about the degree's usefulness in rural markets, etc.</p>
<p>So, as you can see, I've thought a lot about the relative pros and cons, but I'm still stuck. The PhD/PsyD appeals to me with the sheer depth of clinical, assesment, and research training, the funding, and the psychopathology focus, but unnerves me with the time commitment, possible money commitment, and narrow scope of practice. I love the MSW's versatility, relatively low time commitment, and broad scope of practice (I'm the strange person that doesn't mind filling out paperwork! :)) but am heistrant about being forced into a policy/macro position instead of a clinical/micro/mezzo one, lack of assesssment training, and lack of research training.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Advice? Any info on burnout or lackthereof in clinical psychology?</p>
<p>Thanks!
:)</p>