<p>I'm currently an undergrad about to graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology, I would like to go on to Medical School to become a Psychiatrist. I still need to do pre-reqs classes for Med School, but I haven't even begun doing any extracurricular activities. I'm starting to feel like I won't make it into a medical school because I haven't done anything yet. Any advice on what I should do for extracurriculars would be helpful.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention that I’m also a first generation student, so I don’t have anyone in my family that I can really talk to about what I should or shouldn’t be doing.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1565265-where-do-i-start-getting-experience.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1565265-where-do-i-start-getting-experience.html</a></p>
<p>Congratulations on your graduation! Take a moment to savor your accomplishment!</p>
<p>Start by finding some sort of volunteer activity that’s meaningful to you–it doesn’t need to be medically related-- and start working with the organization.</p>
<p>Also start contacting nearby hospitals, clinics, group or nursing homes and start volunteering there. (If you’re active in your church or any other service group you often can volunteer thru them.)</p>
<p>You need some physician shadowing–so talk with your primary care provider or the clinic where you receive your healthcare (or if you volunteer at hospital, you can try to make contacts with the doctors who work there) and ask if they will allow you to shadow them. xpect to be turned down alot, but persist.</p>
<p>Now you need to make a plan to to take your pre-req classes. You can do this either thru a formal program (called a post-bacc pre med) or you can do it in bits and pieces at your nearest 4 year college. You don’t need to be enrolled as a degree-seeking student to classes at most colleges.</p>
<p>There are advantages and disadvantages to both route. The better post-baccs are full time for 18-24 months and go year round. They also provide opportunities to do research and medical volunteering. However, the best of the programs are at private colleges and are quite expensive.</p>
<p>A searchable database of post baccs can be found here:</p>
<p><a href=“https://services.aamc.org/postbac/[/url]”>https://services.aamc.org/postbac/</a></p>
<p>Choose “career changer” as the type.</p>
<p>Attending part-time at local college or university is significantly less expensive, but may take longer and will require alot of self-discipline on your part to make sure you get involved in pre-med activities.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply entomom and wowmom, thanks for the info. Now I just need to take advantage of this information and make good use of it. There only seems to be one post-bacc program in my state (Texas). Otherwise, I suppose I should get started on my EC’s as soon as possible and try to make up some lost time to make myself a better candidate.
Thanks again.</p>
<p>One thing you may want to consider is a PsyD.</p>
<p>A PsyD is clinical psychology degree for individuals who wish to practice as clinical psychologists. They use a variety of non-drug counseling and therapies to treat patients. A clinical psychologist often works in conjunction with a psychiatrist who provides the necessary drug therapy for patients.</p>
<p>In some states, board-licensed clinical psychologists have limited prescribing privileges for psychotropic drugs.</p>
<p>[Clinical</a> psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“Clinical psychology - Wikipedia”>Clinical psychology - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>A PsyD. does not require med school. Instead it’s a doctoral program offered at hospital/clinic-based psychology programs. Typically it takes 4 years to complete and includes 1-2 years of supervised clinical work (internship).</p>
<p>[Doctor</a> of Psychology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Psychology]Doctor”>Doctor of Psychology - Wikipedia)</p>