I really need help on narrowing my career path. I really want to become an adolescent psychiatrist and help patients struggling with mental illness both medicinally and through other forms. The only thing is I don’t know what jobs I can get with just my psychology degree while I work towards an Md to help pay for housing and any other needs.
Is it possible that I can take a masters course and become a clinical psychologist while I work towards finishing med school?
Is there a way that psychiatrists can also do psychotherapy on top of prescribing and research?
What jobs can I do in the summer/meantime with a bachelors in psychology ?
Most people pay for medical school either out of family resources or loans. I imagine it would be difficult to maintain any meaningful kind of professional work, even part-time, as a medical student.
That said, there are lots of things you can do part-time with a BA in psychology while in med school (provided you have the time). I have a BA in psychology and I worked all through my PhD program in public health. I taught undergraduate classes; I taught and advised undergraduate students in both academic summer programs; I worked as a statistical consultant; I did a market research internship. I also interviewed for some roles as a research assistant at nearby nonprofit organizations. Check out idealist.org for an idea of what those kinds of roles might look like.
Have you considered psychiatric mental health nursing? You’d have to get a master’s of science in nursing (MSN), but there are many programs these days that combine the BSN/RN and MSN into one 2.5-3 year program.
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No. In order to be a clinical psychologist, you need a PhD in clinical psychology, including a 1-year APA-accredited internship and a license. You can practice as a therapist with a master’s degree in several other fields - social work, mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy - but practicing therapy is not something you really do “on the side” while you’re in medical school.
Sort of. Psychiatrists aren’t strictly trained in psychotherapy or talk therapy, and most psychiatrists don’t do talk therapy. I’ve heard that there are some who do, but I’m not sure what kind of therapy they practice or where they would’ve learned it at. I suppose you could probably do a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology after your MD, but most of those are focused on research, not therapy.