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Has anyone considered Clinical Psychology?


hastin11

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I just applied to a few clinical psychology graduate programs. They do about the same thing as a psychiatrist, but cant perscribe (although they can in 2 states, and may be able to everywhere in the future). I think this is an ok option if I dont get into med., and in any case, would be a good M.A. so I can apply to med again in 2 years :)

 

Anyone considered this?

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I just applied to a few clinical psychology graduate programs. They do about the same thing as a psychiatrist, but cant perscribe (although they can in 2 states, and may be able to everywhere in the future). I think this is an ok option if I dont get into med., and in any case, would be a good M.A. so I can apply to med again in 2 years :)

 

Anyone considered this?

 

CAN'T PRESCRIBE! What's the point then! medicine is all about fulfilling my drug habit. Anyways, I have a friend in child psychology and if you are employed by the public school system is it DAMN nice pay and its only a 9-5 job.

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I was under the impression that the job market and the pay are hardly good.

 

 

You are half right. They are actually in extremely high demand, and the job prospects are expected to increase for them in the next decade. The pay is less good, especially when you compare to an M.D.--they make on average about 85k/year.

 

*Also let me add that it is also pretty highly competative, albeit less so than med.

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It's funny that this thread has come up. I was working on a PhD in clinical psychology before I realized I wasn't happy and quit. Now here I am pursuing medicine. Clinical psych is definitely an interesting field if you have an inclination towards mental health. However, the job can be quite different from what psychiatrists do, depending on the psychiatrist. But if you think you'd be interested in doing psychotherapy, it's definitely something to look into.

 

At the U of Manitoba, clinical psych is statistically more competitive than medicine. Clinical psych takes less than 10% of applicants (there are only ~5 spots available per year), while medicine takes approx. 33% of applicants. Now, that said, I don't know about the comparative qualities of the applicant pools, so maybe medicine is selecting objectively "stronger" people than clinical psych despite the higher statistical odds of getting in, because the applicant pool is stronger overall--but maybe not. I'm the only person graduating my year from my psychology BA(Honours) program who got into clinical, and there were a lot of smart cookies in my class. So, take that for whatever it's worth. (Perhaps nothing, lol.)

 

Anyway, my point is this: Clinical psych is definitely an interesting specialty within the healthcare field, and anyone who might think they would like psychotherapy should absolutely look into it. However, don't take it as an easy back-up plan, because, just as in medicine, many many highly qualified applicants are rejected every year.

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The approach towards patients, illness and treatment is different between psychiatry and psychology. At least that's the story I've gotten out of the few of the psychiatrists who I've talked to. They claim to be more solution focused and psychology more understanding the illness focus (take that for what's it's worth).

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  • 1 month later...
Do most clinical psychology programs in Canada require a specialization degree or honors degree in psychology? Is there a difference whether its a BA or BSc?

 

All clinical psychology programs in Canada require you to have a Honours Bachelor's in psychology to get in. Can be either BSc(Hons) or BA(Hons), as long as it's in psych.

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I just applied to a few clinical psychology graduate programs. They do about the same thing as a psychiatrist, but cant perscribe (although they can in 2 states, and may be able to everywhere in the future). I think this is an ok option if I dont get into med., and in any case, would be a good M.A. so I can apply to med again in 2 years :)

 

Anyone considered this?

 

I agree about this being a good option. It's what I intended to do before I changed my mind and went for med. However, I must warn you that almost everywhere in Canada (if not everywhere... I haven't looked it up in the past year), you need to have either a PhD or a PsyD (the later being mostly offered in QC I think) in order to be able to practice as a clinical psychologist.

 

Most programs in the country are PhD or PsyD directly after the undergrad, as the clinical psychology masters is being phased out. The 2 yrs is therefore unlikely, ulnless you meant that you would drop out of the degree and try to get them to give you an M. A. for the work you did so far. It is my understanding that programs frown upon that / don't necessarily agree to it.

 

I also second what others said about clinical psychology graduate programs being hard to get into. I think many, although not all, are as hard to get into as medicine. Job prospects are great though, at my school the problem they had was to keep the students until they finish the degree, since everyone got job offers in the middle of it. There's an important shortage of psychologists. Salary is reasonable if you compare it to the national average, but much less than that of MDs. However that shouldn't be a deciding factor imo, & keep in mind there are no overnight calls, etc., in clinical psych, which might make up a bit for the difference in wages.

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.

 

I also second what others said about clinical psychology graduate programs being hard to get into.

 

I did my degree in psych a few years ago (in the US), and the only options after my B.S. were a PhD or a PsyD as you said. I went to chat with the head of my department and was curious about PhD programs and med school. He said med school would be much easier to get into than a PhD program, but harder work once you are in. So I guess its quite similar in the US and Canada in terms of difficulty and program options.

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  • 4 years later...

does anyone how easy/difficult it is to get to phd in clinical psych with an MA in counselling psych? I'm curios, as I'm thinking about both medicine and clinical psych (phd). I have an MA in counselling psych but am not interested in pursuing phd in counselling. Thanks

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does anyone how easy/difficult it is to get to phd in clinical psych with an MA in counselling psych? I'm curios, as I'm thinking about both medicine and clinical psych (phd). I have an MA in counselling psych but am not interested in pursuing phd in counselling. Thanks

 

Just thought I'd point out that this thread is over 4 years old, in case you never realized.

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