Medical Education US

Is it bad if I kinda want to become a psychiatrist for the salary? I mean what I REALLY want to do is become a sociologist, because it's my favorite subject. However, the pay for a sociologist isn't that great and I'm afraid that actually conducting sociological research won't be nearly as enjoyable or fascinating as learning about sociology. Anyways, I plan on majoring in sociology as well as taking any required premed courses. I also wouldn't mind being a psychiatrist, it isn't my top choice but it's definitely up there

Guest wrote:Is it bad if I kinda want to become a psychiatrist for the salary? I mean what I REALLY want to do is become a sociologist, because it's my favorite subject. However, the pay for a sociologist isn't that great and I'm afraid that actually conducting sociological research won't be nearly as enjoyable or fascinating as learning about sociology. Anyways, I plan on majoring in sociology as well as taking any required premed courses. I also wouldn't mind being a psychiatrist, it isn't my top choice but it's definitely up there

On the surface, it may seem bad that you want to select a career choice based on salary; however, I think in almost all cases salary will factor in on a job decision. Whether we like it or not, money is a necessary thing. If you said it was the only factor in your decision, I'd agree it's a bad thing. Considering it as a factor, even an important factor, is pretty typical.

I don't know anyone who is a professional sociologist. I would guess that most sociologists are professors at universities - and probably make similar salaries to other university professors. The pay is probably not great, but probably not horrible either. As you point out, you don't even know yet what a career in sociology would actually be like. In fact, you may find that a lot of what you find interesting in sociology overlaps with the types of things you would need to know as a psychiatrist.

You seem to be taking a very well thought out approach of majoring in a field that interests you, and also taking the necessary pre-med courses in case you should decide that medical school is the route you want to take. As you take more college level sociology courses, you will have an opportunity to talk with professors who can give you more insight about what most people do who major in sociology and ultimately make a well-informed decision.

The bottom line is that you want to be working in a field that interests you - and most likely, you will wind up selecting the best job (factoring in not just salarly but also other life style factors) of those that seem interesting. It is always a good thing to have options and the best scenario is to have to pick from several different jobs any of which would be satisfactory.

Regarding medical school, does it matter which one you go to?
By that I mean, do employers look at which medical school one goes to, and will the salary in general differ if one goes to a different medical school than another?
Which ones do you recommend, and why?

Ketski wrote:Regarding medical school, does it matter which one you go to?
By that I mean, do employers look at which medical school one goes to, and will the salary in general differ if one goes to a different medical school than another?
Which ones do you recommend, and why?

The medical school you attend definitely shapes you as a physician - as does the residency program you attend. It's not so much the employers you are looking at, but what do prospective residency programs think of the medical school you attended. In addition to getting a solid medical education (the most important criteria you should use for selecting a medical school), one goal of medical school is to get matched into the residency program you want. Match statistics can be a useful way to evaluate a medical school. For competitive programs, the better the reputation of the medical school, the better your chances are of getting accepted. There are competitive fields of medicine (like plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, dermatology) and then there are competitive residency programs (pretty much any field at Harvard for example).

There are many decent medical schools where you will be competitive for more residency programs. There are a few medical schools that are lower tier and then there are a few medical schools that are upper tier. While it is usually a controversial list, a good indication of the highest regarded medical schools can be found at US News and World Reports.

When I was looking at medical schools, I was always curious to see the match lists of the recent graduates. You want to see which types of residencies the graduates pursued (were they more primary care fields or more specialty fields) and how high on their match lists did they match (top choice, top 3 choices, unmatched, etc).

Thanks for responding. I've looked at that list several times before and I have a few questions.

1. As an inspiring psychiatrist, should I pay more attention to the Primary Care Score or Research Score or both?
2. Would it be a good idea to attend the university of the medical school I'm trying to attend? (higher chance of medical schools accepting their own university students?)
3. And I've found this site that ranks psychiatric programs by how much research money they've been funded. Would this be an good indication on how well these programs compare with other programs?
http://www.residentphysician.com/Psychi ... nkings.htm

And for those who need it, there is a list of programs by the "Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical School" here:
http://www.acgme.org/adspublic/reports/ ... cialty.asp

Ketski wrote:Thanks for responding. I've looked at that list several times before and I have a few questions.

1. As an inspiring psychiatrist, should I pay more attention to the Primary Care Score or Research Score or both?
2. Would it be a good idea to attend the university of the medical school I'm trying to attend? (higher chance of medical schools accepting their own university students?)
3. And I've found this site that ranks psychiatric programs by how much research money they've been funded. Would this be an good indication on how well these programs compare with other programs?
http://www.residentphysician.com/Psychi ... nkings.htm

And for those who need it, there is a list of programs by the "Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical School" here:
http://www.acgme.org/adspublic/reports/ ... cialty.asp

1. Both can be factored in - and anyone can make a list based on different criteria - the list is just to give a general idea of name recognition within the medical field. Research Score is probably a better indication of rank within the academic community - primary care score gives a good idea of programs that tend to direct students in the direction of primary care.

2. I would not select a university based on the idea that you want to go to their medical school. Go the best undergrad university for you - and you'll get into the best medical school for you. I don't think a medical school would give preference over someone from their undergrad program over someone with better credentials from another school. Perhaps if you do research for someone in the medical school who is influential, you can get a bit of an advantage, but I'd say that is a HUGE exception to the rule of how people get into medical school.

3. I've actually never seen that list before - and I think that actually is a pretty decent list if you needed to come up with a list. Of course, there is more to getting a good education than just research dollars, but I do have to say that I don't see any rankings that seem particularly off from that list.

wow, thanks a ton.
i'm a sophomore in high school adn i've always wanted to be a psychiatrist, so these links and stufff were really helpful!

I have a question. What math class would be more useful to take if I plan on becoming a psychologist-psychiatrist, Calculus or Statistics? I am still a junior in high school, but i havent yet decided which math class to take next yr. Which would be more useful if I plan on majoring in psychology in college?

Guest wrote:I have a question. What math class would be more useful to take if I plan on becoming a psychologist-psychiatrist, Calculus or Statistics? I am still a junior in high school, but i havent yet decided which math class to take next yr. Which would be more useful if I plan on majoring in psychology in college?

You really don't need calculus in the practice of either psychology or psychiatry. There are only a few medical schools that require calculus before starting medical school. Many kids going to college to be pre-med take Calculus their senior year of high school as they are in the advanced track in high school. It is certainly not required though.

Statistics class is likely something you'd take as part of a psychology program and while it is useful to know, you really don't need to take it before college / graduate school.

So basically take whatever will help you get into the best college. I'd say most likely calculus will look better, as long as you get a decent grade.

Hi, im currently a freshman in high school. I believe i have a gift that would really help in being a psychiatrist. I want to do my best and become a psychiatrist but i dont know how. Im truly very very lazy and dont do well in my classes. How do i motivate myself to pass with good grades, go to college, then medical school, etc.??? Also, are there any specific classes i can take??? Dont get me wrong, Im in GT classes but i get lazy VERY often and dont work to my potential "as i've been told wayyyy tooo many times"

Bones,

There are many reasons people don't do as well in classes as they should. I think you first need to sort out why you don't do well in school. Why is it that you are "lazy"? Is it because you are depressed? Is it because you are bored with the material? Is it because the material is too hard? I think your goal now should be to do as well as you possibly can in your high school classes. If you ultimately want to go to medical school, you will need to take your classes seriously and get good grades.

Wow after reading the academic criteria to be a psychiatrist I don't think I want to become one anymore. It sounds so stressful & I'm afraid I will get a mental breakdown. I'm a 16 year old Junior College student in Singapore and I actually wanted to study medicine to be a psychiatrist. However, medical school is really competitive in my country & I don't want to "kill" myself trying to get in.
I want to focus on therapy so I'm thinking of becoming a psychologist instead. But my main concern is whether I can prescribe medication as a psychologist to complement therapy. I believe therapy works best with medication for many cases. I think both prescribing medication & therapy are extremely crucial & I want to be able to do them both. What should I do? Should I get a degree in psychology and get a medical degree afterwards (will it take too long?) or work extremely hard to get into medical school?

Acceber,

Medical school is very competitive in the US as well. Many people get very stressed before, during, and after medical school, so you aren't the first to think it sounds overwhelming.

Having said that, medical school can be a very rewarding path, and it is a necessary step to becoming a psychiatrist. In a few states in the US, they have started to allow psychologists to prescribe medications. Those psychologists need to have special training. I know New Mexico was the first state to allow this, with the main goal being to increase access to medication treatment of mental illness in areas where there aren't enough psychiatrists. I personally haven't followed the outcomes of psychologist prescribing, although I am curious how it is going. Most states still do not allow psychologists to prescribe.

I definitely wouldn't go into psychology with the expectation that you will be able to prescribe medications with additional training. Yes - you could go to medical school after getting your graduate degree in psychology, but I would definitely not recommend that route. There are many reasons, least of which is that much of what you will learn in your psychology program would also be learned in a psychiatry residency and be redundant. It will add years to your training with the benefits not being worth the time (in my opinion). I also think it would be harder to be motivated to complete medical school knowing you already have a professional degree that would keep you gainfully employed.

Most psychologists work in collaboration with a psychiatrist. Often a psychologist will ask a psychiatrist to evaluate someone whom they feel might benefit from medications. Additionally, most psychiatrists refer patients to psychologists for therapy. Just because you can't personally prescribe medications doesn't mean you can treat the patients. The psychologist deals with the therapy side and the psychiatrist manages the medications.

If you are really set on doing both medication management and provide therapy yourself, then you should do your best to get into medical school.

I am a Jr. in high school trying to research careers. I flunked my first 2 years of HS due to anxiety(causing absences). I transfered to an independant study program at a local adult/alternative school where I'm now on the fast track to early graduation. I cannot afford to go straight to a Uni so will be going to a community college for the first 2 years. Originally I wanted to look into becomming a psychologist. But knowing me, I want to know what is 1 step further, just to be sure. My history with science in my early HS/middle school years was bad. I cannot tell if this was because of the absences or not, because I did well in my independant study Bio class. I probably won't know till I take whatever science class is assigned my first college years. ANYWAY in your opinion, what are the chances that someone with my odd background and minimum(like, none at all) science experience can succeed in the schooling it takes to become a psychiatrist?

People always tell me I'm intelligent and I reply that I'm common sense smart, not book smart.
I would just try and pursue psychology but it feels like I'm just "settling"
I know I'm a little early at deciding what I want to do but I need to know the paths to different careers, I don't like just jumping blindly into things.
Whatever I decide to do, I want to focus on children, because I sure could have used a good therapist a few years ago. I feel like I could really relate to alot of people.

Sorry for my rambling

Bryanna,

I think you are right to think that your background is a unique path to lead to being a doctor, although I don't see that your experience in and of itself is limiting your options. I think you are also correct in your thinking that taking college level pre-med science classes will be a good test to see if being a doctor is a reasonable choice for you. If you can do well in pre-med level science courses, then your high school experience shouldn't be a major issue to your getting into medical school. In fact, I think your experience in overcoming challenges will be a big asset to you as either a psychologist or psychiatrist, and an admission's board should view it that way as well.