I’d like to become a psychiatrist. What should I study in college? Cognitive psychology or neurosciene?
I’m a freshman at U of Michigan torn between what to major in. My career goals are either to be a psychiatrist or a cognitive neurologist…at 18, I haven’t quite decided yet. The main issue right now is choosing classes. I’m not sure of what I should major in to go into either one. Cog-Psych, Neuro, Psych, Bio, or something completely unrelated. The advisors aren’t very helpful, so any advice? Maybe from some doctors? :-)
yournewattraction said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 1:41 pm
I would go with Cog-Psych, but I don’t know too much about psychiatry. Maybe you could double major, or major in one, minor in the other. That helps a lot.
gumdropgirl6 said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
I always tell pre-meds to avoid pre-med majors. why? because they’re full of PRE-MEDs!!!
Do an easy major and you will have a lot less pressure and competition to deal with. Do your pre-reqs for med school and take a lot of neurosci and psych classes. Psych is actually a good major for pre-meds, so if that interests you, go there. but avoid BIOpsych because it’s a pre-med major.
If you can, you should do a lot of related extra-curriculars. Volunteer in a psych ward. Do research in a psychology lab or neuro lab. Shadow some psychiatrists. Volunteer as a peer counselor next year. That will make you look really good to medical schools.
Doctor J said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 2:51 pm
Neuroscience. The biochemistry and physiology of the brain is THE FUTURE of behavioral medicine. Build a solid foundation in your education in a field that requires tough critical thinking skills and you will have what it takes to succeed no matter what direction you eventually choose.
Best wishes and good luck!
dr_diva said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 2:56 pm
As a med student with aspirations of becoming a psychiatrist, I’m gonna say major in whatever u want to major in that is not bio or chem or science. They teach you all that stuff in med school. I majored in bio and yeah it helps on the MCAT and you may not have to study as hard in med school but it doesn’t really give you anything to fall back on if medicine doesn’t work out for you. I say major in something that you enjoy and can get a job in with just a bachelor’s but take all your prerequistes too. It will allow you to have a plan b if u find that medicine is not where u want to be and you will enjoy ur med school classes more because it won’t be a repetition of the material u saw for the last four years. I personally wish I could have majored in psychology (i was in a dual degree program that made it mandatory for me to major in a science). Good luck!
Sarza said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 3:53 pm
Be a cognitive neurologist! Why because Psychiatrists have to get re certified every 10 years and if you fail you have to say bye bye to all of your hard work! And plus I want to be one or a Psychologist when i get better and grow up. Hey I am afraid there will be too many! HEE HA HEE HEE! But seriously be a nerologist, they help people more and all Psychiatrists do is load you up on drugs and say come back in 2-3 weeks! Then they get their $350.00
needtoknow said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 4:31 pm
first to be a psychiatrist you must be a medical doctor pre med would be the chose on the other hand a psychologist is not a medical doctor but has a PhD most psychologist do a lot of statistical testing if you are interested in people then become a mental health counselor there are schools that have specifically designed programs to reach all three go talk to the admissions counselor many of whom by the way who hold masters degrees in Mental health counseling
skinner5932001 said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
I’m a neuropsychologist. I work closely with a team of psychiatrists, social workers, and psychologists. First, figure out why you want to be a psychiatrist versus something else. I’ve never heard of a “cognitive neurologist,” and I work in a rather large Level I trauma center in a major city.
If you are interested in cognition, then you want to be a neuropsychologist, more than likely, because that’s one of the major things we study. Neurologists do not directly assess cognition–that’s not their job. Their job is to assess and treat problems of the nervous system, which may cause problems with cognition, but they are more concerned with finding which areas are problematic and then selecting the appropriate course of action (medical versus surgical versus psychological).
So, first: to medicine or not to medicine? Figure that out. MDs are very different in training and orientation than PhDs (or PsyDs). I wouldn’t be too concerned with choosing a particular medical specialty, because most physicians don’t choose until they’ve had some clerkships. It would be rather unfair to ask yourself to pick a job before you’ve tried it, which is the whole point of clinical rotations in medical school–to expose you to broad medical training and help you choose the appropriate area of medicine for residency.
If you say yes to medicine, the major does not matter–your grades, MCAT, and extracurriculars do. Naturally, you will want to perform extremely well on the prerequisite classes for med school, like organic chem, bio, etc. But you don’t need to be pre-med. Many medical schools (including ours) appreciate diverse candidates in terms of background and education. Lots of art history majors and English majors go to medical school and do just fine. The point is to choose carefully–medical school and subsequent training is 7-8 years (if you are adult psych, then it would be 7, child and adolescent is typically 8 with fellowship).
Talk to the people who have the jobs you’re interested in. Most healthcare providers are quite used to having students “shadow” them for a day to see how it works.
yadavahir said,
Wrote on October 21, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
chose from the above one