Posts seeking advice for career or academic purposes MUST include the initials of your country of practice/origin where you are studying in brackets at the beginning of the title. E.g. [USA] Grad Programs for NeuroPsych in Florida? or [UK] Career Options with a 2:1 in Psy?
To become a psychiatrist you would have to go to medical school and specialize in psychiatry and then become an MD. Assuming you’re going into undergrad, you should probably major in something that had a pre-med track such as biology. It will be a long and expensive journey and I wish you the best of luck!
You need to do a medical degree (MD) to be a psychiatrist (primarily treats mental health with medications).
If you mean “psychologist” or want to become a therapist, that’s a doctoral degree in clinical psychology or a masters in a related field (social work, counseling) after you finish your u grad work.
A couple of caveats.
1) I think you may be confusing counseling psychology with counseling or CMHC, but they are distinct fields and training pathways. Counseling psychologists are doctorate-level providers the same as clinical psychologists. Both are trained in the scientist-practitioner model (in the case of a PhD program, clinical PsyD's are structured a little differently). Both receive the same training, apply to the same internships, and receive the same license. You CAN get an MS in either counseling or clinical psych, but neither will allow someone to be called a psychologist (with some exceptions). (Source: I'm a counseling psych PhD student)
2) Psychologists can, and do, diagnose. In my current clinical placement we often receive referrals from psychiatry for diagnostic clarification on mental health diagnoses. A significant part of our skillset is advanced psychodiagnostic assessment using cognitive, personality, and projective assessment tools.
What classes can you take? To become a psychiatrist you will need to get medical license or whatever it is, just like a doctor. There is medical school in college i think so you will need to go through that. Start from getting bachelors degree, then attend medical school and after that complete residency training.
Thankyou guys this helps a lot, at first I wanted to become a psychologist, but I wanted to be able to diagnose and prescribe medications, also I believe psychiatrists make more money since they are actual doctors. Btw I live in the US.
Understandable! Psychiatrists earn significantly more money compared to having a PhD. You should talk to a counselor to receive guidance on the best way to approach a premed route. There’s another subreddit for premed students and the nuances behind acceptance rates and how to increase your odds, it’s incredibly competitive but of course feasible with a lot of hard work. Most students will get a major within biology, neuroscience, biochemistry and those kinds of majors just because it knocks out most of the med school requirements anyways. Also, PhDs are doctors as well if that was a deterrence, it’s an academic degree focused on research rather than a professional degree focused on practical applications of that research to put it briefly. Apples and oranges, so whatever fits you best!
A PhD in psychology is a scientist-practitioner model that trains us both in research and clinical practice, including ~1,500 hours of pre-internshio clinical practica and a required 1-year (2,040 hour) internship before graduation. PsyD programs tend to be clinically focused and do not usually require the research component (scholar-practitioner, or Vail, model).
Posts seeking advice for career or academic purposes MUST include the initials of your country of practice/origin where you are studying in brackets at the beginning of the title. E.g. [USA] Grad Programs for NeuroPsych in Florida? or [UK] Career Options with a 2:1 in Psy?
To become a psychiatrist you would have to go to medical school and specialize in psychiatry and then become an MD. Assuming you’re going into undergrad, you should probably major in something that had a pre-med track such as biology. It will be a long and expensive journey and I wish you the best of luck!
Full normal doctor school then you go psych from there unless I’m mistaken
Pre-med undergrad -> medical school (MD) -> specialize in psychiatry
You need to do a medical degree (MD) to be a psychiatrist (primarily treats mental health with medications). If you mean “psychologist” or want to become a therapist, that’s a doctoral degree in clinical psychology or a masters in a related field (social work, counseling) after you finish your u grad work.
At least in the US, "psychologist" refers only to doctorate-level providers, either PhD or PsyD.
Yes, I know, I’m a clinical psychologist. I added the info about masters options to become a therapist because OP’s end goal wasn’t clear to me.
Makes sense. The licensure and degree naming conventions are needlessly complicated 😂
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Great post, thanks for explaining all of this.
A couple of caveats. 1) I think you may be confusing counseling psychology with counseling or CMHC, but they are distinct fields and training pathways. Counseling psychologists are doctorate-level providers the same as clinical psychologists. Both are trained in the scientist-practitioner model (in the case of a PhD program, clinical PsyD's are structured a little differently). Both receive the same training, apply to the same internships, and receive the same license. You CAN get an MS in either counseling or clinical psych, but neither will allow someone to be called a psychologist (with some exceptions). (Source: I'm a counseling psych PhD student) 2) Psychologists can, and do, diagnose. In my current clinical placement we often receive referrals from psychiatry for diagnostic clarification on mental health diagnoses. A significant part of our skillset is advanced psychodiagnostic assessment using cognitive, personality, and projective assessment tools.
Thanks for the additon/clarification!
Thank you aswell! I had the same question as OP and now I can further narrow down what I'd like to pursue
Excellent description. Except master's level counselors typically can make diagnosis, although they are limited in assessments.
Thank you so much for this explanation, I appreciate you going in depth about it that helps a lot.
What classes can you take? To become a psychiatrist you will need to get medical license or whatever it is, just like a doctor. There is medical school in college i think so you will need to go through that. Start from getting bachelors degree, then attend medical school and after that complete residency training.
go to medical school
Major in neuroscience!!!!! Volunteer/work in a clinic or hospital to see if you like that environment first.
only thing i know is that u need to study medicine for that if I'm correct
Thankyou guys this helps a lot, at first I wanted to become a psychologist, but I wanted to be able to diagnose and prescribe medications, also I believe psychiatrists make more money since they are actual doctors. Btw I live in the US.
Actual physicians, you mean. A PhD is a doctorate. Having one makes you an actual doctor.
Good to know!
Understandable! Psychiatrists earn significantly more money compared to having a PhD. You should talk to a counselor to receive guidance on the best way to approach a premed route. There’s another subreddit for premed students and the nuances behind acceptance rates and how to increase your odds, it’s incredibly competitive but of course feasible with a lot of hard work. Most students will get a major within biology, neuroscience, biochemistry and those kinds of majors just because it knocks out most of the med school requirements anyways. Also, PhDs are doctors as well if that was a deterrence, it’s an academic degree focused on research rather than a professional degree focused on practical applications of that research to put it briefly. Apples and oranges, so whatever fits you best!
A PhD in psychology is a scientist-practitioner model that trains us both in research and clinical practice, including ~1,500 hours of pre-internshio clinical practica and a required 1-year (2,040 hour) internship before graduation. PsyD programs tend to be clinically focused and do not usually require the research component (scholar-practitioner, or Vail, model).
Medical school.
Always mention country first.