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so i wanna be a psychiatrist

!_MDMA_!

!_MDMA_!

Bluelighter
Joined
May 26, 2009
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drug retirement home
step 1. learn to correctly spell psychiatrist without spell check

step 2. i'm still a junior in HS. what are some good books to read to prepare for such a career? i've been watching lie to me and it's a pretty dope show and helpful for such a career, but i don't know anything more serious to help prepare?


tips?
 
I would say at this point the best thing would be to try to do as well as possible in your science classes. Becoming a psychiatrist requires would require you to go to medical school and get an MD, so that should be a priority.
 
hlin818 said:
I would say at this point the best thing would be to try to do as well as possible in your science classes. Becoming a psychiatrist requires would require you to go to medical school and get an MD, so that should be a priority.
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i understand i'm going to have to work my ass for an Md, but before i commit to that i need to further understand what's it like being a psychiatrist

studying i can do i'm good at school when i try, i know if i have the desire i will do fine in medical school


^^

i'll check out that thanks
 
You should definitely look to see if your school offers AP Psychology. If so, sign up for that class to take during your senior year, it's a wonderful class.

If your school does not offer AP Psych, the next best step IMO is to actually buy the review books for the AP Psych test, and just start reading those! Not only is it a fascinating read, and a great way to get into psychology, but it'll help you when you start actually taking psychology related classes in college.

Just for the record, beacuse this is a very common thought error:

Psychiatrist - needs and MD and often works with prescribing medications/treating patients
Psychologist - does NOT need an MD, and works with analyzing/working theraputically with patients.
 
Go to the library and see if they have a copy of the DSM-IV.

That will be your bible as a psychiatrist, may as well see if you like it.
 
Psychiatry and psychology are not the same thing. Psychiatrists are medical doctors and prescribe pills. (Some types of) psychologists are the ones who talk to you about your feelings.

If you want to be a psychiatrist, you need to focus on courses that will help you get into med school like biology, chemistry, physics, and math.
 
Roger&Me said:
Psychiatry and psychology are not the same thing. Psychiatrists are medical doctors and prescribe pills. (Some types of) psychologists are the ones who talk to you about your feelings.

If you want to be a psychiatrist, you need to focus on courses that will help you get into med school like biology, chemistry, physics, and math.
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psyciatrists also talk to people. they just have the power to prescribe medicines b/c they went to med school. the difference in pay is also about 60k a year.
 
Roger&Me said:
Psychiatry and psychology are not the same thing. Psychiatrists are medical doctors and prescribe pills. (Some types of) psychologists are the ones who talk to you about your feelings.

If you want to be a psychiatrist, you need to focus on courses that will help you get into med school like biology, chemistry, physics, and math.
Click to expand...

!_MDMA_! said:
psyciatrists also talk to people. they just have the power to prescribe medicines b/c they went to med school. the difference in pay is also about 60k a year.
Click to expand...
IME, psychiatrists are much more focused on "what pill will help you with your problem" while psychologists really want to know what's going on in your head to help you "talk through it."

Never let money be the deciding factor in what you want to do. If you want to help people through medicine, go the psychiatry route. If you want to truly help people, go the psychology route. Best of luck. :)
 
^Yeah I have to agree with addictivepersona because I was seeing a psychiatrist for half a year and therefore assumed I was receiving "therapy," but I was still feeling like shit no matter what pills they prescribed me, and they didn't talk hardly at all. It wasn't until an attempted suicide that I actually started seeing a therapist and the difference was startling.
I was talking to exclusively PhDs for half a year and they didn't do SHIT. It wasn't until I started talking to the nurses and social workers (much less "prestigious" titles but far more helpful) who were trained in C/DBT that I started actually feeling better about life.
I'm not suggesting psychiatry doesn't help people at all, I'm just saying that the whole medication-based mental treatment isn't nearly as effective as medication combined with talk therapy.
If you're still in highschool I just think it would be helpful for you to talk to people who actually had psychotic episodes and hear their stories of talking to actual psychiatrists.
The two different psychiatrists I've seen in the past year were both very interesting and sort of eccentric people, but they weren't well versed in talked therapy at all, and it wasn't until I started talking to a real talk therapist that I saw the vast difference between the two types of psychiatric therapy.
I think the point of my post is to encourage a more holistic (all inclusive) approach if you plan of having a private practice or whatever you plan on doing later in life.
 
!_MDMA_! said:
step 1. learn to correctly spell psychiatrist without spell check

step 2. i'm still a junior in HS. what are some good books to read to prepare for such a career? i've been watching lie to me and it's a pretty dope show and helpful for such a career, but i don't know anything more serious to help prepare?


tips?
Click to expand...

Worry about those things once you get into college and start taking classes. You may find that psychology is not what you want to get into, as I have. What I believed psychology/psychiatry to be is not at all what it really is.

Focus on graduating high school. Read books about psychology and psychiatry on your own time as a hobby. I recommend reading about abnormal psychology.

It's very likely that, after your first few semesters of college, you will veer off in a completely different direction. For all that you know you may end up really truly wanting to do something completely different. It isn't uncommon at all for people to change their major focus of study several times before graduating. As you start college and take many different classes in different disciplines you begin to discover yourself, your talents, and what you truly wish to do in life.
 
Well maybe you can take a college intro psych class for post secondary when you become a senior. Talk to your guidance councilor about it.

Anyway I was pursuing a psych degree until I found the education to pay ration very unsatisfactory. Good luck if you go down that road though, it's mostly memorization with little creativity (sorry if that's harsh)

This website pretty much decided my major: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Psychiatrist/Salary
 
If you are interested in psychiatry, the best thing you can do is prepare yourself for college and take all of your undergraduate courses very seriously. Medical school admission is, as most people know, very competitive and having a very strong GPA is essential for getting in. In addition, community involvement and volunteering throughout your undergraduate degree is essential.

One important thing to remember is that some schools offer a B.S. in Psychology, while others only offer a B.A. in Psychology. If you pursue a B.A., you will have to take many science courses outside of your degree program in order to meet medical school admission criteria.

Clinical psychology is very competitive as well, you need a GPA pretty much as high as for medical school, and a good GRE score.

addictivepersona said:
If you want to truly help people...
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This statement is as inaccurate as it is insulting.
 
Get the grades is the first thing as mentioned above. Deciding what sort of undergraduate program is going interested and producing the good grades would be the second thing, preferably a program that is going to include stuff that really prepares you for medical school.

I know two med school drop outs and more people who changed plans to go to med school primarily because of organic chemistry or related stumbling blocks in their curriculum.

Now you focus on ACT & SAT. When you are finishing up grad school it will become all about the MCAT. Then a five years later the USMLE and finding a residency program. It is a long hall.

If you don't come from a lot of money and would prefer to come out of medical school not in that much debt you might look start looking at programs where you get a lot of your tuition covered but are obligated to a number of years in a particular health service program.
 
Adopt good study habits now. You will need very good grades and test scores.

To get very good grades, you will need good study habits.

Organize yourself to get those good grades. Prioritize your studying over everything else. Once the studying is completed, then you can do other things.

And this must be done almost every day. It should be a habit - and not so stressful that you burn out.
 
If you want a bit more insight into the world of psychology, I suggest watching an HBO show called In Treatment. I have a Psych. degree (and have seen more than a few psychologists) and find it to be very realistic. It should at least give you a bit of insight into how you will spend your day as a shrink.
 
A good way to make sure its something you are really interested in doing is by volunteering or interning for a psychiatrists office. That way you'll really be able to get a feel for exactly what it is that they do and that its something that you are interested in doing.
 
Ask yourself if have the disposition to feed poison to people who are basically in a hospital jail. If you can do that without any emotional reaction and can sleep at night, go for it!

Or if have a demanding interest in neurochemistry and would like to assist people with irregular brain chemistries in having some sort of Quality of Life, go for it!
 
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