Career Minded

The Path to Becoming a Research Psychologist

Mitch Harden is a third year doctoral student in the behavioral neuroscience program at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. See full bio

June 5, 2008, Psych Careers

Comments on "Hey What's Your Minor"

Hey What's Your Minor

By Mitch Harden, M.A. on June 5, 2008 in Career Minded

A minor in a related area can be a great addition to your education if it is well planned. As APS Preseident John T. Cacloppo wrote in September of last year, "Psychology is a Hub Science." This means that psychology as a field integrates with a lot of other scientific disciplines. An academic background in these synergistic fields can make a huge difference in your graduate school applications (and thus your career as a research scientist). Adding in a second field of study is something that ideally would happen early in your academic career, however it is a rare thing to meet a college Freshman that won't change her major at least once during her college career. Peter Vogt, a MonsterTRAK Career Coach, claims that 60% of college students will change their majors at least once before graduating. So what are some useful disciplines to tack on to a psychology major? Read More

Question

Submitted by Facc on June 5, 2008 - 8:10am.

Another great post and I want to thank you for adding this careers section of the blog because I feel it really enhances blog section overall. Anyway, you said that a biology minor is not very important for those pursuing clinical psychology. I talked with one of my professors and he said that since clinical psychologists are becoming more prevalent in hospitals and such, having a strong biology background is important. But he also said that a minor or double major is not really important. I talked to him when I was focused on becoming a clinical psychologist but now I'm debating between that or a clinical neuropsychologist. So my question is should I minor biology, just take a few extra bio classes, or would changing my major to neuroscience be a good option if I decided to pursue neuropsychology? Sorry for the lengthy response but any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Stop...

Submitted by Michael J. Formica on June 5, 2008 - 5:25pm.

You're thinking like a student. Stop. Study what interests you, because what interests you now is what will interest you, and be useful to you, in 20 years. One of the problems with the Western educational system is that it has become too specialized. In doing so, it has limited the intellectual latitude of its graduates. Don't try to create a niche for yourself through your coursework, as you will find that, not only is the majority of your coursework fairly worthless in the real world, but that niche your "creating" is a whole lot different in real life. All due respect to my esteemed blolleague, but I have a couple of decades of experience on him. So, do what works for you as a seeker, and know that you will be a lifetime learner. Most of us concretize our education in our twenties and stick with it...not a good plan. Speaking personally, my library holds over 1200 books ranging from philosophy to politics to science to religion to literature to poetry to how to's to martial arts to Yoga to fairy tales...and I just bought 5 more this afternoon... Today is the anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assisination. One of the most consistent memories of RFK is that he always had a book in his hand. Being well aquainted with Carolyn (Kennedy-Schlossberg), and a consistent companion of (the late) JFK Jr. in college, I can say, without reservation, that perception is not a media fabrication. Take a lesson...don't lock yourself in. Blessings, Michael

Not Terrible Advice

Submitted by Mitch Harden, M.A. on June 5, 2008 - 6:39pm.

Michael's advice isn't terrible. I would never advise against being a well-rounded person. But that isn't the goal of this blog. If you want to get an APA accredited board certification as a Clinical Neuropsychologist you'll take the ABCN boards. No matter how well-read you are, it won't matter unless you've read plenty of books and papers about neuropsych assessment. You will have to have a PhD, 2-3 years of clinical residency and pass what is by all accounts a grueling three-phase testing process. All of the above requires not only a great deal of personal dedication, but also a high level of specific neuropsychological knowlede Now the ABCN isn't the only game in town. There are vanity boards that have less stringent requirements, some don't even require a PhD. Maybe I'll post about what "board-certified" means in a future post. Ultimately your educational goals are in your own hands, and if you want to pursue the upper echelons of your field, then you are going to need specialized training. Look at schools that can provide that training, and talk to the faculty there. Two that I can think of off-hand are NOVA in Florida and Brown in Rhode Island. I would imagine a minor in biology would be just fine for applications to these schools. But go ahead and do your own research, talk to the professors and graduate students at schools in which you are interested. Oh and of course, keep checking back here for more (or less) insightful advice about pursuing a career in research psychology.

Thank you both very much for

Submitted by Facc on June 6, 2008 - 5:27pm.

Thank you both very much for your help. I do try to be as well rounded as I can. I go to a liberal arts college and I love the opportunity to take unique classes. However, I do love learning about psychology more than any other discipline. I enjoy learning about biology as well but not to the same extent. Although, next semester I am taking my first college biology course which is taught by an assistant neuroscience professor so hopefully that will paint a clearer picture of the way I which to go. I know I want to try to have a career in the upper echelons of psychology. I'm just not exactly sure which specific path to choose. I did take a philosophy course last semester because I was interested in philosophy. I did struggle with it despite the immense effort I put into the course. However, I was still happy from what I learned from the course despite not being happy with my grade.

Thank you for the information about neuropsychology. Although, I am still confused between just how far apart clinical psychologists are from clinical neuropsychologists. I do want to try to obtain a PhD in clinical psychology but if I decide to go on to become certified in neuropsychology, would that be like learning a whole new field or would a lot of it integrate? Also, from what I have read about clinical neuropsychology, a lot of it deals with brain injury. What other aspects do clinical neuropsychologists focus on or is this the primary aspect? I suppose I just don't want to be limited to a certain area even though helping people with brain trauma would be gratifying. Again, thank you both for your responses and I look forward to your replies as well as other blogs. I am a bit confused on the whole board certification process so I look forward to reading about a blog pertaining to that.

Anthropology, hell yeah.

Submitted by Anonymous on June 16, 2008 - 2:18pm.

Anthropology, hell yeah. I'm shocked, however, by your mention that it may have limited usefulness and not be a draw to the majority of graduate programs.

Social psychology and I/O psychology can draw quite heavily on Anthropology. Depending upon one's clients, I could argue that Clinical and Counseling psychologists would have a use for Anthropology. Anthropology (esp. Physical) may very well be of use to Experimental and Cognitive psychology.