Clinical Psychologists

[kwiteaboy]

Are there any clinical psychologists on this board? I'm trying to decide which route I want to go in graduate psychology, and would like some input from those who've gone into the clinical side.

 

[MrRogers]

Hey Kwite, I'm a 2nd year doctoral student in clinical psych working towards my Psy.D. I have 1 MS degree in Clinical and counseling health psych and soon will have another in Clinical Psych. The program i'm in now requires a clinical MS upon admission and then grants another after 2 years into the program (dont ask me why).

They say to go for a PsyD instead of a PhD if your looking to do clinical work but our curriculum is the exact same as clinical PhD programs in the area (Philly). Its a standard 5 yr program, 2 practica, 1 internship, dissertation needed to graduate. 2 yrs in, we are required to take a 3 part comprehensive exam that we must pass to continue on ( I think the MS degree at this point is a consolation prize for the 30% that can not pass comps after 3 attempts).

The attrition rate of a doctoral psych program is extremely high, north of 50%. I started 2 yrs ago with a class of 31 which is now a class of 16, historically we'll graduate 8-12. Being young, unmarried and having less responsibility outside of the program seem to be the best predictors of successful completion. Working full time is possible for some, but most, like myself, work part-time.

Gradewise, anything lower than a B- is considered failing and the course must be taken over again. Classes are offered once a year so a failed course means sitting on your hands for a year as APA dictates that classes must be taken in a logical progression; A c+ in assessment I means you cant go on to assesment II or III so you have to take a year off and wait for it to come around again. You are allowed to "fail" 2 classes before your booted out of the program.

Anyway, i'm a lil busy right now but if you leave some more specific questions ill be happy to answer them

MrR

 

[kwiteaboy]

Cool! Are you planning on having a private practice with your degree, then? The distinction that I've picked up on, having talked to/worked with a lot of clinical Ph.D students, is that Ph.D trains scientist/practitioners and Psy.D trains scholar/practitioners. Does that mesh with your conception of the difference? What made you choose Psy.D over Ph.D?

What were your undergrad credentials like? I kind of fucked around for the middle years of my undergrad education, so my GPA isn't as competitive as it should be, but I have a lot of research experience in three labs, plus a one-year postgrad research assistantship set up for next year. Still, I'm worried about the application process. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Joffrey]

This is the last board I would expect to find this subject but interesting because I have a friend applying to many PhD and masters programs for the same exact discipline.

 

[itsstillmatt]

My mother is a clinical psychologist.

Don't have kids! j/k

 

[Saucemaster]

My fiancee is getting her PhD in Clinical Psych. FWIW, her experience is that if you're not interested in research, and you want to actually practice (as she does), it's worth seriously looking at a PsyD program. She hates research, and did the PhD simply because it opens a few more doors and she's getting paid to do it (as opposed to actually paying to go to a PsyD program).