Psychology vs medicine??
Hi everyone 
I have done a BSc Psychology undergraduate course and I have just finished my last year. I started to think about of any possible careers and I have always had a passion for medicine. The Graduate Entry in Medicine seems promising but there are a couple of factors to consider as well. I enjoy working along side people, and that's one of the reasons why I studied psychology apart from other things. I enjoy having to watch all the steps and progress of clients and see the help you give each step. But I don't like the full close relationship with the client and that's why I started to think of combining psychology with medicine and trying to find a career that does not require full close relationship with the client and just a few minutes contact with the client where you cannot see the progress of your help.Sorry, it may sound confusing!! I am really struggling to find a career that is in between and is both psychological and medical 
. I was interested in psychiatry but it takes a lot of years to become one and clinical psychology was not recommended due to the high number of people applying to it.
So... if anyone can help, it would be absolutely useful!!
Thanks a lot
I have done a BSc Psychology undergraduate course and I have just finished my last year. I started to think about of any possible careers and I have always had a passion for medicine. The Graduate Entry in Medicine seems promising but there are a couple of factors to consider as well. I enjoy working along side people, and that's one of the reasons why I studied psychology apart from other things. I enjoy having to watch all the steps and progress of clients and see the help you give each step. But I don't like the full close relationship with the client and that's why I started to think of combining psychology with medicine and trying to find a career that does not require full close relationship with the client and just a few minutes contact with the client where you cannot see the progress of your help.Sorry, it may sound confusing!! I am really struggling to find a career that is in between and is both psychological and medical . I was interested in psychiatry but it takes a lot of years to become one and clinical psychology was not recommended due to the high number of people applying to it.So... if anyone can help, it would be absolutely useful!!
Thanks a lot
Scroll to see replies
What about something like IAPT? Or counselling?
Original post by *Interrobang*
What about something like IAPT? Or counselling?
Thanks for answering!
I didn't want to do counselling much as I am not that in to it. I am trying to find something that is medical related but also psychological. Since I enjoy medicine and psychology, I'm trying to find something that combines both, if that makes sense!Original post by Cymb
Thanks for answering! I didn't want to do counselling much as I am not that in to it. I am trying to find something that is medical related but also psychological. Since I enjoy medicine and psychology, I'm trying to find something that combines both, if that makes sense!
I didn't want to do counselling much as I am not that in to it. I am trying to find something that is medical related but also psychological. Since I enjoy medicine and psychology, I'm trying to find something that combines both, if that makes sense!Well the IAPT fits the bill I think. Otherwise I think your main option is clinical psychology, which you've already mentioned. Or I've just thought, Occupational Therapy? (You can do it in hospitals for mental health difficulties)
Original post by *Interrobang*
Well the IAPT fits the bill I think. Otherwise I think your main option is clinical psychology, which you've already mentioned. Or I've just thought, Occupational Therapy? (You can do it in hospitals for mental health difficulties)
How does IAPT match with the medical field? And yeah, clinical psychology would be a good option but there are a lot of graduates going in to that :/. I have thought about occupational therapy as well but it is not that medically related. I would like something that I can be able to diagnose, assess and treat. Maybe something like nursing, but I am still not sure regarding that.
Both of them are part of the NHS, so they are medically related. IAPT is more about treatment and OT is about all three of those
Original post by *Interrobang*
Both of them are part of the NHS, so they are medically related. IAPT is more about treatment and OT is about all three of those
Ah yes
but they are not allowed to prescribe medicine are they? It is so confusing sometimes, because I enjoy the medicine bit, I like it and would love to be able to prescribe medicine. But I want the close relationship psychology has with clients.. and it's hard to find something like psychiatry. Thanks for your help though. It's been helpful!I'm afraid I don't think you'll find a role that does that. Psychiatrists (and other types of doctors) and some clinical psychologists (after taking extra training, as well as some nurses I think) are the only ones who can prescribe medicines. Unfortunately, they will be busy with that side of thing to do too much in the way of regular treatments with individuals.
Original post by Cymb
but they are not allowed to prescribe medicine are they? !
If you want to be diagnosing and prescribing then the only option is being a doctor.
Your requirements are very specific currently. You will need to compromise somewhere. I think psych nurse, OT or even physio fit the bill best, or try for the competitive clinical psychology or the even more competitive grad entry medicine.
Original post by nexttime
If you want to be diagnosing and prescribing then the only option is being a doctor.
Your requirements are very specific currently. You will need to compromise somewhere. I think psych nurse, OT or even physio fit the bill best, or try for the competitive clinical psychology or the even more competitive grad entry medicine.
Your requirements are very specific currently. You will need to compromise somewhere. I think psych nurse, OT or even physio fit the bill best, or try for the competitive clinical psychology or the even more competitive grad entry medicine.
I have thought about the graduate entry in medicine but then I thought 12 years of training is quite a long process! I know .. my requirements are really specific at the moment as I just finished my last year of uni as an undergraduate student and knowing how broad psychology is, makes things much more difficult!
What did you mean by physio? I thought that needs biology yes? I don't have science subjects as A levels unfortunately! And psych nurse is just a mental health nurse correct?
Thanks!
Original post by *Interrobang*
I'm afraid I don't think you'll find a role that does that. Psychiatrists (and other types of doctors) and some clinical psychologists (after taking extra training, as well as some nurses I think) are the only ones who can prescribe medicines. Unfortunately, they will be busy with that side of thing to do too much in the way of regular treatments with individuals.
That's true. Can psychiatrists give talk therapies like CBT and other psychotherapies?
Original post by Cymb
That's true. Can psychiatrists give talk therapies like CBT and other psychotherapies?
They don't have the time to do it. That's one of the reasons the IAPT is around, which I linked you to before
Original post by Cymb
I have thought about the graduate entry in medicine but then I thought 12 years of training is quite a long process!
Sure, but that's to be a consultant. You will be a 'psychiatrist' from year 7 onwards.
What did you mean by physio? I thought that needs biology yes? I don't have science subjects as A levels unfortunately! And psych nurse is just a mental health nurse correct?
Yes.
There are some psychologists in the US who prescribe, but not in the UK and rightly so too.
Yes psychologists will undoubtedly be knowledgeable about biological theories of mental illness, drug mechanisms of action and frankly learning doses isn't that tricky. The problem is the relationship of prescribing to wider health.
- How you prescribe in patients with hepatic impairment
- How you prescribe in patients with renal impairment
- Drug interactions in patients who are on other medicines for physical health ailments
- Drug interactions in patients who have other physical health problems that could be affected by a particular drug
- Physical side effects of drugs
Psychologists have no education in general health, would be unable to deal with these questions and it would be for all intents and purposes dangerous. I have also met very few mental health nurses who prescribe for the same reason, their training pathway gives them far less education in physical health than those who study standard adult nursing. So being a doctor really is your only option in that regards.
It is also worth noting that whilst prescribing sounds very cool and fun the novelty soon wears off. Titrating drug dosages can be nightmare and you have to watch yourself iatrogenically do horrible things do patients as the lesser of two evils. I have seen several patients on dialysis due to renal failure because they've been on lithium for so many years. Or patients sent to early graves because they are so overweight/suffering with metabolic syndrome because of their antipsychotics.
Yes psychologists will undoubtedly be knowledgeable about biological theories of mental illness, drug mechanisms of action and frankly learning doses isn't that tricky. The problem is the relationship of prescribing to wider health.
- How you prescribe in patients with hepatic impairment
- How you prescribe in patients with renal impairment
- Drug interactions in patients who are on other medicines for physical health ailments
- Drug interactions in patients who have other physical health problems that could be affected by a particular drug
- Physical side effects of drugs
Psychologists have no education in general health, would be unable to deal with these questions and it would be for all intents and purposes dangerous. I have also met very few mental health nurses who prescribe for the same reason, their training pathway gives them far less education in physical health than those who study standard adult nursing. So being a doctor really is your only option in that regards.
It is also worth noting that whilst prescribing sounds very cool and fun the novelty soon wears off. Titrating drug dosages can be nightmare and you have to watch yourself iatrogenically do horrible things do patients as the lesser of two evils. I have seen several patients on dialysis due to renal failure because they've been on lithium for so many years. Or patients sent to early graves because they are so overweight/suffering with metabolic syndrome because of their antipsychotics.
Original post by Sinatrafan
There are some psychologists in the US who prescribe, but not in the UK and rightly so too.
Yes psychologists will undoubtedly be knowledgeable about biological theories of mental illness, drug mechanisms of action and frankly learning doses isn't that tricky. The problem is the relationship of prescribing to wider health.
- How you prescribe in patients with hepatic impairment
- How you prescribe in patients with renal impairment
- Drug interactions in patients who are on other medicines for physical health ailments
- Drug interactions in patients who have other physical health problems that could be affected by a particular drug
- Physical side effects of drugs
Psychologists have no education in general health, would be unable to deal with these questions and it would be for all intents and purposes dangerous. I have also met very few mental health nurses who prescribe for the same reason, their training pathway gives them far less education in physical health than those who study standard adult nursing. So being a doctor really is your only option in that regards.
It is also worth noting that whilst prescribing sounds very cool and fun the novelty soon wears off. Titrating drug dosages can be nightmare and you have to watch yourself iatrogenically do horrible things do patients as the lesser of two evils. I have seen several patients on dialysis due to renal failure because they've been on lithium for so many years. Or patients sent to early graves because they are so overweight/suffering with metabolic syndrome because of their antipsychotics.
Yes psychologists will undoubtedly be knowledgeable about biological theories of mental illness, drug mechanisms of action and frankly learning doses isn't that tricky. The problem is the relationship of prescribing to wider health.
- How you prescribe in patients with hepatic impairment
- How you prescribe in patients with renal impairment
- Drug interactions in patients who are on other medicines for physical health ailments
- Drug interactions in patients who have other physical health problems that could be affected by a particular drug
- Physical side effects of drugs
Psychologists have no education in general health, would be unable to deal with these questions and it would be for all intents and purposes dangerous. I have also met very few mental health nurses who prescribe for the same reason, their training pathway gives them far less education in physical health than those who study standard adult nursing. So being a doctor really is your only option in that regards.
It is also worth noting that whilst prescribing sounds very cool and fun the novelty soon wears off. Titrating drug dosages can be nightmare and you have to watch yourself iatrogenically do horrible things do patients as the lesser of two evils. I have seen several patients on dialysis due to renal failure because they've been on lithium for so many years. Or patients sent to early graves because they are so overweight/suffering with metabolic syndrome because of their antipsychotics.
Thanks for your reply
. I agree with you 100% that it does sound quite interesting and very cool thing to do. And this is what I am mostly afraid of - the fact that it will seem cool at first, but this feeling will wear off. However, this is with everything I think - every career seems exciting at first but this excitement will wear off at some point and won't be as strong as it was the first time. So I am aware of this and this is one of the factors that make me doubt to go for medicine.Also, I have probably mentioned before, if I went for psychiatry I would try and sub-specialise in Psychotherapy as I do believe that mental health illnesses are not just treated by medicine but also via talk-therapies. So just working only in prescribing medicine would not (I think) make me satisfied. I have mentioned as well in previous threads that I was thinking of Clinical neuropsychology and I am not sure though whether this is as competitive as clinical psychology
Medically managing patients will make up the bulk of your work as a psychiatrist, and is the main skill you bring to a mental health team. Whilst psychiatrists can do, and do train in, psychotherapies it tends to be psychologists who carry out this work day to day.
Of the 25 or so psychiatrists I have known, only 1 delivers psychotherapies as a regular part of their practice. It will also focus your work in to certain conditions if you choose this route. You will mainly be working with personality disorders as these are not very drug appropriate conditions, so this is the only group I have ever seen psychiatrists perform psychotherapy with.
Neuropsychology is a very interesting field. It is very niche owing to the relative rarity of neurological illnesses that need psych input which makes it competitive because it's quite a small field compared to clinical psychology. Most neuropsychologists first train as clinical psychologists and then do further training in neuropsychology.
Of the 25 or so psychiatrists I have known, only 1 delivers psychotherapies as a regular part of their practice. It will also focus your work in to certain conditions if you choose this route. You will mainly be working with personality disorders as these are not very drug appropriate conditions, so this is the only group I have ever seen psychiatrists perform psychotherapy with.
Neuropsychology is a very interesting field. It is very niche owing to the relative rarity of neurological illnesses that need psych input which makes it competitive because it's quite a small field compared to clinical psychology. Most neuropsychologists first train as clinical psychologists and then do further training in neuropsychology.
Original post by Sinatrafan
Medically managing patients will make up the bulk of your work as a psychiatrist, and is the main skill you bring to a mental health team. Whilst psychiatrists can do, and do train in, psychotherapies it tends to be psychologists who carry out this work day to day.
Of the 25 or so psychiatrists I have known, only 1 delivers psychotherapies as a regular part of their practice. It will also focus your work in to certain conditions if you choose this route. You will mainly be working with personality disorders as these are not very drug appropriate conditions, so this is the only group I have ever seen psychiatrists perform psychotherapy with.
Neuropsychology is a very interesting field. It is very niche owing to the relative rarity of neurological illnesses that need psych input which makes it competitive because it's quite a small field compared to clinical psychology. Most neuropsychologists first train as clinical psychologists and then do further training in neuropsychology.
Of the 25 or so psychiatrists I have known, only 1 delivers psychotherapies as a regular part of their practice. It will also focus your work in to certain conditions if you choose this route. You will mainly be working with personality disorders as these are not very drug appropriate conditions, so this is the only group I have ever seen psychiatrists perform psychotherapy with.
Neuropsychology is a very interesting field. It is very niche owing to the relative rarity of neurological illnesses that need psych input which makes it competitive because it's quite a small field compared to clinical psychology. Most neuropsychologists first train as clinical psychologists and then do further training in neuropsychology.
I see. I have thought before as to be a doctor (GP) but I decided not to as I don't like the very short time they have with patients. So that is why I shifted my interest to psychiatry. I thought that it combines both medicine and psychology together. However, my doubts about it are still because of the fact that they treat their patients mainly with medicine (hence a doctor) and not considering the treatment of talk-therapies. That is why I wanted to sub-specialise in psychotherapy if I were to choose the psychiatric path.
However, I also want to work with different types of mental health illnesses, not just personality disorders. So after I read your message, I will kind of think twice with regards to psychiatry. Neuropsychology is attractive but do you by any chance know if it is possible to find a job in this field in England? Obviously, I don't want to choose a path where in the end it does not lead for a possible way to find a job due to it being a new field.
My main confusion about the careers is trying to find a middle ground between medicine and psychology. I have thought of mental health nurse but I want to be able to specialise in an area and do masters. So I would not be planning to stay as a mental health nurse. I know this may sound so confusing and sorry about that
!Original post by *Interrobang*
What about something like IAPT? Or counselling?
what are some possible careers i can do with a psychology degree?
Original post by Cymb
They very much do consider talk-therapies - psychiatrists/doctors are the ones who decide they are needed! They just tend not to do them themselves (its very time-consuming and repetitive).
That is why I wanted to sub-specialise in psychotherapy if I were to choose the psychiatric path.
You potentially could - psychiatry is the least competitive of the medical specialities so if you're career-driven you can probably be pretty competitive and get what you want. Assuming you can get in in the first place, of course. You seem to remain oblivious as to how competitive medicine, especially GEM, is.
I would say that clinical neuropsychology is probably the closest 'middle ground' option outside of going down the psychiatry option, as it tends to be quite a technical/biological applied psychology. At present, there isn't a direct training path in clinical neuropsychology, you have to compete the doctorate in clinical psychology first, then compete further accredited training post qualification. I think that the British Psychological society have been considering a direct entry route to clinical neuropsychology as it is quite a niche specialism.
It is possible to work in the UK as a neuropsychologist, both in the NHS and in private practice. Neuropsychologists may specialise in areas such as acquired brain injury, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, stroke, neuro myelitis optica.....and many other biological brain conditions. They may also work with people who have medically unexplained neurological symptoms (e.g. Non epileptic seisiures). Their work may involve assessing the impact of an individual's neurological condition on their memory, processing speed, verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning....or work may involve looking at how to help an individual who is living with a neurological condition improve their quality of life.
So a pretty diverse bag for an applied psychological sub speciality!
It is possible to work in the UK as a neuropsychologist, both in the NHS and in private practice. Neuropsychologists may specialise in areas such as acquired brain injury, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, stroke, neuro myelitis optica.....and many other biological brain conditions. They may also work with people who have medically unexplained neurological symptoms (e.g. Non epileptic seisiures). Their work may involve assessing the impact of an individual's neurological condition on their memory, processing speed, verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning....or work may involve looking at how to help an individual who is living with a neurological condition improve their quality of life.
So a pretty diverse bag for an applied psychological sub speciality!
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