Clinical Work or Academia?

How do you know whether you want to be in clinical work or academia? I feel like I'd love research, but I wouldn't want to lecture alongside this and research alone doesn't seem a very smart / stable option in the long term. I also would prefer part time, flexible roles, so private clinical work may be better suited, although I'd feel like I'm giving up on my passion for research. I'm most interested in neuropsychology for either option.

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Original post by Emma17833

Hiya!

This was something I was wondering and got cleared up after my placement year as well! There are jobs with a mix of both clinical and research, actually :biggrin:

So psychologists and Clinical Associates in Psychology (CAAP for short, a newer job in the field) sometimes do a mix of both clinical work and research work (though a heavier focus on clinical work). Research work in this context typically focuses on service development - ie., improving a service or intervention that they offer. From my understanding, therapy/counselling jobs don't do as much research, and focuses more on clinical work. Some psychologists also do part-time clinical work and part time research at a university, hence why some courses have psychologists teaching modules.

I probably should also mention that Assistant Psychologist posts differ in how much clinical vs research work you do, so thats another thing to consider.

Hope that helped a little!

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep