Advice for an aspiring clinical psychologist

Hi! So to give a bit of context this summer i'm graduating from the University of York with (hopefully!) a 2.1. My lit survey was on schizophrenia, so very clinical focused.
I've done a range of things at uni which i'm very proud of ranging from volunteering opportunities like being a social secretary for mental health awareness society, volunteering for SHOUT, being a research assistant for Healthwatch and a Speech and Language Assistant placement.
Obviously as i'm coming up a graduate i'm looking at the clinical route. Due to funding, i'm unfortunately not doing my masters yet as I cannot afford it but will hopefully be doing it in Leeds, also is it truly worth doing a masters? They're so expensive and i'm unsure if it's just better to get hands on experience?

So, my question is, what should I use this gap year for to bolster my chances for the Dclins? I've seen a lot of people talk about HCA/Support Worker roles but i'm nervous i'm severely under-qualified for these roles and wouldn't stand a chance. I'm looking more towards work as I need to save for my masters but I wouldn't mind looking at volunteer roles also.
Thank you!!

Reply 1

greg tony

Original post by hahachloee

Hi! So to give a bit of context this summer i'm graduating from the University of York with (hopefully!) a 2.1. My lit survey was on schizophrenia, so very clinical focused.
I've done a range of things at uni which i'm very proud of ranging from volunteering opportunities like being a social secretary for mental health awareness society, volunteering for SHOUT, being a research assistant for Healthwatch and a Speech and Language Assistant placement.
Obviously as i'm coming up a graduate i'm looking at the clinical route. Due to funding, i'm unfortunately not doing my masters yet as I cannot afford it but will hopefully be doing it in Leeds, also is it truly worth doing a masters? They're so expensive and i'm unsure if it's just better to get hands on experience?
So, my question is, what should I use this gap year for to bolster my chances for the Dclins? I've seen a lot of people talk about HCA/Support Worker roles but i'm nervous i'm severely under-qualified for these roles and wouldn't stand a chance. I'm looking more towards work as I need to save for my masters but I wouldn't mind looking at volunteer roles also.
Thank you!!

Hey,

Interesting thesis topic firstly. Well done on the 2.1, a masters is not mandatory but most successful applicants have one (correlation not causation) or regularly enough a PhD also. The key to getting on the Clinical Doctorate is experience in mental health and what you have taken from these experiences (how you reflect on these experiences how you adopt a critical eye- i.e. how you make sense of things and psychology in these contexts). These are not the same thing, and plenty of successful applicants have one or two years experience and get on the doctorate whereas some with years and years of experience do not. Good clinical supervision or therapy can help with the former.

Regarding experience it does not have to say Psychology in the title to be relevant, and health care asst can be helpful as well as befriender type roles for services like MIND, jobs in addiction or homeless services, prisons, research roles etc. Most will be open to you with limited experience and you can draw upon your volunteering experience you have already had. Experience wise the average age of successful doctoral applicants is circa 27/28, so that should tell you how much experience both professional and personal these applicants can draw upon. The doctorate is very intense and it is nothing like an undergrad, you will be expected to hit the ground running with your own publishable research as well as see often significantly unwell and traumatised people from day one, so hence why personal and professional growth before the course is key. Hope I havent put you off, it is worth it in the end I promise.

Greg
Clin Psych

Reply 2

Stormgrad

In regards to your concern about working as a HCA I currently am with very limited experience beforehand. My initial employment offered a variety of NVQs as well as mandatory training in things like manual handling. After a few months there I traded on that experience to move to a different care home.

Frankly the sector desperately wants people and there are plenty of roles available. My advice is shoot your shot

Reply 3

Inhispresence

Original post by hahachloee

Hi! So to give a bit of context this summer i'm graduating from the University of York with (hopefully!) a 2.1. My lit survey was on schizophrenia, so very clinical focused.
I've done a range of things at uni which i'm very proud of ranging from volunteering opportunities like being a social secretary for mental health awareness society, volunteering for SHOUT, being a research assistant for Healthwatch and a Speech and Language Assistant placement.
Obviously as i'm coming up a graduate i'm looking at the clinical route. Due to funding, i'm unfortunately not doing my masters yet as I cannot afford it but will hopefully be doing it in Leeds, also is it truly worth doing a masters? They're so expensive and i'm unsure if it's just better to get hands on experience?
So, my question is, what should I use this gap year for to bolster my chances for the Dclins? I've seen a lot of people talk about HCA/Support Worker roles but i'm nervous i'm severely under-qualified for these roles and wouldn't stand a chance. I'm looking more towards work as I need to save for my masters but I wouldn't mind looking at volunteer roles also.
Thank you!!

Hello, just like you, I will graduate soon with a predicted 1st. I have done volunteer work at my local church with neurodivergent children, volunteered as a peer mentor at university and as a paid facilitator of mental health student support at university. Along with that, I am now assigned as a bank staff member at 2 NHS hospitals where I worked as a permanent staff member during the last two summers.

Having done all this, I too still feel under-qualified to apply for a Doctorate. I was also wondering if a master's is necessary as well.

Thanks!

Reply 4

UEA Rep Grace

Official Rep

Original post by hahachloee

Hi! So to give a bit of context this summer i'm graduating from the University of York with (hopefully!) a 2.1. My lit survey was on schizophrenia, so very clinical focused.
I've done a range of things at uni which i'm very proud of ranging from volunteering opportunities like being a social secretary for mental health awareness society, volunteering for SHOUT, being a research assistant for Healthwatch and a Speech and Language Assistant placement.
Obviously as i'm coming up a graduate i'm looking at the clinical route. Due to funding, i'm unfortunately not doing my masters yet as I cannot afford it but will hopefully be doing it in Leeds, also is it truly worth doing a masters? They're so expensive and i'm unsure if it's just better to get hands on experience?
So, my question is, what should I use this gap year for to bolster my chances for the Dclins? I've seen a lot of people talk about HCA/Support Worker roles but i'm nervous i'm severely under-qualified for these roles and wouldn't stand a chance. I'm looking more towards work as I need to save for my masters but I wouldn't mind looking at volunteer roles also.
Thank you!!

Hi! I graduated from my psychology degree last year and have several friends currently pursuing the clinical route. The first and second are both in assistant psychologist roles and the third has just been accepted onto the Dclin (graduated in 2023) after doing 3 assistant psychologist jobs. None of them have done/are doing a masters.

Your background sounds great! You've worked in some people-facing roles and as a research assistant, so if it were me I would not be pursuing a masters and would instead be applying to assistant psychologist roles. They're very popular and my friend spent about 10 months trying to get onto one, so previous experience like support worker roles as well as learning the interview techniques and types of answers they are looking for are super important. Don't worry about being underqualified as support worker roles are in demand at the moment and they should come with training!

If you'd like to do a masters I would go for it, but if it were me I would be getting experience through support worker roles, then (or if you already have the experience) applying for assistant psychologist roles and keep repeating this whilst applying for the doctorate. It's quite common to be rejected the first time around for the doctorate but it's all about building up that experience!

Hope this helps but get back to me if you have any questions, I can always reach out to my friends if you'd like specific advice 😊

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