Hi there... yeah, my experience is that many schools will want a letter from a physician (and even if they don't require one, it can't hurt), which could make your hospital volunteer work or other clinical experience helpful in that regard. Seeing what a doctor does all day is a big help in making the decision to apply to medical school (or not).

When you say you want to become a psychologist, do you mean a psychiatrist? Psychologists don't attend medical school, they go to grad school. Doc Admin has some great sections on this site about the difference between the two.

Anyway, a psych minor could be interesting and potentially helpful in deciding how interested you are in the field, but when it comes time to apply for a residency I am not sure how much an undergraduate major or minor will even come into play (if at all). They will likely focus on your med school performance and board scores at that point.

So, yeah, in my opinion... if you like psych, add it as a minor! Enjoy the journey.

Good luck! 🙂

Just to clarify, psychologists aren't medical doctors. To become a psychologist, you can be a masters level psychologist, or a doctorate level psychologist. Doctorate programs can be either a PhD or a PsyD. Psychologists can not prescribe medications, but in one or two states there is legislation to allow psychologists to prescribe medicines.

I think what you meant to say is that you are looking into the career of being a "psychiatrist". In order to become a psychiatrist, you have to go to medical school, then complete a 4 year residency in psychiatry.

Overall, if you work in a professor's lab and you volunteer in a hospital, then you have the pretty standard "extra-curricular" factors that medical schools look for. Working for a physician may add some experience, but volunteering at a hospital probably has a lot of overlap with that type of experience.

I am pretty sure most medical schools would not require a reference letter from a physician. I didn't have one and it wasn't an issue anywhere I considered.

I would minor in psychology if you like psychology and there are classes you want to take. Overall, psychiatry residency programs are not that competitive, so I wouldn't do things because you think they will help you get into a psychiatry residency program. Do things that you enjoy and that seem practical for the career path you want. A psychology minor might be useful, just because the coursework will give you some additional perspective when you are doing your psychiatry training. For me, I did not minor in psychology, because at the time, there weren't enough psychology courses that I wanted to take. In retrospect, I probably would have enjoyed more of the classes had I actually taken them.

Yes, I meant psychiatrist, not a psychologist. it was a typo and I have read the related thread already.

thanks for the 2 replies above, I really appreciate your help! 😀