I was talking with a good friend of mine one evening (who is currently completing his doctorate in Clinical Psychology) and asked him why he doesn't go into Psychiatry, since that's all he had talked about in his undergrad years. He said that after he finishes his PHd, he was considering going into psychiatry instead. Apparently, from his work in Clinical Psychology, he became so enthralled with the medical side of psychology that it made him rethink about what he is doing.
Is it possible to go into psychiatry after you receive a Phd in psychology without starting "from scratch"? I know that one entails medical school (psychiatry) and the other doesn't (psychology), but are there any classes or field work that would be tantamount to some of the classes offered in medical school?
Just curious
Thanks in advance for your input!
You would still have to make sure you have all of the required coursework to get into medical school. Then, you'd have to get accepted to medical school. Once done with medical school, you'd still have to do a residency in psychiatry (4 years).
I really don't know why your friend would want to go through all of that - as far as the clinical experience goes - your friend could do an internship where he works with psychiatrists and that way can gain from the clinical perpspective of a psychiatrist.