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Should I seek an MD or Phd?
To focus on treating patients with abnormal phycological disorders (schizophrenia, DID, etc.), should I seek a PhD in Psychology or apply for medical school with a BS in Psychology?
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Blanche’s Answer
Hi, Leah. The answer to your question depends upon what sort of focus you're interested in. A program of study in psychology will focus on psychological science (the social, cognitive, and physiological bases of behavior, etc.), teach you to do psychological assessment using psychological testing instruments, and ground you in psychotherapeutic approaches, as well as a basic understanding of the mechanisms of medications for treating conditions with physiological components. Medical school and a psychiatric residency will prepare you primarily to treat the physiological components and give you some basic understanding of psychotherapy. In some U.S. states licensed psychologists are eligible to do further study in order to prescribe psychiatric medications. And some psychiatrists do extra work in order to increase there psychotherapy skills. You'll probably benefit from reading about the two professions and the two courses of study, which are very different.