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Clinical Psychology Ph.D


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I know there has been some discussion regarding a doctorate level PA degree...I'm actually considering doing a Clinical Psych Ph.D prgram. Has anyone else on here done this or considered it. I have a strong interest in clinical pscyh...working in FP everyday I see so many hurting people who mostly have psych issues. I want to advance my knowledge in this area and go into the psych PA field. I'm not sure if it's worth the time or expense to do the Ph D program. Any thoughts out there? I don't want to do it for the "doctor" title, just to advance my knowledge and skills.

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I assume that you want to do therapy and testing. You could obtain your Psy.D which is a clinical doctorate for psychology, I am curious if you have looked at MSW and thought about getting your LCSW and you could do many of the things a clinical doctorate would do, outside of some testing and higher billing. Have to look into prescribing as a PA while doing therapy as a Psychologist, as you could be hit with practicing psychiatry without a license. My Psych instructor has both PA-C and LCSW and talked to a lawyer on how to clearly define the line when he practices.

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I haven't looked into MSW or LCSW, but I may do that. Yes, I can see where the prescribing could be a sticky situation. Hmmm, I'm going to do more research before jumping in and consider more options. I live in a rural area and virtually no psych resources nearby, I feel so ill prepared to deal with many of the issues I'm facing in my pts.

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I considered getting my PsyD in clinical psychology. went thru Walden University...distance learning. the nice man there said the cost would $89,000. rapid loss of interest for me.

 

reading the cautionary's that have been posited here, I'm not sure a doctorate would be worth the cost, even if <89K. most of them seem to be research/admin, and/or there to counter a DNP. and we still could not use our educational title of Doctor...so wouldn't impress patients very much. seems like a blind alley for PAs.

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true, but then I'd have to walk away from PA..and I'm not ready to do that. and I happen to be short a little of having $87,000.....:-_-:

 

I've been intrested in the posts , perhaps even one of your own, that when competing with a DNP, it helps to be able to also hold a doctorate. and may I ask which institution you are using/have used for your DHs??:smile:

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