How to Become a Psychiatrist
Zach Willhite
February 3, 2011
Period 6
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How to Become a Psychiatrist
The Story of My Search
I’ve always been fascinated with how the human brain works. I also think that helping
people is a good thing. Until about a year ago, I had no idea what I seriously wanted to do the
rest of my life. I want to be a psychiatrist. The television show “Frasier” has made me consider
this also. The way they live their lives is the way I want to live mine. That is why I chose to
research this subject.
I already knew that psychiatrists help people that have a mental illness or has had a
traumatic experience and that they can prescribe medicine. They also have to go through a long
time of schooling. That is all I knew.
Considering I didn’t do so well in school last semester, and I’m only a freshman, I
wanted to know what I needed to do to become a psychiatrist. What classes in college should I
take? How long would I be in college? How long would the undergraduate and graduate
programs take?
I made a list of everything I wanted to know. From that, I formed my main question: Can
I become a psychiatrist? After my research, I came up with the answer: I can become a
psychiatrist by taking the right undergraduate classes, the proper graduate classes, and deciding
on the different areas on concentration in my major.
My original question remained the same: Can I become a psychiatrist? However, I was
able to narrow down what I really needed to know. I narrowed it down to four ideas I needed in
becoming a psychiatrist: undergraduate programs, graduate programs, what areas I should focus
on in my major, and which colleges I should go to.
The Results of My Search
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The first thing I found out was that there were two different undergraduate majors. “A
Bachelor of Science in Psychology is designed for career-oriented and highly motivated
students”(Hohmann, “Bachelor of Science in Psychology”, p. 1). The B.S. degree is more of a
science-based degree. According to Andrea Hohmann, “the program emphasizes breadth of
preparation in science and development of math and computer skills, and it requires more
advanced courses and laboratory work in psychology than the B.A. program”(Hohmann,
“Bachelor of Science in Psychology”, p. 1). I decided to research this one more than the
Bachelor of Arts major. “The student who graduates with a B.S. in psychology should be well
prepared for graduate training in psychology and related fields, for professional schools, and for
jobs that use scientific training and quantitative techniques”(Hohmann, “Bachelor of Science in
Psychology”, p. 1).
If I don’t want as much of a challenge, or if I’m not as well prepared from high school, I
could get my Bachelor of Arts in psychology. “The B.A. program offers the student considerable
flexibility in choosing courses, and it requires sufficient background in science and psychology
to enable good students to qualify for demanding graduate programs”(Hohmann, “Major in
Psychology B.A.”, p. 1).
One thing I learned in the research of this paper is that to get into graduate school, you
need to take a lot of exams and tests. “Most graduate admissions committees require the GRE,
and a few still require the MST”(Hayes and Hayes, “How to Apply to Graduate School,” p. 1).
Good grades and certain other factors affect the decision on whether or not you get into graduate
school.
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Works Cited
Hayes, Linda J, Hayes Steve C. “How to Apply to Graduate School.” A Psychology Student
Handbook-Applying to Grad School. Ed. Edward Byrne. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://psych.hanover.edu/handbook/applic2.html>.
Hohmann, Andrea G. “Bachelor of Science in Psychology.” Psychological and Brain
Sciences. Ed. Allessandro Vespignani. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://psych.indiana.edu/undergrad/degrees/psychbs.asp>.
Hohmann, Andrea G. “Cognitive Psychology.” Psychological and Brain Sciences. Ed.
Allessandro Vespignani. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://psych.indiana.edu/graduate/courses/cognitive.asp>.
Hohmann, Andrea G. “Departments & programs Psychological and Brain Sciences major
in Psychology-B.A.” College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin 2010-2011. Ed.
Allessandro Vespignani. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://www.iu.edu/~bulletin/iub/college/2010-2011/departments/psych-brainsciences/maj...>.
Hohmann, Andrea G. “Departments & Programs psychological and Brain Sciences Major
in Psychology-B.S.” College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin 2010-2011. Ed.
Allessandro Vespignani. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://www.indiana.edu/~bulletin/iub/college/2010-2011/departments/psych-brainsciences...>.
Hohmann, Andrea G. “Research Opportunities for Psychology & Neuroscience Majors.”
Psychological and Brain Sciences. Ed. Allessandro Vespignani. 2011. 23 Jan. 2011
<http://psych.indiana.edu/undergrad/research/research.asp>.
Jacobs, Martin, Waters, Judith. “Advice on Graduate School Admissions Procedures.” A
Psychology Student Handbook-Grad Admissions. Ed. Edward Byrne. 2011. 23 Jan.
2011 <http://psych.hanover.edu/handbook/advice2.html>.