Psychology salaries - Is my friend right?

dinosaurg

Hi

I have a friend who is doing a Psychology degree and on more than one occasion he has said that when he qualifies (to be a Psychologist) he will be earning as much as a Doctor or Dentist. I find it hard to believe that a Psychologist will make anywhere near that of these other professions, but like I said he keeps bagning on about it so I thought I would do some investigating to see if he is right.

I have looked on some careers sites to get an idea of salaries and most only include nhs salaries, not those in private practice or consultancy roles. I found a thread someone started here, and a few responders had some good knowledge on the subject, so I thought I would ask here. So, how much realistically can a Psychologist in private practice or conultancy expect to earn?

System

Do I hint a pang of jealousy?

It depends on what branch of psychology he goes into. Firstly and foremostly, you cannot register as a psychologist unless you get at least a 2:1 degree.

If you go into something like occupation psychology, the pay wouldn't be as great, as say, clinical psychology, which could certainly see you earning as much as a doctor or dentist, usually senior positions can be earning £80,000+ (all of these require postgraduate studies by the way).

Here's the BSP website list of the different branches & how much they can be expected to earn under the NHS.
http://www.bps.org.uk/careers/areas/areas_home.cfm

So the simple answer to you question is, unless he get's a 2.1/first degree and gets into (and passes) a clinical postgraduate degree programme ... no.

Clinical Psychology is very competitive though, you'll find 99.9% of people who apply for psychology want to study it, and the chances of getting on this postgrad course are slim. You need to do 1-3 years experience before even applying. On top of this only a few people are financially funded, so it costs a lot too (it's not like a normal degree with student loan etc. - you have to fund a lot of it yourself). So in total you'll be working & studying for 7-9 years before you even qualify ... so it's just as hard as Medicine/Dentistry to get into/study.

PsychGirl

Im a psych student and we get told that in most cases we will be earning roughly the same as somone who is working in management. However youve got to remember that a fully qualified psychologists is a doctor so its only fair that they get paid doctors wages.

If you go into the private practice and start counselling or life coaching you can earn absolutely loads because once youre established you can set your own hourly charge.

Voyager2002

Lots of people who do psychology-related work earn very little. Their income depends on being able to 'recruit' patients and then persuade them to keep coming for treatment, and keep paying. Charge too high a fee and you lose your patient!

OTOH my grandfather was one of the founders of psychoanalysis, although he began his career by getting a medical qualification and worked as a doctor for a while. At one time he owned 17 houses, including a mansion beside Regent's Park in London; a villa in the south of France; and an estate in Sussex. All gone to the taxman long ago (apart from the villa, which was smashed up in the war).

Errata

PsychGirl wrote: »

Im a psych student and we get told that in most cases we will be earning roughly the same as somone who is working in management. However youve got to remember that a fully qualified psychologists is a doctor so its only fair that they get paid doctors wages.

No, they'e not doctors, they're fully qualified psychologists !

truly1

Errata wrote: »

No, they'e not doctors, they're fully qualified psychologists !

A 'fully qualified' psychologist, in the field of clinical psychology has, indeed, a doctoral qualification. With the title of Doctor.

Broke_Student

To quote from prospects.ac.uk, which I believe to be reasonably accourate:

Clinical psychologist
After qualification, salaries within the National Health Service (NHS) start at Band 7 (see NHS Careers). A typical starting salary would be in the region of £25,000 (salary data collected Oct 07).
For more experienced psychologists, salaries range from £30,000 to £50,000 (salary data collected Oct 07).
Band 8 roles apply to senior experienced psychologists, possibly managing departments or large specialist sections with responsibility for the psychology service and its staff. Salaries in these posts can be in excess of £80,000 (salary data collected Oct 07).

Doctor, hospital
Junior doctors in their first year of the postgraduate foundation training earn £20,741. In their second year, they earn £25,882.
Doctors in specialty training earn between £29,000 and £44,000.
The average salary of hospital doctors five years after graduation from medical school is £48,000 and can then rise by increments to around £77,000.
The basic pay for full-time consultants is £70,000 - £94,000 (all salary figures collected Oct 07

So yes, pretty similar salaries.
Not sure about supplements though - NHS Careers quotes first year pay for doctors as £32k first year, £40k second year and £43k-£67k during specialist training after a typical 50% supplement.

Errata

truly1 wrote: »

A 'fully qualified' psychologist, in the field of clinical psychology has, indeed, a doctoral qualification. With the title of Doctor.

Fair enough, I thought you were referring to medical doctors.

cupid_s

Dinosaurg, if he qualifies with a bachelors degree, he probably wont be earning anywhere near that. But after significant post graduate study there is no reason why they wouldn't earn as much as medical doctors or dentists.

After all if he has done a 3 year undergrad degree, 1 year masters and 3 years PhD he in my eyes has spent enough time studying to warrant such pay.

pandora205

Hi - I'm an educational psychologist so I know a bit about the subject of psychologists and pay. Your friend is only partly right, as the top salaries for doctors are higher than those for psychologists (generally). However, professional psychologists are well paid in comparison with many occupations, reflecting the long training required. Both clinical and educational psychology now are now three year doctorate training courses, and that is after a first degree (recognised by the British Psychological Society) in psychology (2:1 or above) plus relevant experience. Both these fields are very competitive to get into with many more applicants for courses than places, so relevant work experience while studying would be useful.
On the subject of whether psychologists are doctors or not, the answer is that we are not. Even when psychologists have a doctorate we are not doctors in the usual sense even though we can use Dr before our names. Doctors have studied medicine and sometimes go on to study psychiatry, which is an entirely different discipline!

[Deleted User]

My little bro is training to be a clinical psychologist.. he's done 3 years BSc, 1 year NHS work experience, 1 years MRes, now he's into his 2nd year of a clinical doctorate. I'm pretty sure he deserves a good salary after that amount of effort. I think he mentioned that he'll start on about 35K

So, I'm working hard at work to make sure I earn more than that for when he qualifies! Can't let my little bro (i'm 28 he's 24) beat me!