Psychology salaries - Is my friend right?

The_One_Who

PsychGirl wrote: »

However youve got to remember that a fully qualified psychologists is a doctor so its only fair that they get paid doctors wages.

The vast majority of academics are doctors (in the sense that they have a PhD) but earn about half of what a medical doctor earns.

Psychology is a pretty hard field to get into because it is so oversubscribed and postgraduate study and experience is needed. Experience which can be very hard to get.

maxheadroom

Psychologists do as well if not better than docs

the standard NHS contract fro them is for 37.5 hours and for doctors it is 40 hours

The suplements referred to on the NHS careers websit fail to mention that to get the 50% supplement that is for a 56 hour week averaged meaning as long as over 6 months the hours on average are 56 then you cnba work dangerous hours. it also fails to mention the expenses that junoir docs have GMC annual fee is £390, Union if you want to join annual fee £189, and courses that you must have which are not always funded eg advanced Life Support an basic resusitation course costs around £500 and postgraduate exams on top of that at usually £500 a go

xara

Im a 3rd year psychology student and was thinking about going for clinical psychology! I have some relevant work experience (worked in victim support and as research assistant). But after reading this thread im thinking its definately not enough it seems really hard to get on to it. I was reading the statistics on NHS funded clinical psych course and the they did take on people who didnt have a 2:1. Any body know how many years of experience you need exactly?

System

Xara you need 1-2 years experience. It depends on other aspects of your life: charity work, clubs & social activities etc.

You need a 2.1 or above to get onto a course - regardless of whether it is funded or not.

xara

thanx! fingers crossed il get a 2:1!

Keeping_Motivated

I'm thinking of doing a psychology degree with the OU... I'm a qualified counsellor and I am ready to continue with some study but after reading this thread I'm not sure if its worth it or how much it would advance my career prospects as a counsellor?? Maybe I should look into something else?

Any advice? sorry for the hi jack OP

KM x

creamcheese

Hi KM,

Have a look on the BPS website for ideas about careers after a psychology degree. Whether or not you go the psychology route will depend a lot on how many years you want to commit to studying and whether at the end of it you will be in a better position than you are now.

As others have said, it is a very long route to become a chartered psychologist and you may find that you're better off sticking with what you're already doing and gaining more specific counselling qualifications. Are you registered with one of the official counselling organisations (e.g. BACP)? They may be able to give you more advice about further professional development.

Keeping_Motivated

Hi creamcheese

Thanks for your reply. Yes I am a member of the BACP. If I am honest I suppose I was hoping by gaining a pyschology degree it would give my counsellor status more credibility in the eyes of the 'counselling is airy fairy etc' brigade.
Does that make me a snob? Obviously what is more important is me gaining relevant professional development that would make me more employable when it comes to interviews etc and also more qualified in the eyes and experince of my clients. I was hoping to go the OU route as I think it would fit in better with my work and time etc but I don't really see anything other than psychology on there that seems relevant to me.

KM x

melancholly

if you do decide to go for a degree, pick it carefully - if you want it to enhance your counselling skills, then something very cognitive might not be appropriate (e.g. do you really want to know about task switching and attention and what brain regions are involved?!). a lot of a standard psychology degree has nothing to do with counselling (or clinical work, or occupation work either for that matter!), but it's only those psychologists that end up being experts on tv!! to specialise you have to do lots of postgraduate training, and for most masters courses, there is no real funding. that's not to say that it won't impress clients, but it will probably not be all that much use in a practical sense..... i'm doing a PhD in psychology and have never studied Freud, body language or any of the things a lot of people think it involves.

i'll also get my PhD and start on £18-24,000 in an academic environment. so it's not really a huge amount of money for eight years of training. Clinical Psychologists in a hospital setting earn a lot more because they end up on a clinical NHS salary - most other psychology careers aren't even in the same ball park!

i think there are also statistics showing that psychology is now one of the most popular courses in the UK - there's just no way that that many graduates are all going to make it to huge salaries as there aren't enough jobs. a psychology undergraduate degree isn't a ticket to a big pay packet - postgraduate work and hard graft might help with it though but it certainly isn't guarenteed!!

Keeping_Motivated

Thanks Melancholly I agree with your post and I do not want to spend years studying psychology for it not to improve my skills or my salary prospects...

However, that still leaves me not knowing what to do next? Need to give it some serious thought as I am definately ready to start some kind of study. The OU is also attractive as I could use vouchers to fund it.

KM x