Question by smartgirl93: Can I major in psychology and still become a doctor?
I want to become a neonatal doctor and my original plan was to major in biology. But now I am taking AP Biology and I realized I do not want to major in it anymore, but at the same time I still love biology. But now I am taking AP Psychology and I became so interested in it, that I think I want to major in it. My question is, will I still be able to take the required courses on the pre-med track, while I major in psychology? Also, what are the different types of psychiatrists?

Best answer:

Answer by R.F.
You can get your bachelor’s degree in any subject for medical school, but you still have to take the required pre-med classes. That’s 1 year each of general Biology, Physics, English, Calculus, and 2 years Chemistry. The science classes have to have lab sessions. They can’t be non-technical lecture-only classes.

If your college has a defined pre-med track you have to apply into, they may have other restrictions. But normally you would have enough class allowances on your 4 years of college to take whatever free electives you want, so you just have to make sure you take the required pre-med classes.

Do you want to be a neonatal doctor or a psychiatrist? The residency training on them are different. After getting your Bachelor’s and then after 4 years of medical school, that’s when you start your medical specialty training.

For a neonatal physician, that’s 3 years for your pediatric residency, and then it’s another 3 years doing a Neonatology or Neonatal-Perinatal fellowship. That’s 14 years of education and training.

For a psychiatrist, that’s 4 years residency and then an optional fellowship in a psychiatric subspecialty. That’s a minimum of 12 years plus whatever subspeciality you want to pursue.
You can look up the different types of psychiatric subspecities here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatrist#Subspecialties

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