Anyone know about PMHNP to Psy.d/Ph.d?

Nursing Students NP Students

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I have three questions about PHMNP

1) How many more classes are usually required for FNP to become eligible to take the PMHNP exam as well. (there are zero pmhnp programs around where I live)

2) If you decide to pursue a Doctorate in Psychology as a Pmhnp, are you allowed to enter with a master level or much you start from the begining?

3) Besides advancing your knowledge and being able to teach, does having a Doctorate improve your marketablility or does it create a fuzzy role in the clinical setting and does it help you if you are self employed.( It seems as though as a psy.d you may have more refered clientel than pmhnp alone,just a thought)

91W

Thank you again for all of the information, I served as a army medic for almost seven years, after my year deployment with 1st brigade stryker combat team in the city of Mosul Iraq, I left the military, moved to California with my wife and three, soon to be four children.

From my combat experiences as a Medic I began to lean toward nursing, possibly as a method to re-enter the service and finish my time. I especially feel the compulsion to relate to those who have been in harms way and suffer from PTSD, from my own experiences, I believe that i can truly help some in this area. My true interest is in Psychology/ Anthropology. Nursing provides a longer route to end up at the counseling table it seems but possibly it has more diverse methods of treatment including primarily the ability of prescribed drugs.

I have decided not to actively pursue nursing simply for the sake of it being two steps forward and one step back for me in years of college spent getting the degree i need, especially when I am beging to feel as though I may want to have some degree of autonomy when I complete my education. For that reason I am going to complete an Anthropology/Psychology BA and then go from there. I think there are just too many interesting things to study! There are entry level masters in nursing around here, that do not require a BSN, just any BA with the right pre-reqs. Thanks again for your input and for allowing me to tell someof my story.

Mark Smith

Mark,

Serving as a combat medic with the infantry, especially during wartime? Any respect I already had for your service just jumped about 10 fold.

I understand your thoughts of becoming a nurse and going back to "finish" your time (I guess I understand what you are saying as getting your 20 years). If I lose about 80lbs I may well give it another try (I am about to turn 36, the cut off for the Reserves and Army NG is now 39). I'd go as a mental health specialist or possibly wait until after grad school, but it is rather unlikely (my ankle wouldn't take it at 19 and in the best condition of my life so I doubt it would now, plus my soon to be fiancee was an Air Force brat and is 100% opposed to her husband being deployed like her dad was so it would be off if I joined). Still, there is a sense of duty that even the slightest exposure to the military seems to often instill.

PTSD? Hmm, the current fighting and the likelihood of PTSD from this style of warfare is actually what had me considering trying again. If you choose not to go back in the Army would you consider the VA? Even privately there are plenty of opportunities for this specialty unfortunately. In addition to combat PTSD there is an awful lot from other causes (usually abuse). The psych hospital has a trauma unit with many people (mostly women) with PTSD and my unit (Eating Disorders) sees a lot of them too.

If you are looking for the fastest route to becoming a therapist/counselor have you thought about social work? It pays a little less than most other options but there are a ton of jobs, you can do about 80-90% of what a psychologist does, and it is only a 2 year masters program.

Have you considered medical school? If you want to prescribe it is the most sure-fire option (100% independence under all states' laws).

If you really want the prescription option you probably should consider med school or NP (though like you said, the MSN programs that admit without an RN are a consideration). Who knows how far or fast the move for prescription privileges for psychologists will go. Some psychologists actually go on after their doctorate to get an MSN to be NPs so they can prescribe (they primarily work as psychologists, the NP is strictly for the prescription privileges).

Thanks again for the reply,

I was referring earlier to finishing my twenty years for retirement yes, the retirement is pretty good. Half of your base pay + full med for the rest of your life. After treating traumatic injuries and being part of the medical team in an Infantry battalion I saw the potential to either use my experiences in the civilian sector or return to duty to train others and perform at a higher level. My wife is a LVN, and at times I am amazed at what a civilian nurse cannot do. She cannot give an IV for example, unless a Dr. orders it, she cannot even give cough syrup and so on. All of these things were second nature to us medics and in fact we usually had everything you need within our reach. Procedures are something I am fortunate to have taken part of. We were able to suture, use chest tubes, venus cut downs, and even were given several opportunities to perform emergency crichotomies. These are all way out of the scope of practice for a LVn I am guessing,I could be wrong but maybe RNs can do this too?

I started to think that maybe an alternative to military nursing woul be corrections, since they seem to operate on a similarity with the aid station to clinic to hospital mentality. But the documentries with inmates smearing crap on the walls doesnt make me want to enter into mental health with the prison system. It is very good money ( around 6300+ a month which is more than a Psy.d/Ph.d or MSW) but I dont want to spend my life in that direction. I am kind of side tracking here and dont want to ramble on and on! I will take the 4 pre reqs they have for the BSN/MSN and finish my BA. If it happens great if not I think I will be quite happy with the other routes I have checked out. It was just real hard to let the 3 twelve hour shifts go and do the 5 days a week thing, but who's complaining! I am just cursed with a wide interest range.

1911, I have considered VA, it does push up the retirement age and some benifits but it is an option, I have also considered the reserve and the National Guard but their deployments run as far as 18 months, for me twelve was pretty lengthy, 18 months is a big chunk of your time. I am not sure if my family or I am ready for that, plus all the pre-deployment training. There are no medical schools close by and I really am not sure that I have the scholastic aptitude required for that. I would give it a shot, but pre med course work is almost a double major within itself. I have checked ou MSW as a route too. Just going to see what happens, thank you for the questions and your ideas!

If you are seeking a under or graduate degree, then I would wait and enter the military as a MSW or PSy.d/Ph.d. That is unless you need the money, I am sure they are offering bonuses for 91X as it used to be called. I went to that school and dropped out to some heavy personal problems. It really wasnt hard though. If I could get passed the difficult part anyone can. I really thought it was a let down though, the people didnt seem to really dig the psychology aspect of the course. There was a lot of jesting toward the mental health population ( by students). I think you would be dissappointed if you went in as enlisted. Better for you finacially and it would better suit your age. You gotta remember most privates are kids and San Antonio is a party city for sure. I would love to give you any info on that subject, it is something I know a bit about. One last thing just FYI, Army CNS's can prescribe meds you dont need to be a NP.

Mark Smith

the military psychologist program is not really active. the nine initial psychologists who started the program are no longer prescribing and never really worked in that role, even though reviews of the program showed the psychologists were highly trained and capable of prescribing. i don't think the program was ever expanded beyond the initial 9 people, even though they showed good results. specific states attempts to have psychologists be able to prescibe (including nm) are based on this program. the training the psychologists underwent in the military program was very similiar to pmhnp training, and about the same amount of time, same pre-reqs were required (eg: chemistry, physics, a and p etc.).

Specializes in a lil here a lil there.

91 W, I'm prior service 91A/B 187th Med Det deployed twice shield and storm then did 91-C at Ft Sam as a "reward" for services rendered. I'm re-uping here shortly(reserve this time) going officer route as an NP and the local Med group officers I have spoken to state that the longest involuntary deployment for nurse/medical officers is 6-8 months. I haven't found any way to verify this as yet but it doesn't bother me anyways. I'm always ready to go. Just food for thought.

i worked at landstuhl in germany as a civilian nurse and i was there during the navy rotation-all reserves (2008-2009). most people in germany who were deployed were there for at least 1 yr. they could volunteer for longer and some people, i think, had to do a second deployment. have a great deployment, hope you go somewhere cool--germany was really cool. and you can travel all over europe on your days off! hint..hint..

Specializes in M/S, Psych, ART, CM, MT.

Hey All,

Its funny, "allnurses" comes up no matter where or what I type! Now, I love psych. I am a BS prepared RN. I have worked in psych for over 10 years. I am hopefully going to be getting my MSN PMHARNP through Vanderbilt (distance option.) However the problem remains, I need preceptors here in NH, and after months of looking- still nothing. I begged my preceptor at schNPol to help me, she is gonna look into it. Vanderbilt is my number one because I get an MSN w/ FPMNNP all in 11 months. But if I cant find a preceptor, I cant go to Vanderbilt. At the last minute when I noticed that things where not looking so great for me in terms of Vanderbilt, so I applied to two schools kinda locally. Both PMHNP, one MSN (2 yr) one DNP (3 yr) they are my backups (if I get in and I do not find a preceptor.)

I came across PsyD and read about it, im hooked. I actually wish that I had applied for the PsyD Forensic Clinical program. So I was thinking... Originally... I was going to get my MSN in PMHRP then go to UT for my MSN-DNP with a focus on either forensics or public health. But, now Im wondering if I should consider after graduating with my MSN PMHNP.... applying/going to a psych program and apply for PsyD Forensic Clinical.

Here is the Question??? What is better DNP or PsyD? Both Doctorate

My life goals are:

`I would like to author a book

`I could like to teach at the collegiate level

`Id like to see patients provide therapy and meds

`Id like to market myself as someone who can provide legal consulting

`I would like to open and run a surrogacy and international adoption program

Help?

R

91 W, I'm prior service 91A/B 187th Med Det deployed twice shield and storm then did 91-C at Ft Sam as a "reward" for services rendered. I'm re-uping here shortly(reserve this time) going officer route as an NP and the local Med group officers I have spoken to state that the longest involuntary deployment for nurse/medical officers is 6-8 months. I haven't found any way to verify this as yet but it doesn't bother me anyways. I'm always ready to go. Just food for thought.

I completed the 91C program at Ft. Sam in, cough, cough, 1972. I then challenged the CA RN state board and my career was on the way. :smokin:

Specializes in a lil here a lil there.

Yeah, back in the day when California would allow such a challenge. Unfortunately they no longer extend that bridge if my information is correct. I didn't have enough time in MOS to challenge and by the time I did, I had already moved to Texas. 1972? Jeez you wanna hear what age I was then? You sure look younger in yur photo:)

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