Career Guidance for BSc in Chemistry: Mental Health & Addiction

[dopeantelope]

Hi,

Currently I am a second year studying to get my BSc in Chemistry. I have a huge interest in chemistry but in terms of my career I've discovered that I am really interested in psychology or neuroscience. I have a massive interest in not only the brain and how it functions but also the mind and how it works. Things like mental health and addiction interest me a lot and I would love to be able to help people.

Im not entirely sure what I would like to do but I'm hoping there is something out there that could perhaps wrap my interests into one.

What kind of careers do you think are available? and also is it possible to do anything like that with a chemistry degree? What would be the likely path in terms of schooling?

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Choppy]

If you're only in your second year, it's probably not too late to switch majors. A neuroscience or psychology degree will likely have a lot of overlap with at least the first year of a chemistry degree.

One thing you might want to look into from a practical point of view is some kind of peer-counselling volunteer work. Many university campuses have some kind of programs for students or community members in different forms of crisis such as suicide, addictions or sexual assault. Doing this kind of work can help you to figure out whether the field is really for you. You can get training, experience and ultimately you may have the opportunity to help some people who really need it. This can also open up the doors to a graduate degree in clinical counselling, although you'll have to pay close attention to the admission requirements for this.

Another avenue to consider is psychiatry. From your chemistry degree you would go into medical school and then specialize in psychiatry afterwards. This might draw a little more on your chemistry background.

You could also look up graduate programs in neuroscience. Neuroscience is fairly interdisciplinary, so you check out the programs that you find the most interesting and look at their admission requirements and figure out if you want to try to get there from where you are.