Career Confusion (School / Educational Psychology Settings)

[sackofcrap]

Currently I am in a school psychology specialist level program (EdS, SSP, whatever they call it in your state).

I am looking to the future because I like to plan ahead. I have always had it in my mind that I might one day want to get a doctoral degree in psychology. I have always been most interested in children and child psychology.

I love school psychology. The only problem that I have with it is the seemingly limited practice location (i.e. public schools only).

I have been thinking about different settings where I might want to practice. I know that most school psychs practice in public schools obviously, but I also know that some practice in hospitals and I have found that to be really interesting.  When I picture myself as a doctoral level psychologist, I generally picture myself working in a hospital. I have some experience in that sort of setting and I have found it most appealing. When I picture myself as a specialist level psychologist, it is in a school.

Anyway, I guess my question is, do school psychologists with a specialist level degree ever practice in hospital settings or is that only for doctoral level school psychologists? Does anybody know?

I am trying to start thinking about various factors that may influence me to pursue or not pursue the doctoral degree at some point in the future and I believe locations where I can practice will be one of them.

[iphi]

At the EdS level you can work in public or private schools, or at therapy centers (often that send you into schools).

The problem with working in a hospital is internship. They tell us in our program that hospital is a problem because of the breakdown of hours (so fewer therapy/contact hours) that you will have to supplement, plus these internships are VERY competitive, because they generally go to clinical and other kinds of students, and are rarely given to school psych students. To answer your question, yes, this is for doctoral level students. I think it would be almost impossible to do this with an EdS because you need the right level of experience to even land the job (or internship). An EdS with a clinical doctorate (or even Master's) might be a better route for you.

[sackofcrap]

On 1/9/2016 at 7:31 PM, iphi said:

At the EdS level you can work in public or private schools, or at therapy centers (often that send you into schools).

The problem with working in a hospital is internship. They tell us in our program that hospital is a problem because of the breakdown of hours (so fewer therapy/contact hours) that you will have to supplement, plus these internships are VERY competitive, because they generally go to clinical and other kinds of students, and are rarely given to school psych students. To answer your question, yes, this is for doctoral level students. I think it would be almost impossible to do this with an EdS because you need the right level of experience to even land the job (or internship). An EdS with a clinical doctorate (or even Master's) might be a better route for you.

Hmm, that's interesting. I will have to keep it in mind. It's not enough to make me change paths, based solely on work setting, but it is a factor to consider as to whether or not I will eventually get my doctoral degree after getting my specialist degree. For now, the plan will be to get the specialist degree and work for a couple of years, then decide if I want to go back and get the doctorate. I know a couple of programs that streamline the doctoral process if you already have the specialist degree in school psych, so it only takes 3 years and not the usual 5 or 6. I will just have to see.

If I grow to love the public school setting along the way, then this will all be irrelevant