I struggled with IV heroin addiction for a decade and got clean, with psychedelics playing a major role. I went back to school and got a computer science bachelor’s, but realized I want to dedicate my life to helping both the psychedelic movement and others with addiction and/or mental illness. I am considering applying to med school in my 30s in the hopes of becoming a psychiatrist. Is this foolish? If so, how else can I contribute to the cause?
As a non-member of the AMA I apologize if this is unsolicited advice:
To me it seems likely that you can help the psychedelics movement philanthropically as an engineer. Depending on your current earnings, its very plausible that by the time you become a practicing psychiatrist you could have instead donated $1M from continuing to earn to give as a software engineer. My guess would be that you can do more for the psychedelics movement w/ $1M, than with +1 psychiatrist.
I mention this because I think this is a common blindspot when people talk about going back to school.
Ultimately this is a personal decision and it depends on countless factors that only you know. But I will say for the person with the right talents and dedication, this can be a realistic path. Thanks for sharing your experience. We will soon be conducing a study on psilocybin for opioid use disorder, and anecdotes like yours are one part of the reason for doing so.
Psychiatry is a long road, but we certainly will need more psychiatrist interested in psychedelic therapy. It’s a good vantage from which to advance the field.
I struggled with IV heroin addiction for a decade and got clean, with psychedelics playing a major role. I went back to school and got a computer science bachelor’s, but realized I want to dedicate my life to helping both the psychedelic movement and others with addiction and/or mental illness. I am considering applying to med school in my 30s in the hopes of becoming a psychiatrist. Is this foolish? If so, how else can I contribute to the cause?
As a non-member of the AMA I apologize if this is unsolicited advice:
To me it seems likely that you can help the psychedelics movement philanthropically as an engineer. Depending on your current earnings, its very plausible that by the time you become a practicing psychiatrist you could have instead donated $1M from continuing to earn to give as a software engineer. My guess would be that you can do more for the psychedelics movement w/ $1M, than with +1 psychiatrist.
I mention this because I think this is a common blindspot when people talk about going back to school.
Ultimately this is a personal decision and it depends on countless factors that only you know. But I will say for the person with the right talents and dedication, this can be a realistic path. Thanks for sharing your experience. We will soon be conducing a study on psilocybin for opioid use disorder, and anecdotes like yours are one part of the reason for doing so.
Psychiatry is a long road, but we certainly will need more psychiatrist interested in psychedelic therapy. It’s a good vantage from which to advance the field.