WHAT’S UP, Doc?
Ever wond
what a Ph.D. d g t anslat s to in th wo k wo ld? Not yon who pu su s this ducational long haul nds up a p of sso — acad mia is just on out fo thos with this c d ntial. Oft n, s a ch and d lopm nt in a sp cific fi ld is th d i
ing fo c fo thos who d ot such a significant chunk of th i tim to schooling.
Wh n Cla a vila-Cast la cam to th Unit d Stat s f om Spain to pu su h und g aduat studi s in psychology, sh al ady had h sights s t on g aduat school.
“I was always int st d in th lationship b tw n th b ain and b ha
io . I’m fascinat d by it,” says 25-y a -old vilaCast la . Aft compl ting lab wo k and shadowing a couns lo in h psychology class s, sh g w fu th focus d on n u opsychology.
Though comp tition is stiff fo th Ph.D. p og am in clinical psychology with an mphasis on n u opsychology at Qu ns Coll g , vila-Cast la kn w it would b a g at fit.
“Not y p og am has this t aining,” says vila-Cast la , who also long d to wo k with Nancy S. Foldi, Ph.D., p of sso and di cto of vila-Cast la ’s p og am at Qu ns Coll g , as w ll as di cto of th school’s N u opsychology Labo ato y of Aging and D m ntia.
“P opl a fascinat d by th b ain,” says D . Foldi. “O th past 30 y a s, n u osci nc has b com hot.”
D . Foldi’s d si to und stand th human b ain’s inn wo king and how th b ain ag s, as w ll as h compassion fo pati nts, sta t d h on h path to a Ph.D.
“I ha a clinical p actic . I still s pati nts with d m ntia at Winth op-Uni sity Hospital’s di ision of g iat ics,” sh says.
Acco ding to D . Foldi, thos with th staying pow to compl t a Ph.D. in this fi ld “Ha a conc n fo p opl who a m ntally ill. To wo k a ound stud nts who ha this is kind of nic . It’s not just b ing a sci ntist — it’s b ing a compassionat human b ing. Not yon has that combination,” says D . Foldi.
Committing to this Ph.D. p og am is a “six-y a situation,” says vilaCast la ; th s six y a s a di id d into cou s wo k, int nships and xt nships, and a final diss tation.
r qui d class s includ psychoth apy, social psychology, and p of ssional issu s in clinical psychology.
Sh also n ds to compl t a mast ’s th sis at th nd of this, h s cond y a . To fulfill this obligation, “I’m looking at th Don p zil d ug ff ct on att ntion fo pati nts with Alzh im ’s dis as ,” sh says.
To as th financial and tim bu d ns of pu suing h Ph.D. full-tim , as with many Ph.D.