psychologist job

mileeena

New member
May 21, 2006
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Hello, everyone, I live in Serbia and I'm interested in moving to Santo Domingo, so I wonder do you have any idea if I can find job as a psychologist there?
Thanks a lot,

Milena
 

sweetdbt

Bronze
Sep 17, 2004
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There is a funny TV commercial here in the US where a man is laying on a psychiatrists couch spilling his guts (in English), and when the actor portraying the doc responds, it is in (I think) Russian. I can't remember what they were advertizing, which is probably an indicator that the ad was not very effective, but the point was that someone providing a service needs to be able to understand what their "customer" needs.

Unless you are ALREADY truly fluent in Spanish, I think it would be ridiculous to think you could do this. "I'm smart and I'll learn fast" just wouldn't cut it. My observation (I work in mental health also) is that the MH system in the DR is extremely limited, and as is the case with all employment there, the pay would be low.

I have had some people tell me that the expat community on the North Coast is in desperate need of a good therapist, but that's not Santo Domingo. I think AZB on this board could tell you what it was like for him as a professional (chiropractor) to try making a living providing a service there.
 

mountainfrog

On Vacation!
Dec 8, 2003
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www.domrep-info.com
Too Good To Have Success

sweetdbt said:
... making a living providing a service there.
Doctors are relatively well off here, possibly third after politicians and mafiosos.
To enter this circle as a foreigner is almost impossible.
As far as I know the state requires an applicant to go thorough exams again.
Even passing those one would have difficulties from the competing colleagues.
I know of a Cuban doctor who worked (too) successfully in a private clinic and was "sawed off" by a charlatan doctor who is also a politician.

m'frog
 

Tordok

Bronze
Oct 6, 2003
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mountainfrog said:
Doctors are relatively well off here, possibly third after politicians and mafiosos.
To enter this circle as a foreigner is almost impossible.
As far as I know the state requires an applicant to go thorough exams again.
Even passing those one would have difficulties from the competing colleagues.
I know of a Cuban doctor who worked (too) successfully in a private clinic and was "sawed off" by a charlatan doctor who is also a politician.

m'frog

The mental health field in the DR, like much the rest of the socioeconomic structure of the country, is two-tiered; one large inefficient system of subpar public services for the large sectors of the poor and high-quality private professionals for those few who are well-educated and have the means to access specialized help. The professionals working with the latter, much smaller group, compete for a relatively tiny "market" of patients. Sustainable financial success is elusive even for those working with the elite clientele.

Putting the DR specifics aside, IMO in order to function in any country as a good therapist that person must have a strong understanding of the culture and language of the people to be helped. That's fundamental.

Also, some, but not all psychologists are doctors (PhD's or PsyD) but they are not medical doctors (M.D.'s). They train heavily in the theoretical aspects of mindfullness, design and interpret intelligence and personality tests, and some become clinicians or therapists.

Psychiatrists are M.D.'s with postgraduate specialization in the medical care of mental illnesses. People with psychoses or medically-complex behavioral problems should go to one of these and not a psychologist. Some psychiatrists are psychotherapists, but most psychotheapists are not psychiatrists.

Despite some areas of overlapping literature, the theoretical underpinnings, philosophy of care, and licensing requirements for these two disiciplines are quite different in all countries with regulated professions, but laypeople everywhere still often unwisely make no such disticntion.

BTW, brujos are therapists without degree and they are more readily available to the uneducated and poor; and because they can connect more easily they are in many cases just as effective as those of us with fancier titles. They know how to listen, and can be quite persuasive with ritual-rich recipes and life coaching.

- Tordok
 

Mirador

On Permanent Vacation!
Apr 15, 2004
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Tordok said:
... BTW, brujos are therapists without degree and they are more readily available to the uneducated and poor; and because they can connect more easily they are in many cases just as effective as those of us with fancier titles. They know how to listen, and can be quite persuasive with ritual-rich recipes and life coaching. - Tordok

Tordok, thanks for putting in a word for us 'folk healers', and pointing out that we can succeed where many modern professional health practitioners fail....;)

...
 

Tordok

Bronze
Oct 6, 2003
530
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Mirador,

'Cures' are in the eye of the beholder. Each discipline has positives and negatives. Natural and societal barriers help define the scope of limitations for different therapists. As you well know there are competent, ethical folk healers and there are some that are twisted charlatans....the same goes with doctors, some are caring, decent human beings; but some are nasty divas or incompetent pretenders.

saludos,

-Tordok