A scholar is defined as one who develops mastery in a given discipline through continued study (Websters, 2007). In psychology, becoming a scholar involves long hours of studying and learning psychological theory, reading and analyzing research studies on one’s area of interest, and engaging professionally in the field by attending conferences and other learning opportunities. Scholars master their areas of study but may not necessarily apply their knowledge base in the field.
A practitioner is defined as one who practices an occupation or technique (Websters, 2007). Practitioners, in a broad sense, are visible in all fields of the social sciences and psychology under varied position titles. A practitioner is one who is capable of applying the scientific knowledge and research in psychology to his or her emphasis area.
I believe that becoming a scholar (knowledge)-practitioner (application) is a process that involves both study of theory and research leading to mastery of one’s emphasis area of interest and the ability to apply that mastery to real world issues. Scholar-practitioners take their knowledge and use it to synthesize, evaluate, and add to their chosen profession. The practitioner-scholar learns to integrate clinical and professional experience with empirically based knowledge, academic and scientific research. This model usually refers to masters-level students and graduate programs.
The model that best describes the position I am in right now is the practitioner-scholar model. Currently, I am beginning to further develop the necessary skills to process, evaluate, and contribute to the scholarship of psychology. Through my graduate study at Capella University, I hope to gain a better direction of what avenue I want to pursue. My ultimate goal in life is to simply help others in any capacity possible. I feel that my professional goals at