A psychiatrist is a medical doctor (physician) who specializes in the problems of mental illness. Because a psychiatrist is also a physician, he or she is licensed to use a wider variety of treatments—including drugs, hospitalization, and somatic (shock) therapy—than others who provide treatment for the mentally ill.
Psychiatrists may specialize as to psychiatric technique and age or type of patients treated.
Most psychiatrists are psychotherapists who treat individual patients directly. They sometimes treat patients in groups or in a family group.
This is a technique of verbal therapy and may be supplemented with other treatments such as medication. Some psychiatrists are psychoanalysts who specialize in a technique of individual therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud. Psychiatrists who practice this specialty must themselves undergo psychoanalysis in the course of their training. Child psychiatrists specialize in the treatment of children.
Some psychiatrists work exclusively in research, studying such things as the effect of drugs on the brain or the basic sciences of human behavior. Others teach at the college and university level. Research and teaching psychiatrists, however, usually combine their work with a certain amount of direct patient care.
In addition to private practice, psychiatrists work in clinics, general hospitals, and private and public psychiatric hospitals. The federal government employs a number of psychiatrists in the Veterans Administration and the U.S. Public Health Service.
Related jobs are psychologist and rehabilitation counselor.
Places of Employment and Working Conditions
Psychiatrists work in all parts of the country, almost always in large metropolitan areas or near universities and medical schools.
This field can be emotionally wearing on the psychiatrist. The shortage of psychiatrists and the increasing demand for psychiatric services means that many practitioners are overworked and often cannot devote as much time as they would like to each individual patient.
The expense and time involved in securing an education for this field deters some people from pursuing psychiatry as a career.
Qualifications, Education, and Training
More than in any other field, the personality of the psychiatrist is very important. Emotional stability, patience, the ability to empathize with the patient, and a manner that encourages trust and confidence are absolutely necessary. The psychiatrist must be inquisitive, analytical, and flexible in the treatment of patients and must have great self-awareness of his or her own limitations and biases.
A high school student interested in this field should take a college preparatory course strong in science.
After high school, the training of a psychiatrist takes from 12 to 14 years. (Educational requirements for a physician are detailed under that job description).
After receiving an M.D. degree and completing a one-year medical internship in a hospital approved by the American Medical Association (AMA), a prospective psychiatrist begins a three- to four-year psychiatric specialty program. This program must take place in a hospital approved for this purpose by both the AMA and the American Psychiatric Association.
Training is carried on during a residency program that requires study, research, and clinical practice under the supervision of staff psychiatrists. After completion of the program and two years of experience, a psychiatrist is eligible to take the psychiatry examination of the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. Successful applicants then receive a diploma from this specialty board and are considered to be fully qualified psychiatrists.
At this point, a psychiatrist who wishes to specialize in child psychiatry must complete an additional two years of training, usually in a children's psychiatric hospital or clinic. A diploma in child psychiatry is then awarded after successful completion of the required examination.
Psychiatrists must also fulfill state licensing requirements before starting the residency period. Licensing requirements are explained in the job description for physician.
Potential and Advancement
Job opportunities are excellent for psychiatrists through the years to come. Although there is currently an oversupply in some areas of the United States, some predict a shortage, especially in areas such as child psychiatry.
Psychiatrists may advance by building their practices. Some become experts in a certain field of psychiatry. Those employed in psychiatric hospitals may advance to administrative positions, and those who teach in colleges and universities may advance through the academic ranks to become full professors.
Income
During training, psychiatric residents receive a salary and are often provided with living quarters. Experienced psychiatrists' earnings are similar to those of other physicians. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for a psychiatrist in 2015 was $193,680.
