Psychiatrist Jobs & Psychiatry Career Guide 2024

The field of psychiatry is relatively new in the realm of medicine. Psychiatrists are trained in psychotherapy and drugs to provide comprehensive mental health treatment. They can diagnose mental illnesses and treat them with medication and talk therapy. The primary difference between a psychiatrist and a therapist is the ability to prescribe medicine and psychoactive drugs.

Psychiatrists have to have diverse skill sets. They must understand the biological and psychological causes of mental illness. They need to know how to use medication to treat conditions, how to recognize warning signs of mental illness, how to talk to patients about their mental health, and how to respond to challenging situations.

They also build rapport with other professionals in the field, evaluate how mental health affects physical health, and help patients manage their emotions.

One of the key distinctions between psychologists and psychiatrists is that psychiatrists will generally seek to identify a biological or physiological cause for certain mental health conditions or symptoms, aiming to treat these with medicines as well as psychological therapies, whereas psychologists generally focus on psychological therapies and psychological factors alone.This means that psychiatrists need a good knowledge of genetics, and other physical health issues that can affect mental health, blending physical medicine and mental health therapy to be able to diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions most effectively.

See also; what’s the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

It is common for psychiatrists to specialize in areas such as;

• Addiction
• Child and adolescent psychiatry
• Forensic psychiatry
• Sleep disorders
• Geriatric psychiatry

This gives psychiatrists a wide range of specialisms and routes to develop in their career, making it an interesting and varied role with plenty of opportunities for dedicated and hardworking individuals.

Learn more about other behavioral health jobs.

• Conducting patient evaluations and assessments – reviewing medical records, conducting interviews, and administering diagnostic tests.
• Developing treatment plans – prescribing medications, providing therapy or counseling, or making referrals to other healthcare providers.
• Monitoring patient progress over time and making adjustments to treatment plans as needed
• Collaborating with other healthcare providers
• Keeping up-to-date with the latest research, clinical guidelines, and best practices in psychiatry
• Administrative tasks – completing medical records and documentation, responding to patient inquiries, and managing medication schedules.
• Teaching medical students and residents

Here is what a typical shift for a psychiatrist might look like:

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Review and Preparation

• Arrive at the hospital, review schedule, check for any overnight updates from nursing staff or changes in patient conditions, and prepare for morning rounds.

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Morning Rounds

• Visit patients in the psychiatric ward, conducting assessments, adjusting treatment plans, and interacting with patients to evaluate their response to treatments and any side effects of medications.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Consultation Requests

• Respond to consultation requests from other departments, assessing patients for psychiatric symptoms and providing recommendations for their care. This might include visiting patients in the ER, ICU, or other wards.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch and Administrative Tasks

• Take a break for lunch and catch up on administrative duties, such as documenting in electronic health records, responding to emails, or attending a brief departmental meeting.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Follow-Up Appointments

• Scheduled follow-up appointments with patients who are stable enough to not require hospitalization but need regular monitoring. This might involve discussing progress, addressing any concerns, and updating prescriptions.

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Multi-Disciplinary Team Meeting

• Participation in a team meeting with other healthcare professionals such as psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and nurses to discuss patient care, treatment strategies, and discharge planning.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: New Patient Evaluations

• Evaluates new admissions to the psychiatric unit, conducting comprehensive assessments to diagnose conditions and develop initial treatment plans.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Wrap-Up and Documentation

• The final hour is often spent wrapping up the day, completing patient notes, discussing any urgent cases with evening or night staff, and preparing for the next day.

Since psychiatrists are doctors, they must go to medical school and earn either a medical degree (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO). You will need to complete a four-year program to earn your MD or DO degree. During medical school, you will take courses in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and other medical subjects, as well as receive hands-on training through clinical rotations.

After medical school, doctors complete a one-year internship and a four-year residency program. Aspiring psychiatrists should choose a residency program that offers a specialty in psychiatry. They’ll work in clinics and hospitals treating various people and conditions.

Even once you’ve completed your residency, you may want to do a fellowship in a more specialized area, such as pediatric psychiatry, addiction and substance use disorders, or neuropsychiatry.

You must pass an American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology exam. Most states also have medical boards that issue their own licensing requirements.

Be sure to upload your resume to PsychologyJobs.com and setup job alerts to find the right opportunity.

Finally, continuing education courses (see our list of CE providers) allow you to stay on top of current research and implement cutting-edge techniques in your practice.

From the end of high school, all of this training takes at least 12 years, which is an immense amount of time spent in development, and isn’t for the faint of heart.  Additional specialized training can make this period of time even longer, so it’s a very serious commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly.