Why psychiatry is the hardest specialty

Share on linkedin LinkedIn. Share on email Email. What is Psychiatry? There are a few ways to categorize psychiatry. How to Become a Psychiatrist After 4 years of medical school, psychiatry residency is 4 years, unless you go into a child psychiatry fellowship, in which case you can skip the final year, making it a 3-year residency.

Subspecialties within Psychiatry After completing residency, you can subspecialize further with fellowship. Psychosomatic Psychosomatic is best suited for those who want to work in the overlap between psych and medicine, specifically with medically hospitalized patients who have psychiatric needs.

Geriatric Geriatric psychiatry includes working with older adults and learning how to manage psychiatric illness in more medically frail and complicated patients with other comorbidities.

Forensic Forensic psychiatry focuses on the overlap between psych and the law. Addiction Addiction focuses on substance use disorders and dual diagnoses patients, meaning they have both substance use disorder and a primary psychiatric disorder. Public Public psychiatrists practice in community or underserved patient populations, doing advocacy work for legislation that affects these communities, op-ed writing for publication, and lobbying. Should You Become a Psychiatrist?

Thank you all so much for reading! Much love to you all. Kevin Jubbal, M. He has authored more than 60 publications, abstracts, and presentations in the field of plastic surgery. Through these and other projects, he seeks to empower future generations of physicians, redefine medical education, and improve patient care through interdisciplinary collaboration.

October 23, July 24, July 17, Leave a Reply Cancel reply Comment. Enter your name or username to comment. Enter your email address to comment. Enter your website URL optional. Search Search this website. Leow, who is originally from Singapore, is the oldest known medical student in the world.

Your email address will not be published. Skip to content Medical College. While less common, some family medicine doctors also deliver babies and provide prenatal care to pregnant women, which is now more commonly performed by OB-GYN doctors.

After completing medical school, you must complete either a 3 or 4-year family medicine residency. In terms of lifestyle, family physicians have predictable hours without unexpected calls in the middle of the night. Placing second is pediatrics, the branch of medicine involving the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents.

Just like internal medicine, peds is a 3-year residency. And just like internal medicine, there are dozens of subspecialties to choose from through fellowship training, like pediatric cardiology, emergency medicine, nephrology, oncology, infectious disease, and many more. Working with kids is a mixed bag. On the other hand, it can be tremendously disheartening to care for a child with cancer or another terminal illness.

In terms of lifestyle, pediatrics is so broad and varied that you can be anywhere on the spectrum. Dealing with this sort of patient population day after day can be highly taxing and discouraging without high degrees of patience, compassion, and optimism.

Treatment modalities, of course, include medication, but also physical modalities such as heat, cold, ultrasound, or electrical stimulation. Psychiatry, not to be confused with psychology, is the practice of medicine devoted to the treatment and management of mental disorders. It turns out this misplaced distaste of the profession arises from questionable and unethical practices regarding the use of lobotomy and electroconvulsive therapy in the mid 20th century.

On the other hand, while the subject material of mental illness is endlessly fascinating, the practice of psychiatry leaves many medical students feeling lethargic.

Psychiatry residency is 4 years, after which you can subspecialize in addiction, child and adolescent, forensic, geriatric, psychosomatic, and more. Next up is anesthesiology with 36 points. You may have heard of the ROAD to success, standing for radiology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, and dermatology. These are four specialties with good pay and fantastic lifestyles. Most typically, anesthesiologists handle anesthesia for patients undergoing surgery or other procedures.

Explore Pick any program, and use our resources to become an expert on it. Noodle is all about you! You need to create a profile to see your tailored content. If you've ever thought about becoming a psychiatrist, there's good news: The field is experiencing rapid growth. Image by Alina Grubnyak from Unsplash. Lillian Stone September 23, Scroll to continue reading. Noodle Programs Advertisement. Learn More. Article continues here.

In this article, we will cover: The pros and cons of becoming a psychiatrist Psychiatrist career options The educational commitment to become a psychiatrist Licensure and accreditation for becoming a psychiatrist Resources for becoming a psychiatrist Pros and cons of becoming a psychiatrist Psychiatrists can make a significant difference in the lives of individuals with mental health issues, treating everything from panic attacks to clinical depression to substance abuse.

Pros of becoming a psychiatrist Self-employment opportunities: Approximately six percent of all psychiatrists are self-employed , according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics BLS ; many open their private practice after working in a hospital setting for several years. Private practice allows for increased flexibility and freedom that many professionals enjoy.

After all, who wouldn't want to be their own boss? Rapidly growing job market: As mentioned earlier, the BLS projects a faster-than-average job growth for psychiatrists, especially in rural and low-income areas.

This is likely due to the rapidly increasing need for mental healthcare professionals, including those with experience treating substance abuse disorders. Specialized psychiatrists can earn even more. Cons of becoming a psychiatrist Lengthy, competitive educational process: Psychiatrists are medical doctors, meaning they have to complete undergraduate degrees, medical degrees, and several years of a medical residency before they can practice.

Those can be stressful, challenging, sleep-deprived years. Educational debt can make it harder for young professionals to get ahead, save for the future, or open their own private practice.

Irregular hours and overtime are common: At the end of the day, psychiatrists are medical doctors, and doctors don't always work normal office hours. Psychiatrists may have to work evenings, weekends, and holiday shifts, especially when they're new to psychiatric practice.

Psychiatrist career options The job outlook for psychiatrists is healthy. It helps that psychiatrists can work in a variety of settings, including: Hospitals and private clinics According to numbers from the BLS, nearly 30 percent of psychiatrists work in hospitals, including state, local, and private hospitals, and substance abuse and psychiatric hospitals.

Residential care facilities While only 2. Home health environments If a patient is allowed to receive care at home, it can be useful to their overall mental health. Local and state government You may become a government-employed psychiatrist, which could mean working with an organization like Veteran Affairs helping to treat veterans with mental health conditions like PTSD or military sexual trauma MST. Nonprofit healthcare organizations There are several charitable organizations that provide services to those who cannot afford them.

Psychiatric specializations Child and adolescent psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatrists focus on the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of mental and behavioral health issues as they affect children, adolescents, and their loved ones.

Forensic psychiatry A forensic psychiatrist addresses the mental health of individuals in prisons and secure hospitals. Substance abuse psychiatry Substance abuse psychiatrists specialize in the treatment of patients who misuse alcohol, narcotics, and other intoxicants. Educational commitment to become a psychiatrist Bachelor's degree Becoming a psychiatrist involves an extensive educational commitment.

Prospective psychiatrists will likely take courses in: Biopsychology This subject bridges psychology and biology.

Ethics All medical professionals must have a strong sense of ethics; the American Psyciatric Association sets the standards for psychiatrists. Developmental psychology This subject focuses primarily on childhood development.

Life science Life science is more commonly found as a major than a class; many aspiring doctors choose it. Personality psychology Personality psychology gets to the root of people—who they are and how they act.

Choosing a medical school program Once accepted to a medical school, psychiatry students can choose between two study programs: the Doctor of Medicine MD , or the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine DO. In medical school, you'll study: Anatomy Anatomy is a first year topic that all medical students must complete. Psychopharmacology According to the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology , "Psychopharmacology is the study of the use of medications in treating mental disorders.

Clinical care Outside the classroom, med students must gain experience providing clinical care. Accredited psychiatry programs Harvard University Harvard students have access to facilities at McLean Hospital, an international center for psychiatric treatment, education, and research. University of Pittsburgh Known for a focus on patient care and research to pursue the next frontier of psychiatric treatment.

Residency Once psychiatry students have graduated from medical school, they work for between three and eight years in a residency program i. Licensure and accreditation for psychiatrists Licensure After students complete medical school and their psychiatry residency, they can then apply for licensure.