How To Become A Psychiatrist?

There are varieties of mental disorders ranging from very mild to extreme cases. Here are the various mental illnesses:

• Anxiety disorders: There are 5 different types of anxiety disorders:
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
  • Panic disorder (PD).
  • All types of phobias.
  • Social Phobia or Social anxiety disorder (SAD).
• Eating disorders:
  • Anorexia Nervosa (AN).
  • Binge Eating Disorder.
  • Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFED).
  • Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
  • Rumination Disorder.
  • Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (UFED).
• Mood disorders:
  • Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
  • Dysthymic Disorder (DD).
  • Bipolar Disorder (BD).
  • Cyclothymic Disorder (CD).
  • Substance-induced mood disorder (SIMD).
  • Personality disorders:
  • Borderline personality disorder (BPD).
  • Paranoid personality disorder (PPD).
  • Schizoid personality disorder.
  • Schizotypal personality disorder.
  • Antisocial personality disorder.
  • Histrionic personality disorder.
  • Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).
  • Avoidant personality disorder.
  • Dependent personality disorder.
  • Anankastic (obsessive-compulsive) personality disorder (OCPD).
• Psychotic Disorders:
  • Bipolar psychosis.
  • Schizophrenia.
  • Schizoaffective disorder.
  • Substance-induced psychotic disorder (SIPD).
  • Paraphrenia.
  • Schizophreniform disorder.
• Specific learning disorders:
  • Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).
  • Dyscalculia.
  • Dysgraphia.
  • Dyslexia.
  • Language Processing Disorder.
  • Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities.
  • Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit.
  • ADHD.
  • Dyspraxia.

Depending upon the needs of a patient, a psychiatrist can employ use a variety of treatment options:

• Psychotherapy (talk therapy).
• Medications.
• Psychosocial interventions.
• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).

A psychiatrist is a fully-trained medical doctor who has completed medical school and residency requirements. A psychiatrist can prescribe medications and conduct psychotherapy.

A psychologist usually has an advanced degree in clinical psychology. Psychologists treat mental disorders with psychotherapy (talking sessions), and some specialize in psychological testing and evaluation.

In order to become a psychiatrist, one should:

• Graduate high school with a high GPA.
• Complete “pre-med” Bachelor’s degree with courses in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Math, including laboratory practice.
• Volunteer in different settings, preferably related to the medical field.
• Pass the Medical college admission test (MCAT).
• Obtain a medical degree at a licensed medical school (requires 4 years of training, including internship) or osteopathic school.
• If you study at an osteopathic school, you would need to pass the United States Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA).
• Pass the 3 stages of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE):
  • Addiction Psychiatry.
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
  • Geriatric Psychiatry.
  • Neurology.
  • Emergency medicine.
• Become certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
• Optionally, one may join a 1-year fellowship in any of the following subspecialties:
  • Brain Injury Medicine.
  • Clinical Neurophysiology.
  • Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (aka Psychosomatic medicine).
  • Epilepsy.
  • Forensic Psychiatry.
  • Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
  • Neurocritical Care.
  • Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.
  • Neuromuscular Medicine.
  • Pain Medicine.
  • Sleep Medicine.
  • Vascular Neurology.
• Get certified in the subspecialty of your choice.

The average salary for the psychiatristsin the USA ranges between $186,000 and $311,000 per year.