psychiatrists

[Kuervo]

ok so i was wondering if anyone knew wut it takes to be a psychiatrist. cuz i really want to be one but i dont know wut i must do to be one

[byee]

Psychiatrist=4 yrs of college, 4 years of MD school, 4 years of residence (specialty training).

[INFERNO]

ok so i was wondering if anyone knew wut it takes to be a psychiatrist. cuz i really want to be one but i dont know wut i must do to be one

There are various professions in the mental health field but for psychiatry, you need to complete your Bachelor's, get into medical school (some may go for Master's then medical school) then after that, you go for your residence training.

Other careers, which are similar are psychologists (different types of them), one of them being clinical psychologist. For this, you need to complete the Bachelor's, Master's and either PhD or PsyD (up to you which one) then about 1-2 years of residence training. The main differences are that in Canada, psychologists are not covered by MediCare and they cannot prescribe medications (need a M.D. for that, which psychiatrists have).

There is then one step above both psychologists and psychiatrists, which is psychoanalysts. For this, they don't need although they do tend to choose M.D.'s or nurses, mostly M.D.'s though.

For the psychologists, not sure about the psychiatrists, in Canada they must fulfill the requirements of the AIT (not the insurance company, it's a different group).

In general though, medical school requires high marks and usually a good amount of money. Graduate school for master's also requires high marks.

[Sapphire]

To become a psychiatrist in the UK you need a medical degree (5 years) after which you need to do 2 years of foundation courses. Then you go on to do another training course but this one lasts 6 years.

This site has a lot of information on that will be of use in helping you get a feel for the subject and the career regardless of where you are from http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=0

[Cromm]

Everywhere you go, the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist is a medical degree. One is an MD, one is a PhD. The diffrence in years spent in school varies from country to country, but MD's usually have about four to six more years of study under there belt.

In the US, Canada and UK, if you want to be a Phychiatrist, plan on spending -at least- six years in school beyond your four year bacholors degree, and (depending on your school) anywhere from $80k-$200k for your education.

Good luck.

[byee]

"There is then one step above both psychologists and psychiatrists, which is psychoanalysts. For this, they don't need although they do tend to choose M.D.'s or nurses, mostly M.D.'s though."


This isn't entirely correct. There's no real 'hierarchy' amongst mental health professionals, although there are turf wars owing to the similiarity of the skills. In the interest of self disclosure here, I have to say I am biased towards psychologists, b/c I believe they are the best trained to treat the vast majority of psychological problems people encounter. The training starts in undergraduate school as psych majors, and continues thru 4 years of grad school (and often beyond).

Psychiatrists spend the same 4 years in undergraduate school being biology majors, then go onto 4 years of medical school before they receive the 4 years of specialized training in psychiatry. So, if you do the math, Ph.D's have at least 8 years of psychology study, and psychiatrists 4 years of psychiatry study, eventhough they have 8 additional years in study of things that are often unrelated to mental health issues. What they specialize in, being medical doctors, is medically caused mental illness illness (like schizophrenia, Bi-polar, and the *other* ailments primarily caused and treated with medicine).

A psychoanalyst receives training in a psychoanalytic institute, and although in the past, one needed an MD to attend, they now accept and train Ph.D's, MSW's, and here in the US, even Bachelor's holders. Although it offers a further specialty in Freudian understanding and treatment of life's problems it is best seen as supplemental, rather than 'better'.

[INFERNO]

This isn't entirely correct. There's no real 'hierarchy' amongst mental health professionals, although there are turf wars owing to the similiarity of the skills. In the interest of self disclosure here, I have to say I am biased towards psychologists, b/c I believe they are the best trained to treat the vast majority of psychological problems people encounter. The training starts in undergraduate school as psych majors, and continues thru 4 years of grad school (and often beyond).

You're right that there is no actual hierarchy but sometimes that is how it may be seen. Like you, I'm towards psychologists because they can specialize more and clinical psychologists tend to deal longer with the patients as opposed to most psychiatrists who want a nice pill to pop you and see you in however long.

A basic hierarchy that sometimes is seen is between psychiatrists and psychologists because psychiatrists can prescribe medications whereas psychologists cannot. To the untrained eye, that alone may make it seem as though psychiatrists are above psychologists, although in reality, I'd consider them probably equal.

Although in Canada, psychiatrists have the added benefit of being under MediCare whereas psychologists are not.

[Sapphire]

Psychologists have the advantage of getting a completely comprehensive education that covers medical treatments in addition to psychological ones. They can't prescribe medication but they are aware of different medications and their effectiveness.

However, a psychiatrist comes from a completely biological background and is mainly concerned with starting courses of medication and monitoring the effects. Because of this, a number of additional courses are available for the psychiatrist to complete so that they can gain knowledge of psychological interventions. These are not compulsory (or as far as I'm aware) but they aid the psychiatrist in working in a multi-disciplinary team.