How to be a psychiatrist?

Hello! I’m currently a junior in high school, and I’m looking to be a psychiatrist in the future. I’ve been looking heavily towards many liberal arts colleges (Scripps, Wellesley, Pomona, WIlliams, etc.), and I was wondering if anyone has any tips and pointers about the best colleges for psychology. Also, I am wondering how exactly I can become a full-time psychiatrist (I know I need to major in psychology, but what next?). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Have a lovely day!

If you want to be a psychiatrist then you’ll have to get prerequisites for pre Med and take an MCAT test to go to a medical school. If you want to be a psychologist then you will need to major in psychology and then get a graduate degree. To get a doctor before your name, you’ll have to get a PhD degree in psychology.

Folks in that field say unemployment is quite high and pay is quite low in psychology. Folks who went into medical field say that finding residency and jobs in psychiatry is really easy for people who can’t get into other medical specialities.

I’m not aware of the unemployment rate being high for psychologists. Also, you don’t necessarily have to major in psychology to be a psychologist, but you will need to take the prerequisite psych classes to get into a psych graduate program. OP. you can major in whatever you want as an undergrad if you want to go to med school, but you will be required to take certain classes in science and math. You want an undergraduate school that will allow you to get the highest grades possible and prepare you well for the MCAT. When looking at schools ask what their admissions rates are for med school. Also, psychology is such an interesting major, so if that’s what you like, by all means major in.

You do NOT have to major in psychology to become a psychiatrists. Biology, chem or biochem would be fine too. You DO need to get into med school. Remember a psychiatrist is a licensed doctor (and different than a psychologist).

Here’s a good summary of steps.

http://learn.org/articles/Psychiatrist_5_Steps_to_Becoming_a_Psychiatrist.html

I’ve never heard that there is a high unemployment rate for Psychologists either @citymama9 . IMO, people shouldn’t use psychiatry as a back up for " people who can’t get into other medical specialties " @WorryHurry411 It’s not an easy specialty , it’s quite challenging.

Thank you so much! I thought the demand for psychologists was very high (which was a factor in the decision to become one)…

Do you know if liberal arts schools are better than other schools for psychology?

Psychology and psychiatry are two very different fields. Which one do you want to be?

You are correct that majoring in psychology isn’t a must for admission to a graduate school for master’s in psychology. However, OP seems really committed to the field so it makes sense.

As far as psychiatry residency, my social circle has lots of doctors and obviously all went through residency process. Usually only students on bottom of the list or desparate forgein graduates settle for psychiatry. Of course it doesn’t mean that good students don’t go there or it’s a back up plan. Like every field some specialities are in higher demand than others.

@akabrowny Do some research on employment prospects of psychology, you may still want to do it but you’ll be better informed.

LACs or top schools would add value to your degree but do the math about how much would you invest and how much would you earn in first 10 years so you can pick a college that wouldn’t put you in long term debt.

Psychology is a fascinating subject. Goo luck to you.

I’m currently interested in both psychology and psychiatry, and I wanted to gain a better understanding of both professions. Thank you all for the amazing info!

bear in mind the path to a psychiatrist is much longer (BA + Med school + Residency)

To be a psychiatrist you have to go to medical school. If you want to be a psychiatrist in very heavy demand, sub-specialize in child and adolescent psychiatry. There is a huge shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in this country, and most of them have long waiting lists. If you practice in a major metropolitan area you’d charge $300-$400/hour. That’s today. Ten years from now it will be more. The reason they get that much is because by the time a parent brings the child to a psychiatrist, they have already seen multiple specialists (social workers, school counselors, psychologists, etc.) and the psychiatrist is the end of the road. At that point, the cost is the least of their problems.

To be a child/adolescent psychiatrist you go to college, medical school (four years), residency in general psychiatry (three years), and a two-year fellowship in child/adolescent psychiatry. That’s the most typical residency path. There are others. See here:
http://www.aacap.org/aacap/medical_students_and_residents/Residents_and_Fellows/Child_and_Adolescent_Psychiatry_Training.aspx

@WorryHurry411 What are you saying? Getting into a GOOD psychiatry residency is not easy, and plenty of medical students want to go into psychiatry. It’s a fascinating field. It takes a different type of person than the surgeon. And if you want to go into academic medicine, it’s a burgeoning field.

Ouch.

Ya, my neighbor that “settled” for psychiatry is enjoying life in his $8M estate with 6 car garage. They use to say that about podiatrists, but there’s a couple of those living large around me as well and they are home at 5:30 everyday, and work 4 days a week, if that. I wouldn’t diss anyone that puts in the time and effort for med school. I couldn’t do it.

I am a psychiatrist. The last major I would pick is psychology. First of all, you just think you want to be a psychiatrist. You have to become a doctor first. In that process, your mind might change. You must complete the pre-med curriculum which is science heavy so most pre-med students major in biology or chemistry because you are more than halfway there with the premed classes. After that, take whatever classes you enjoy that better round your education. Unhappy physicians are unrounded.

Also, you have to get into medical school. I don’t have real numbers, but my guess is that most people at your point in life who want to be doctors don’t become doctors. The process is difficult, competitive, long, and expensive. So go to a college that is the most affordable in which you will be among the most competitive. You should try for at least a 3.8 gpa and minimal debt. You must score well on the MCAT’s and spend your free time and summers doing research, volunteering in healthcare, or doing something else of merit.

Once you get into medical school, you are likely to be average just based on statistics. That takes some getting used to. When you are exposed to clinical work, you will be far below average and initially incompetent which is also a learning experience. You won’t be exposed to anything remotely psychiatric until your third year of medical school - so you will spend at least 6 years thinking you might want to be a psychiatrist. Your first psychiatry rotation might be completely alienating because you are likely to deal with many patients who don’t like you, don’t want your help, are violent, don’t listen to or revile your recommendations, and you will do little to help them. Compare that experience to your dermatology rotation. So as someone mentioned above, it is not simply the most moronic medical students that go into psychiatry - you have to be willing to do what you can for the group of fellow humans who are generally the most unhelpable and most unappreciative. That is not a glamor job.

On the other hand, I would not touch child psychiatry with a 10 foot pole. The favorable view of child psychiatry noted above might be true in large cities for established psychiatrists with cash only patients. But child psychiatrists are generally paid less than regular psychiatrists now and the training is 1-2 years longer. There is a huge shortage of child psychiatrists - but there are no market forces in psychiatry meaning that instead of being paid more and setting your own rules you are paid less and eaten alive by psychosocial disasters. Some people like wallowing in the depths of chaos so that is fine. But only do child psych if you have an appetite for that. Also, child psych in rural areas is difficult because you are immediately overwhelmed with demand that exceeds (forever) your capacity - so you are a chronic disappointment to referring primary care providers, parents, schools, and therapists.

So the short version is: go to your state flagship school or someplace for equal cost, get virtually all A’s, do well on the MCAT, and go to the best medical school that accepts you. After 2 years of medical school, take some psychiatry rotations in various setting to see if you have the stomach for it. If you still like it, decide if you want to focus more on research or clinical work. If clinical, go someplace where you have the most intense clinical experience in the widest variety of settings. Then get to work, don’t take on debt, and don’t get too settled day one- there is a lot of movement among jobs.

to be a child/adolescent psychiatrist, what classes should I take in high school and college?

High school has nothing to do with it. Study what you enjoy and excel in.

@WISdad23 is right.

We often see questions like: I want to be a XXXX doctor, so what classes should I take for that specialty. There aren’t any classes you need to take before medical school for any particular specialty. Of course, all premeds need to take the premed prereqs, but those aren’t specialty specific.

That said, while in high school, get a strong math and science foundation. We often see premeds fail in college because they came into college with a weak science foundation and become overwhelmed with college level Bio and Chem classes.

Major in whatever subject you like best while in college. There are premeds who are music majors, art history majors, French majors, and eng’g majors as well as the more traditional bio, Chem, and math majors. Med schools don’t care. We’re not even sure if they really notice what a student’s major is. Lol. They seem to mostly care about grades, MCAT score, fulfilling the prereqs, medically related ECs, research, and LORs.

As for majoring in psych as an undergrad. That is fine, but not at all necessary to become a psychiatrist. We are seeing a lot of psych premeds these days. Personally, I think there are pluses and minuses for that choice. Some believe it’s a major where it can be easier to maintain a high GPA. Some think that now that the new MCAT has a section that deals with psych and socio, that it’s a good major to take.

Typically there is a large difference in incomes of psychologists (PhDs) and psychiatrists (MDs).

Because of TV, many misunderstand the role of a psychiatrist. They don’t typically see patients for an hour of therapy like movies/TV sometimes show. That’s more what psychologists and other therapists do. A visit to a psychiatrist is more like a visit to your family doctor. You see the doc for about 10-20 minutes, health status is reviewed, current meds are reviewed, adjustments and changes are made if necessary, and then you’re on your way. You’re not sitting/laying on a couch going over your week’s events/stresses for an hour.

Wow. Just wow. There are some pretty offensive posts here with inaccurate information about the people who choose to specialize in psychiatry.

As others have said, there is a difference between pursuing a medical degree (an MD or DO) and becoming a psychiatrist, or pursuing a graduate degree (Ph.D., or Psy.D.) and becoming a psychologist. Both programs are very difficult to get into (clinical psych programs are extremely competitive, as are the internships and post-docs, necessary to complete training and to sit for any state licensing exam). And add to this the fact that the healthcare industry is changing, and by the time someone who is currently a junior in HS has completed their education, clinical rotations, residency, internship, post-docs or whatever, depending on the route they choose, clinical practice may be very different. If healthcare moves towards patient-centered medical homes, patient-centered specialty practices or Accountable Care Organizations, this will change how healthcare is directed and how behavioral health services are provided https://www.ncqa.org/Portals/0/Public%20Policy/2014%20Comment%20Letters/The_Future_of_PCMH.pdf. As you can see from the comments here by people in the field or related to people in the field, the actual practice may be very different if you are in an urban or rural area, and if you are in an inpatient or outpatient facility.

This doesn’t mean that someone shouldn’t pursue their dream. It means that they should be cognizant of the fact that primary clinical practice may be very different, and the days of the independent solo practitioner are probably numbered.

If you can, volunteer in a community mental health center and/or see if you can shadow a psychiatrist or psychologist (though your access to patients will probably not be doable, especially due to privacy issues). See if it is truly something you enjoy. Remember too that many who think they want to go premed change their minds. Look into fields like forensic psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, neuropsychology, school psychology. And a field that is also in need of more practitioners is geriatric psychiatry/geropsychology. But who knows what the status of healthcare or medicare will be by the time you reach clinical practice.

Good luck with your decisions. But if you go into the field of mental health care, I applaud you. You aren’t “desperate” or “the bottom of the barrel”. Thats pretty opprobrious.

If you’re interested in child/adolescent psychology, you can also become a child psychologist. This does NOT require med school but does require a PhD in psychology and a license from the state (requirements will vary from state to state). So it’s a shorter, easier and less debt-laden route. But bear in mind that it typically pays far less than a psychiatrist (not that salary should be your goal).

Yet another option is MFT, Marriage & Family Therapist. My cousin became one a couple of years ago. She just does child/teen therapy (mostly deals with adolescents), not marriage counseling. There’s plenty of demand, though again, the pay is similar to that of a psychologist (not a psychiatrist), so you won’t be making 8M with the 6-car garage. License requirements vary by state, but I know she didn’t have to do a PhD. She did a bachelor’s, then a master’s, then a couple of years of professional experience at a children’s hospital and schools (as a counselor), and then got her license and has her own practice.

(As an aside, my cousin’s in Palo Alto and she once told me a third of her clients are teens suffering from high stress levels because they “must” get into Stanford or their life has no meaning, another third are suffering from depression because they didn’t get into Stanford and their life has no meaning, and the other third are at swords points with their parent for rejecting Stanford altogether because of their parents’ pressure to go there.)

It may be a bit shorter (though most PhD clinical psych programs will take about 5 years, a year of internship and possibly a year or 2 of a post-doc so that’s not much shorter) and these days most clinical psych programs will want a student to have clinical or research experience so its very difficult to get in straight out of undergrad.