The Pros And Cons Of Psychiatry

852 Words2 Pages

The American Psychiatric Association (2016) defines psychiatry as “the branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.” There are many different fields and different careers that individuals looking to go into psychiatry can focus on. The typical titles associated with any of these fields of Psychiatry are D.O.’s and M.D.’s.
There are several job duties associated with being a Psychiatrist. They may prescribe treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders, analyze patient data or tests to diagnose the nature or extent of a mental disorder, or counsel patients during office visits (My Plan, 2016). Without a medical degree, there are no jobs …show more content…

In addition to obtaining an M.D. or a D.O., you also need to pass an oral and written examination and apply for board certification. Psychiatrists may not practice without being board certified (Cresswell, n.d.). Some desirable majors to prepare you to be accepted into a psychiatric medical doctoral program would be psychology, biology, chemistry, or organic chemistry. Students wishing to enter a medical doctoral program must also fulfill their pre-med requirements to prepare them for the MCAT (Study.com, n.d.). Psychiatrists require a wide variety of skills. They must have excellent diagnostic skills so that they can use their understanding of human biology, psychology, and social behavior to diagnose their patient’s illness accurately. They must also have good listening and communication skills in order to understand what the patient tells them and infer what is not said, and talk to the patient’s family members to get more information and different perspectives on the issues they are addressing with the patient (Bean-Mellinger, n.d.). Personal traits such as being genuine, optimistic, and honest are also vital to a psychiatrist’s ability to address issues with their patients. They need to truly care about their patients, have a positive attitude for those patients who may be extremely depressed and struggling with

Open Document