how to become a psychiatrist

Career as a Psychiatrist

About Psychiatrist

A career as a psychiatrist involves prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. They can prescribe medicines unlike psychologists, and offer a range of treatments such as medication, general care including assessing your physical health and effects of medication, psychological treatments, and brain stimulation therapies such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

It is an exciting and interesting career path that enables you to make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering from some mental disorder. It is also a good field to pursue if you are particularly interested in knowing how the mind works.

Eligibility to become Psychiatrist

Those wondering 'How to Become a Psychiatrist?' can check out the criteria mentioned below:

• One must have completed their Class 12 level of education in Science stream with Biology as one of the compulsory subjects from a recognised Indian Board.
• After that, candidates will have to complete or quality an MBBS and then MD.
• Aspirants can also opt for a diploma in Psychiatric medicine (DPM) from a recognized educational institute.
• MD is a three-year course while the diploma course is of a 2-year duration.
• Apart from this, the National Board of Examinations also has a Diploma of National Board Exam (DNB).
• This DNB is seen as equivalent to an MD degree.

Skills Required to Become a Psychiatrist

• Compassion
• Empathy
• Ability to treat patients with respect and understanding
• Resilient to work in challenging situations
• Capacity to anticipate issues
• Able to monitor developing situations
• Analytical approach
• Scientific approach
• Lateral thinking
• Ability to work with flexible
• Ability to motivate other team members

Types of Job Roles Psychiatrist

While studying psychiatry, you will have the option of choosing from a variety of specialisations that can help you decide what kind of a psychiatrist you want to be. Below is the list of various job profiles:

Substance Abuse Therapy

If you choose to specialise in substance abuse therapy, you will deal with patients who have dependencies on substances such as alcohol and drugs. You will be responsible for treating these patients individually or in groups, prepare recovery plans for them with their family members and prevent future substance abuse. You can work in a substance abuse rehabilitation centre.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists deal with children (up to the age of 18) and their families. The child and adolescent psychiatrist performs a diagnostic exam to assess the current problem and evaluate if the problem is genetic, physical, cognitive, educational, developmental or related to family, society or peer pressure.

Adult Psychiatry

This branch of psychiatry deals with the treatment of adult disorders (people who are above the age of 18). Depending on the disorder, diagnoses can include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, general psychiatry, addiction medicine and any other issues that cause mental stress.

Psychosomatic medicine

Psychosomatic medicine, which is also known as consultation-liaison psychiatry involves a complex diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists counsel patients regarding emotional and psychiatric issues, which affect their health. They create care plans, including the prescription of medicines, and run diagnostic tests.

Emergency Psychiatry

Emergency psychiatry deals with the application of psychiatry in emergency situations. Examples of such situations include attempted suicide, depression, psychosis, substance abuse or violence. Care of patients who are in need of intervention includes crisis stabilization of disorders such as acute or chronic mental disorders.

Geriatric Psychiatry

Geriatric Psychiatry focuses on the evaluation, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of emotional and mental disorders in the elderly. Some of these disorders include dementia, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. The geriatric psychiatrist is responsible for listening and responding to the needs and concerns of older adults and working out a treatment plan.

Employment Sector/Industry for Psychiatrist

There are plenty of job opportunities for psychiatrists as it is a lucrative career. Psychiatrists can seek employment in:

• Hospitals
• Rehabilitation centres
• Clinics
• Private practice
• NGOs

Top Recruiting Companies for Psychiatrists

• Some of the leading hospitals where one can work as a psychiatrist are
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS)
• PGIMER, Chandigarh
• Institute of Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi
• Dr. Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar
• Antara, Kolkata
• World Brain Center Hospital
• State Mental Health Institute, Dehradun

Responsibilities of a Psychiatrist

The responsibilities of a Psychiatrist include the following:

• Treatment of sudden mental illness
• Help with managing a long-term mental health condition
• Work with patients on an individual basis or with their partners or families
• Offer second opinions/advice
• Give advice about lifestyle changes
• Admit patients to a hospital, if required

Planning to choose Psychiatrist as your career?

Pay Scale/Salary of Psychiatrist

The average salary in this profession can range from Rs. 123,252 - Rs 1,957,428. This number depends on the years of experience one has in this field and also the institute from where you have studied. The salary package earned by Psychiatrists in India based on their experience is mentioned below:

Years of Experience	Salary Package
Entry Level	INR 9.07 LPA
Early Career	INR 9.15 LPA
Mid Career	INR 10 LPA
Experienced	INR 12 LPA
Late Career	INR 15 LPA

Note: The above figures are an estimate and may vary from individual to individual and company to company.

Books & Study Material to Become Psychiatrist

Apart from studying the course curriculum, you can also refer a few books to gain more in-depth knowledge of the subject. Listed below are some of the best books and study material on psychiatry:

• Kaplan and Sadock's Clinical Psychiatry and Synopsis of Psychiatry
• Effective Treatments in Psychiatry (Kenneth R. Silk, Peter Tyrer)
• Review of Psychiatry by Dr. Praveen Tripathi

Pros of becoming a Psychiatrist

This profession is a bit challenging as psychiatrists are faced with the difficult task of diagnosing and treating patients with mental health disorders. However, the advantages that it offers are worth the efforts and the challenge. Let's take a look at some of the pros

Flexible work environment

Psychiatrists have the option of working in different environments such as psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics, NGOs, clinics or can have their own private practice. They have the flexibility to work in a variety of work settings and the work environment is usually calm and private.

Growth Opportunities

The field of psychiatry has many opportunities for growth and career advancement. Psychiatrists can also choose to mentor students, teach at universities or undertake research studies.

Helping People

Psychiatry is a profession which is devoted to helping others. So, the gratification and job satisfaction that one gets out of it can be really rewarding.

High Earning Job

Psychiatry is a high paying job. Psychiatrists who have their own private practice earn even better than those who work in hospitals or clinics. The monetary benefits can be quite rewarding.

Cons of becoming a Psychiatrist

Though psychiatry is a rewarding field but just like everything, there are certain disadvantages to being a psychiatrist. Some of those are:

Stressful Job

Dealing with patients can be draining and stressful. One of the biggest challenges of this is the involvement with people and managing their mental and emotional struggles. They have to deal with people from varied backgrounds and with various kinds of ailments. Psychiatrists have to master the art of dealing effectively in such cases and practice stress management techniques.

Erratic Hours

Though one of the advantages is that you have a flexible schedule but at the same time if you have your own practice, psychiatrists have to be on call and manage patients. The patient issue can arise even at an inconvenient time.

Work-life balance

Apart from meeting patients and help with their diagnosis and treatments, psychiatrists also have to put in work to review the patient notes, and also attend after-hours emergency calls from patients. This hampers the work-life balance, leaving psychiatrists with less time for their personal commitments.

Top Colleges to pursue career as Psychiatrist

Paths for Being Psychiatrist

how to become a psychiatrist

Source: https://www.collegedekho.com/careers/psychiatrist

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