The stigma against mental illness is slowly decreasing in the US. More and more, patients seek care for mental illnesses, increasing the need for mental health providers. This leaves curious high school and pre-medical students wondering what it takes to become a care provider for patients with mental illness. Therapy, psychology, social work, nursing, physician assisting, and psychiatry are just a few examples of career options available to those who want to work in behavioral and/or mental health settings. This post outlines the educational steps needed to become a psychiatrist.
Let’s start by defining what a psychiatrist does
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who diagnoses mental illnesses and provides medications and/or therapy for patients with mental illnesses. A psychiatrist’s clinical and medical training sets them apart from psychologists and therapists. Psychiatrists not only learn about treating mental disorders, but they receive training in internal medicine, neurology, and emergency medicine.
Check out the video below for more on the difference between a therapist, psychologist and a psychiatrist.
Steps Needed to Become a Psychiatrist
Now that you have a better sense of what a psychiatrist does, let’s break down the steps needed to become a psychiatrist.
1) Graduate from high school
This might seem obvious, but graduating from high school is the first step along a very long educational journey toward becoming a psychiatrist. In the US, psychiatrists train for at least 12 years of post-secondary education before becoming independent, practicing physicians.
2) Complete an undergraduate degree
Despite popular belief, not all physicians have completed a bachelors degree in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) coursework. It’s becoming increasingly mainstream for pre-medical students to study the humanities or even business coursework while in college.
3) Fulfill Premedical Requirements
You do not have to complete a “premed major” to fulfill the course requirements needed to apply to medical school. Rather, most medical schools look for students who have completed the following coursework:
- One year of Biology with lab
- One year of General Chemistry with lab
- One year of Organic Chemistry with lab
- One semester of Biochemistry
- One year of Physics with lab, and
- One year of English
These classes can be taken either in college or after college through a post-baccalaureate program. A post-baccalaureate program is a useful crash course for non-traditional medical students (students who don’t go to medical school straight out of college).
In addition to coursework, the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) is a standardized exam that covers an array of science topics. This test is another requirement for admission to medical school. It’s possible to study for the MCAT on your own, or through a paid prep course.
4) Gain admission to and graduate from medical school
Given that there are entire blogs dedicated to gaining admission to and succeeding in medical school, I feel somewhat silly making this just one bullet point. Nonetheless, in the grand scheme of things, medical school is just one (very important) step to become a psychiatrist.
5) Match in a psychiatry residency and finally learn to be a psychiatrist
The residency match process is a stressful but necessary step to become a psychiatrist. As a fourth-year medical student, you apply to a ton of residency programs and wait to receive invitations to interview at varying programs. After the interview process is over, students rank the programs that they would like to train at in order of preference. Programs similarly rank applicants in order of preference. Then, an algorithm sorts students and programs around the country to match students at a particular training program.
Psychiatry residency is four years long. Resident psychiatrists train under the supervision of attending (aka supervising) psychiatrists. Psychiatry residents complete rotations in internal medicine, neurology, emergency medicine, inpatient psychiatry, and outpatient psychiatry. These four years of training prepare resident psychiatrists to practice independently, once they graduate from their residency program.
6) Pursue a psychiatry fellowship if that appeals to you
Fellowships offer psychiatrists the opportunity to subspecialize in a particular facet of psychiatry. Depending on the training program, anywhere from 40-90+ percent of psychiatry residents in the US pursue a fellowship after residency. It is possible to pursue fellowship across an array of areas*:
- Addiction Psychiatry
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Forensic Psychiatry
- Geriatric Psychiatry
- Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
- Public Psychiatry
- Women’s Mental Health Fellowship
*Not a comprehensive list
Don’t feel pressured to do a fellowship though, especially if you do not plan to go into academic medicine. Psychiatrists often go straight into practice after residency, either in private practice or community health. In academics, however, hospitals often (but not always) look for specialists who will help to advance research and clinical expertise within their chosen fields.
7) Become a board-certified psychiatrist
After completing residency training, psychiatrists take board examinations which allow them to become board-certified psychiatrists. A little-known fact is that physicians are not required to become board certified to practice medicine in the US. However, the vast majority of doctors in the US are up-to-date with their board certifications.
8) Treat patients independently
Finally, after all these years of training, psychiatrists have the privilege of working with and helping patients who struggle with mental illnesses!
**************************
When thinking about whether becoming a psychiatrist is right for you, ask yourself these two questions:
- Are you willing to work hard throughout the training process required to become a psychiatrist?
- Is there anything else that you could see yourself doing with your life?
If your answers are yes and no, respectively, then this just might be the field for you!
As a review, check out this 60-second video that summarizes the above steps of how to become a psychiatrist.
If you’re a pre-med or medical student interested in psychiatry, please feel free to reach out to me by email or by leaving a comment below with any questions that you may have.
Peace and blessings,
Atasha Jordan, MD (to be)
