Career paths in psychiatry on Child Psychiatry, Adolescent Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry.

According to Salary.com, starting annual salaries for a psychiatrist can range from $190,000 to closer to $291,000, with the US national average around $238,000.

Clinical psychologists typically earn a doctorate but are not considered medical doctors. The major difference is that a psychiatrist is a medical doctor and can prescribe medication, while psychologists cannot. Generally speaking, psychologists use psychotherapy or talk therapy to help their patients, and psychiatrists will provide a range of therapies for more serious mental illness.

Psychiatrists are in high demand and the shortage of psychiatrists is expected to continue. Psychiatrists are now the second most highly recruited physicians after family physicians, according to the 2017 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the current workforce of about 45,580 psychiatrists must increase by 2,800 to meet today’s demands for psychiatric care. This works out to a 6.4 percent shortage. By 2025, that shortage could be as high as 6,090 psychiatrists, or 12 percent.

For most psychiatrists, it takes about 12 years of training from school through residency to become a psychiatrist. Assuming a person does not take any breaks and graduates on a typical timeline, the time from high school graduation to psychiatric board certification is as follows:

• 4 years of college
• 4 years of medical school
• 4 years of residency

A Board Certified Psychiatrist has completed all required training, has an unrestricted medical license, fulfills all ABPN-required maintenance of certification activities and has passed an ABPN exam every 10 years.

CME stands for Continuing Medical Education and consists of activities that offer additional training, learning and expertise in exchange for credits earned. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology requires 90 CME hours every 3 years.

After earning a medical degree, one can enter a residency program in psychiatry.

Post-graduate education in psychiatry consists of four years of residency training, of which at least three are in psychiatry. During the first year, the resident spends at least four months in general medical care, including internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics, and at least two months in neurology.

General psychiatry residents spend the next three years rotating through in-patient services, ER or crisis clinic coverage and outpatient services.

Following residency, psychiatrists may select a sub-specialty. Most sub-specialties require a one-year fellowship, although some (for example child/adolescent psychiatry) require two years. Those who complete the fellowships earn certificates of added qualification in one of the following fields:

• Child and adolescent psychiatry
• Geriatric psychiatry
• Addiction psychiatry
• Forensic psychiatry
• Psychosomatic medicine

Advanced training is also available for a number of informal subspecialties, including, among others:

• Community psychiatry
• Emergency psychiatry
• Research psychiatry

To sum it up, fellowships can last six months to a year or two, and residencies tend to last for three-to-four years.