Career Research Essay

According to Oxford languages, psychiatry is defined as the, "study and treatment of

mental illness, emotional disturbance, and abnormal behavior” (Oxford). A day-to-day life as a

psychiatrist would include psychotherapeutic treatment, prescribing medication, planning

therapy treatments, etc. (Naviance). When working on a patient's care plan, a psychiatrist will be

able to interact with Physicians, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, and social workers. These

interactions will help carefully align the treatment and medications prescribed to align with the

patient's specific needs. The hours of a psychiatrist are relatively flexible as patients can be

scheduled anytime. Typically a psychiatrist works a 9-5 workday and accumulates around 39

hours on average a week, yet this can also be altered to fit personal preferences (Department of

Health).

The skill that is most necessary in order to succeed in psychiatry, is effective

communication. Strong communication skills are essential when communicating with patients to

form a diagnosis, collaborating with other medical professionals to create a care plan,

articulating to parents or legal guardians in a manner to keep them calm, and making sure the

patient feels comfortable enough to share their true experiences. Additionally, it is also important

that a psychiatrist has a vast knowledge of forms of therapy, procedures for diagnosis, and

rehabilitation. A psychiatrist must have an understanding of human behavior in order to

accurately diagnose their patient (Career Zone). In summary, both strong communication and a

formal education in psychology are essential to pursue a career in psychiatry.

Psychiatry is a very flexible field as it is needed all around the world. There are many

places in which someone can obtain a quality psychiatric education such as the University of

Michigan, Baylor, UCSD, UNC, and UCSF (US News). Someone who is interested in entering
the psychiatry field should consider having an undergraduate in psychology, biology, or pre-med.

When it is time to complete a residency program, acceptable training can be found at forensic

psychiatry residency programs, psychosomatic medicine residency, and psychiatric residency

programs. The annual salary of a psychiatrist starts around $135,300 and can build all the way to

around $208,000 as they accumulate more patients and or travel into areas such as California

which typically results in more revenue (Career One). Many benefits of psychiatry include that

one is often provided with forms of healthcare as well as retirement plans. Due to the vast need

for psychiatry, there are many different forms of work one can do once they have received their

doctorate which allows it to be a very flexible and rewarding career.

There are many careers that are very similar to a psychiatrist such as Mental Health

Counselors, Family Medicine, Physicians, and Healthcare Social Workers. Mental Health

Counselors are similar in the sense that they also deal with therapy, counseling, personal service,

and sociology. Though they have very similar fields of study, Mental Health Counselors require

significantly less education which does not allow them to prescribe medication and also results in

a lower average wage. Additionally, Family Medicine is a similar field to psychiatry. A Family

Medicine doctor can prescribe medication, record medical history, prescribe forms of treatment,

and also similarly require a doctoral or professional degree. Even though they have very similar

responsibilities, Family Medicine often results in higher wages which are on average around

$208,000. Psychiatry as a whole has a positive occupational outlook which is assumed to grow at

least 11.9% between 2019 to 2029. Due to its occupational outlook, it is assumed that psychiatry

is a growing field that will be high in demand for the foreseeable future.

I think that the factor that will make me the most successful in this career would be my

personal interest and drive to educate others on the importance of protecting Mental Health. I
have always been very passionate about this subject and I currently run a mental health club

called Letters to Strangers in which I am able to enlighten my peers about specific mental health

disorders. In addition to my personal interest in the subject, after taking my personality test it

was revealed that I most strongly resonate with the Holland traits both social and artistic. Under

the career overview section, it was predicted that the Holland traits investigative, social, and

artistic strengths are most related to success in psychiatry (Naviance). Due to my strengths in

both the social and artistic aspect of psychiatry, I believe that I will be able to improve my

investigative quality through practice and my schooling. It is important to me that the work that I

perform is valuable to others. In psychiatry, I would be able to help people everyday and ease

their pain which would provide me with lots of gratification. I think this job is extremely fitting

for me as I would find it incredibly rewarding as communication with others is something that I

find to be the most important part of life.

Works Cited

“The Best Medical Schools for Psychiatry.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World

Report, www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/psychiatry-rankings.
“Career One Stop.” CareerOneStop, 23 June 2015,

www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Wages/find-salary.aspx?keyword=Psychiatrists&soccode=29122

3&location=UNITED+STATES&keywordSearched=Psychiatrists.

“Health Workforce Data.” Department of Health,

www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health_workforce_data.

Naviance. “Psychiatrists Overview.” Naviance Student,

student.naviance.com/careers2/occupation/337.

“Oxford Languages and Google - English.” Oxford Languages,

languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.

“Psychiatrists.” Announcements RSS, www.cacareerzone.org/profile/29-1066.00.