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Psychiatrist Salary: Job Duties, Responsibilities, And Skills Required

Psychiatrist with teenage girl

So, you want to be a psychiatrist, but you don't know where to start. Well, you've come to the right place. In this article, we will walk you through everything you need to know before you embark on this professional journey. Follow along, and you will know what the job entails, what education you must pursue, what the average psychiatrist salary is and more.


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JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
SKILLS REQUIRED TO EXCEL AS A PSYCHIATRIST
EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS
PSYCHIATRIST SALARY
PSYCHIATRIST SALARY BY FIELD:
CONCLUSION

Psychiatry is a noble calling, and no matter where you go in the world, you'll find people to help with your unique skill set. So, if you're serious about this, let's dive right in. Here are the essentials for working as a psychiatrist.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES


Psychiatrists are medical doctors, and they specialize in treating mental disorders, such as clinical depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and more. Psychiatrists need to have a strong background in both psychology and sociology so they can identify patterns in behavior. Perhaps the most important qualification for this job is excellent communication skills. To diagnose mental disorders accurately, a psychiatrist may need to interview not only the patient but also teachers, children, spouses and other important individuals in the patient's life.


A psychiatrist will complete the initial psychiatric assessments, create care plans based on individualized needs and implement treatment for the patient by way of personal counseling, also known as psychotherapy, hospitalization, psychoanalysis and medication. Furthermore, the psychiatrist will monitor treatment results including the side effects of medications and recommend any necessary changes.

SKILLS REQUIRED TO EXCEL AS A PSYCHIATRIST


There are several specialties within psychiatry, but there are some skills that are applicable to any specialty you may find interests you.

  • Documentation skills: Often, psychiatrists are responsible for completing legal paperwork for FMLA or other legal reasons. It helps to have a well-documented history of sessions to draw from to build the best case for their patients.
  • Analyzing information: Sometimes a patient will tell his or her psychiatrist a different story than friends and family. It is important that psychiatrists effectively cut through the noise to get an accurate diagnosis of their patients.
  • Decision making: One of the most important job duties of a psychiatrist is to find the most effective treatment method for patients. For some sensitive or allergic to effective medication, it may be talk therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy. For others, it may be medication for learning disabilities like ADD or ADHD. Some may even require a sleep specialist and antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication.
  • Listening skills: To treat their patients effectively, psychiatrists must listen carefully to patients when they discuss side effects of medications, the inefficacy of certain types of therapy and any benefits they are experiencing from their current treatment methods. Listening skills are also useful for the diagnosis of patients.
  • Verbal communication: A psychiatrist must be able to communicate effectively the potential side effects of any prescribed medications and the benefits of not taking certain medications that are susceptible for physical or chemical dependency or abuse.
  • Patient services: Psychiatrists do not spend 10 years going through undergraduate and medical school, a residency and fellowship program for the pay. They do it because they want to help people every day throughout their career. Psychiatrists must be willing to offer services for their patients such as being available for emergencies and offering discounts for patients without insurance who can't afford their normal rates or with insurance who will not cover their therapy sessions for reasons such as the annual deductible not being met.
  • Discretion: Crucial to the job is keeping private information confidential. Even if a worried parent or spouse asks questions about a patient's mental health, a psychiatrist is legally bound to not disclose any information confidential information without written consent from the patient that has not yet expired.
  • Building relationships: Relationships, both personal and professional are founded on trust. A psychiatrist must earn the trust of patients so they will disclose complete and honest information so they can be accurately diagnosed and given effective treatment methods.
  • Mental health and psychiatry: A psychiatrist must be able to not only accurately diagnose mental health issues but also know how to effectively treat the mental health condition using techniques common in their specialty such as prescription sleeping pills, meditation or therapy.
  • Bedside manner: Psychiatrists must be able to guide their patients through a difficult phase in their lives. Some may be legally required to seek treatment for addiction psychiatry or some other reason and they will not be willing to accept help if psychiatrists do not have a good bedside manner.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS


One reason the average psychiatrist salary is so high is the lengthy, intense education requirements. First, prospective psychiatrists must complete a minimum of three years of undergraduate school, although many complete Bachelor's degrees in psychology or another related field like sociology. If they get into medical school, they can look forward to four more years of higher education.

Psychiatrist with patients

The first two years include studying in depth the major body systems and diseases and being introduced to the practice of medicine. This is the same coursework completed by doctors. Classes taken include pharmacology, pathology, anatomy and physiology. In addition to classwork, psychiatrists work in laboratories as part of their curriculum and learn how to conduct medical examinations and diagnose patients.

The next two years known as the clinical years involve performing clinical rotations in healthcare facilities also known as clerkships. Psychiatry is a required rotation. Next, psychiatrists go through a four-year residency program. This highly involved work experience allows them to further develop major techniques and specialties used in the field. The first year of residency involves learning and practicing crucial skills like interviewing, diagnosing and treating patients and interviewing friends, family and those with a professional relationship to the patient.

Couple in meeting with a psychiatrist


Finally, psychiatrists will go through one to two years of a fellowship program. This is sometimes a prerequisite for board certification and sometimes can only be completed after receiving a certification from a board. Psychiatrists are given the opportunity to hone techniques relevant to their specialty, conduct research and attend seminars. Common specialties for fellowship programs include geriatric psychiatry, psychosomatic medications and child and adolescent psychiatry.  This adds up to a significant eight to ten years of higher education.


Besides extensive education, states require different professional certifications. All states require a potential psychiatrist to pass either the United States Medical Licensing Examination or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Exam. Many psychiatrists choose to become board certified by the American Board of Medical Specialists. They offer general psychology certifications along with specialty certifications. These include sleep medicine, clinical neurophysiology, epilepsy, addiction psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.


PSYCHIATRIST SALARY


Accord to the United States Bureau of Labor Services, in 2015, the average psychiatrist salary was $193,680. In 2014, the 10-year job growth outlook was 14.9% which compares favorably to the projected national job growth of 6.5% for the same time period. Comparatively, as of July 31, 2018, the average psychiatrist salary was $219,606 per annum before benefits.

The range was mostly populated between $196,784 per annum and $245,657. The most significant factors affecting this difference were education, certifications, the number of years of experience and additional skills. Including benefits such as health care, retirement and bonuses, the average psychiatrist salary climbs to $223,236, with most psychiatrists earning between $201,752 and $253,185 each year.

PSYCHIATRIST SALARY BY FIELD:



  • Organizational psychiatrist: Specializes in psychiatry in the organizational settings and the office place - makes between $98,391 and $136,610, with the mean salary being $120,007 before benefits. Including benefits, expect to see a salary around $126,900 within a range of $102,358 and $147,556.
  • Neuropsychiatrist: Teats mental disorders caused by brain injuries and diseases and nervous system problems - average salary is between $215,685 and $289,761 with the average neuropsychiatrist salary being $246,788.
  • Forensic psychiatrists: Finds employment within the local courts or justice system - average pay is $70,920-187,199. Average pay includes around $177,330.
  • Adolescent psychiatrist: Sometimes specializing in child psychiatry as well, the average adolescent psychiatrist salary is $206,989. The bottom 10% of earners can expect $181,368 per year or less before benefits and the top 10% of earners can expect $236,199 per year or more before benefits.
  • Addiction psychiatrist: Specializing in addiction to drugs such as tobacco, alcohol and cocaine, addiction psychiatrists earn around $195,041 per year. Surprisingly, they only charge an average of $124 per hour. You can easily find adult psychiatrists charging $200 per hour in small cities like Charleston, SC or upwards of $450 per hour in cities like New York. Even more amazing is people who seek out these specialized psychiatrists pay well over $10,000 for ineffective rehabilitation resorts and treatments and usually pay only around $3,000 per year on effective treatment. This is much less than the $3,500 to $5,000 deductible most health insurance plans have in place.

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CONCLUSION


Psychiatry is a noble profession and not one you enter lightly. It takes years of extreme dedication, but if you want a career revolved around helping people, psychiatry is definitely a field to do it in. Expect around 10 years of higher education with a solid average psychiatrist salary of nearly $194,000. If you excel at documentation skill, analyzing information, decision making and people skills and can effectively blend these soft skills with knowledge you put into practice, you may make an excellent psychiatrist.


The field of psychiatry is expected to grow at a faster rate than the overall job market in the United States for the next several years to come and even before benefits, from 2014 to 2018, compensation has increased nearly $26,000. That is a year-over-year raise of about $6,500 per year. If you do not fall victim to lifestyle inflation, you can enjoy both job and financial security for many years to come.

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