For those interested in becoming a psychiatrist, it’s beneficial to consider exactly how to become a psychiatrist early in life. This is because the path to becoming a board certified psychiatrist is a very long and difficult one which generally requires a minimum of 10 years of formal education. A psychiatrist uses both biologic and psychological components of illnesses to better understand and treat the entire person and therefore needs a medical degree, just like any other practicing physician, before they may practice their specialized field of medicine. Generally, the path to becoming a psychiatrist can be broken down into four parts: undergraduate school, medical school, residency and licensing with optional board certification.
Undergraduate Degree
Since it’s a requirement for admission into medical school, obtaining an undergraduate or Bachelors Degree is the first step of how to become a psychiatrist. Many people who are planning to pursue a career in psychiatry decide to major in psychology for their undergraduate degree; however, this is not a requirement. Just like all other pre-med students, the most important focus for an aspiring psychiatrist’s early studies should be on courses like organic chemistry, biology, physics, and other sciences, with some attention given to English, math, humanities and liberal arts. Regardless the exact courses of study chosen, it’s of vital importance to maintain a high GPA throughout one’s undergraduate education. Gaining medical school admittance is highly competitive and a low GPA will quickly block a hopeful’s plans of accomplishing how to become a psychiatrist.
Medical School
The next step is the same as for any aspiring doctor, physician or even surgeon – it’s on to four years of med school! In addition to a high GPA, admission into medical school requires scoring well on a standardized test known as the MCAT, or the Medical College Admission Test. This challenging test gages an applicant’s knowledge of basic sciences along with their abilities in the areas of writing, critical thinking and problem solving.
After passing the MCAT the next step of how to become a psychiatrist is to choose a medical school and apply. In many medical schools there are admissions committees which consider all applicants’ undergraduate transcripts, MCAT scores, recommendation letters, and even extracurricular activities and personal character before making decisions on which applicants to grant admission to and which to deny.
Once granted admission into a medical program, the classes are the same for all branches of medicine. Included in the first half of the program are various courses and labs in subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, medical ethics and psychology. Then for the last two years of the program students are taught in a supervised clinical setting where they gain hands-on experience in multiple fields such as general medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, surgical, psychiatry and many others. Finally, passing the medical boards (another strenuous test) and graduating from medical school marks the half-way point in how to become a psychiatrist – and likely a large amount of student loan debt. Luckily, the next undertaking includes a little bit of pay back on the already eight year investment of time and hard work.
Residency
Residency marks a critical point of how to become a psychiatrist, because it’s during residency when prospective psychiatrists finally get to shift focus by selecting a specialized psychiatry focused residency program. Residency programs are similar to on the job training (including a well earned paycheck) and, just like with all areas of medical training, acceptance into residency programs is highly competitive. Upon successful completion of the residency, which typically takes 2 to 3 years, an aspiring psychiatrist is finally ready to go out on their own and pursue their chosen career – after one last hurdle that is.
Licensing and Board Certification
Obtaining the appropriate licenses is the final task which must be completed to begin practicing psychiatry. Although the exact procedures vary somewhat, every state requires psychiatrists pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination just like any other physician before practicing medicine. Psychiatrists must also obtain a federal narcotics license from the DEA as a condition for prescribing medication to their patients. Once these licenses have been received, the prospective psychiatrist has finally earned the right to call themselves a Psychiatrist; however many choose to continue by taking the exams to become board certified.
Although not required to practice psychiatry, many psychiatrists seek board certification as a means of displaying their skills. Board certification in psychiatry requires graduation from an accredited medical school, a current unrestricted license to practice medicine in at least one state, completion of the specialized training provided during residency, and of course all the proper paperwork and applicable fees. If approved, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology will administer multiple examinations which, if successfully completed, will entitle the bearer to the title of Board Certified Psychiatrist and thus complete their journey of how to become a psychiatrist.