How do you become a psychiatrist? (1 Viewer)

[Zarathustra]

What courses etc. do you have to do to become a psychiatrist; must you be a medical doctor and a psychologist?
I've always wondered about this and have never found out the answer so if someone does know please reply - btw I have never heard someone saying they will become a psychiatrist, is it a specialty in psychology - which, I've been lead to believe, is the most popular undergraduate course in NSW.

 

[santaslayer]

i dunno but i do know they branch out from physicians.....

 

[Cookiez_n_Cream]

to be a psychiatrist you need to do medicine first and then specialise in that area (psychiatry) after the inital 6 years...

to be a psychologist you need to do a BA or BSc majoring in psychology and then do the BPsych and post graduate studies if you want... Psychologists work in Clinical, sports and forensic fields mainly.

While Phychiatrists work with people (ya know how like on TV, people just sit on a couch and tell the psych their problems and the psych gets paid a lotta $$$$ an hour? well it's kinda like that)

If you want to earn more money then become a psychiatrist, but it can be upto 12 years at uni because you have to do medicine plus an internship plus extra specialisation after that (most people do it part time) so it takes a while.

Psychology gets paid alright, but to get the best job opportunities yoiu need to do like honours and possibly a masters because a lot of people are now doing psychology. If you only do the undergraduate Bsc or BA then you cant be an accredited psychologist either ... most people who do that end up being social workers ... so you need to do further studies.

Personally, if you get into medicine then become a psychiatrist because it seems like a better pathway...

 

[Cookiez_n_Cream]

Oh yeah, all that stuff was from various uni books i have read, if ya want more info contact uni's and stuff...

 

[Patricio]

A lot of bad info here ^

B.Psychology is definitely not the most popular course in unversity, but it's one of the hardest to get into (UAI always above 95 across all reputable unis).

Cookiez_n_Cream, relatively few people do a BSc or BA majoring in psychology and get into honors, because there are limited honors places, and these generally go to BPsych students - so BA or BSc students should always try to transfer into BPsych (which you DON'T do after your BA or BSc, you do it instead of a BA or BSc).

To become a psychologist, you need a B.Psych + honors (or Undergrad psych degree +honors), and generally a masters/Dr in clinical/forensic/organisational psych. All up, this takes 6-7 years.

To become a psychiatrist, you must first get the MBBS + work experience, THEN go into postgrad Psychiatry + work experience - all up this takes around 14 years, and the Med professors @ UNSW said they haven't seen a psychiatrist that is younger than 30 - so you'll be in uni for a while.

Pay wise - I've seen Psychiatrists charge up to $200/hr, and Organisational Psychologists charge up to $450/hr.

 

[SoCal]

Originally posted by Patricio
To become a psychologist, you need a B.Psych + honors (or Undergrad psych degree +honors

What is the difference between these? They are the same things aren't they?

 

[MiuMiu]

B Psychiatry (obviously there are a lot of other steps involved first)

Diff between pyschologist and pyschiatrist: a pyschiatrist is a shrink, they deal with people who are crazy in the coconut, insane in the membrane, cuckoo in the bunker. They are doctors. A pyschologist is just a mini version, they aren't doctors so can't treat nutjobs, but rather study people and the way they think and stuff. They do assessments.

 

[santaslayer]

wow.....thats a lotta uni work man!

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by Merethrond
What is the difference between these? They are the same things aren't they?

no, B.Psych has automatic entry into honors. BSc/Arts you have to fight for the remaining places left not filled by BPsych students.

Originally posted by Ms 12
B Psychiatry (obviously there are a lot of other steps involved first)

Diff between pyschologist and pyschiatrist: a pyschiatrist is a shrink, they deal with people who are crazy in the coconut, insane in the membrane, cuckoo in the bunker. They are doctors. A pyschologist is just a mini version, they aren't doctors so can't treat nutjobs, but rather study people and the way they think and stuff. They do assessments.

No B Psychiatry because it's not undergraduate to start with.

And you're wrong - some psychologists prescribe medicine (an extra 1-2 years after Dr/Master of Clinical Psychology) - currently U.Syd runs a course in psychological medicine, and offers the Doctor of Clinical Psychology.

Psychiatrists are generally found in mental wards etc of hospitals, as their employment prospects in terms of private practice are decreasing (psychologists are taking over in most countries - because a lot of Psychiatry still rests on unscientific and baseless theories - eg Freudian stuff). Also with forensic psychology picking up in most countries, it's also meant an end (at least in Australia) to Psychiatrists appearing in court to attest to ones mental health - that's now covered by Forensic Psychologists

 

[Lexicographer]

Hmm...I've been drifting away from my goal of Psychiatry for a few months now, but this stimulates some serious thought. Damn.

 

[MiuMiu]

Originally posted by j-belle


Psychiatrists are generally found in mental wards etc of hospitals, as their employment prospects in terms of private practice are decreasing (psychologists are taking over in most countries - because a lot of Psychiatry still rests on unscientific and baseless theories - eg Freudian stuff). Also with forensic psychology picking up in most countries, it's also meant an end (at least in Australia) to Psychiatrists appearing in court to attest to ones mental health - that's now covered by Forensic Psychologists

Someone's obviously a pysch student

Defensive, just like a friend of mine doing exactly that course.

 

[hipsta_jess]

Originally posted by Cookiez_n_Cream
If you only do the undergraduate Bsc or BA then you cant be an accredited psychologist either ... most people who do that end up being social workers ... so you need to do further studies.

if you start of in BSc or whatever, you can do an accredited 3 yr sequence, then one more year on top of that to be recognised.

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by Ms 12
Someone's obviously a pysch student

Defensive, just like a friend of mine doing exactly that course.

The above is laughable, because I'm actually I'm a med student I could pursue psychiatry if I wanted to.
I've studied Psychology on the side.
Comparing the two, and talking to the med professors about it, it seems that psychology is the way to go (in terms of a progressive profession with different streams & salary), unless I want to work in a mental health ward of a hospital administering medicine (but even then, the professor reminded me that a bill is being passed to allow clinical psychologist to prescribe medicine in NSW, and it has the AMAs full backing).

 

[santaslayer]

so ur doing psychology?........

 

[SoCal]

Originally posted by j-belle
no, B.Psych has automatic entry into honors. BSc/Arts you have to fight for the remaining places left not filled by BPsych students.

Oh, I get it now. So you are saying that when Patricio said "(or Undergrad psych degree +honours)" he/she was talking about people doing a BSc or BA and majoring in psychology.

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by santaslayer
so ur doing psychology?........

yes.

Originally posted by Merethrond
Oh, I get it now. So you are saying that when Patricio said "(or Undergrad psych degree +honours)" he/she was talking about people doing a BSc or BA and majoring in psychology.

Yep, exactly!

 

[David27]

Lots of misinformation about this!

OK. Put simply, a psychiatrist(med grad et.) can perscribe da pills, a psychologist, at present, cannot.

The psychology path through Uni.
You do either undergrad 4 Year Bachelor Of Psychology or do a Ba or Bsc(dependng on different Uni's rules) with an accredited major in Psychology. You then apply for the honours year and your entry into that will depend on the credit average.
Bachelor of Psychology people DO NOT get preference over BA's or BSc's with accredited majors in Psychology.
Bachelor of Psychology students who do not satisfy the credit average set by the uni are usually downgraded to a Bsc.
Most honours students at USYD in psychology come from the Ba and BSc degrees NOT their Bachelor of Psychology.
For proper Psych registration i.e. Clinical etc, you need to do the masters post grad over two years. Some people think that will change to three years in the future. Usually the uni's only take 10 or so people each year for the masters. Usually between 100-150 people apply each year at each uni for those 10 or so spots. It's very competetive.
Starting salary after 6 years of study of Psychology to be registed as a clinical psychologist is around $48,000 going up to 64,000 or so.
Just a three year major is psych is pretty useless. The grad stats say most of these people go into clerical and sales!

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by David27
Starting salary after 6 years of study of Psychology to be registed as a clinical psychologist is around $48,000 going up to 64,000 or so.

I agree with what you've posted up until the above part. This must be based upon Clinical Psychologists (or CPs) across Australia. CPs who graduated from UNSW or USYD would laugh at $64,000.

Most Clinical Psychologists that we've worked with at uni have charged around $170 or so per half hour (and around $300/hr), and if someone books a session, they're generally booked out for the next 6 weeks (and organisational psychologists make several times more than CPs - even the Org Masters students @ UNSW are on $110/hr).

Sure, a UNE psychologist might pull in around the 60k range, but those stats aren't indicative of the earning capabilities of psych graduates from the unis that are more renowned for psychology.

 

[David27]

Not all psychologists have the luxury of private practise. Those that work in the hospital system employed by Government do start out on 48,000.
The psychological society sets the accredited sequence for psychology for those wanting to be registered. In the end, ALL psych undergrads more or less study the same stuff. Some unis may have more choice, but for accreditation-all students must have the same sequence of units studied.
To say a UNE student is somehow less able than a psych grad from, say UNSW is silly. People choose institutions for different reasons such as location to home. For example, a mature age student may wish to do external UNE and avoid hanging round a bunch of partying 18 year olds. That person hasn't neccessarily chosen UNE because they couldn't get into UNSW.
Having studied at USYD and UNSW, I certainly saw my share of brainiacs and absolute dunces.
You will find those psychologists who are charging the $170 an hour are few and far between when you take ALL clinical psychologists into consideration.
Indeed, I've seen jobs listed where they ask you can either be a clincial psych, a social worker, or an RN. So much for 6 years study!!

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by David27
To say a UNE student is somehow less able than a psych grad from, say UNSW is silly. People choose institutions for different reasons such as location to home. For example, a mature age student may wish to do external UNE and avoid hanging round a bunch of partying 18 year olds. That person hasn't neccessarily chosen UNE because they couldn't get into UNSW.

I didn't say that a UNE student would be somehow less able than a UNSW student, just that they are perhaps perceived differently by employers upon completion of their degrees.

Your example only covered mature age students (an extreme minority, especially in postgrad). Maybe they don't want to be out with the "partying 18 year olds" (but who on earth can afford to be a full-on party person during 2nd/3rd/4th year psychology), but don't forget the relative "easiness" of entry into both undergrad and postgrad psych at UNE, compared to say UNSW and USYD.

Originally posted by David27
Having studied at USYD and UNSW, I certainly saw my share of brainiacs and absolute dunces.

That's surely the case - but so what?

Originally posted by David27
You will find those psychologists who are charging the $170 an hour are few and far between when you take ALL clinical psychologists into consideration.
Indeed, I've seen jobs listed where they ask you can either be a clincial psych, a social worker, or an RN. So much for 6 years study!!

Yes, and how many UNSW or USYD Clinical Psychology grads do you think apply for those general positions? You'd have to be faring pretty poorly.

Perhaps the psychologists who charge $170 per hour are "few and far between", but keep in mind that even the current APS recommended fees per hour for members are set at $161.

I've interacted with around 14 clinical psychologists who were educated at UNSW, and every single one of them was on over $200 per hour. It's not indicative of the average CP by any means, but it seems pretty indicative of UNSW psychologists' earning capabilities.