Schooling Needed to Become a Psychiatrist

The schooling to become a psychiatrist starts in high school. High school students should take as many science, math and social science courses as they can to help them understand what they will be studying later on. Getting good grades in high school is very important, as these grades will help get you into a good college. If possible, it is a good idea for a high school student to shadow a psychiatrist for a day to get an idea of what the field is like.

It is important to choose a quality college for your undergraduate degree. A school that is challenging will look good on a medical school application. Students can choose their own majors, but must complete certain science courses to apply for medical school. Because of this, many premed students simply major in a science field. Premed students have also been known to major in psychology or mathematics as well. Students need to study very hard and will need to take the MCAT exam during the junior year of college to be ready to apply for medical school. A good MCAT score, high GPA and lots of volunteer experience will help students get into the medical school of their choice.

Psychiatrist hopefuls will need to complete four years of medical school. Students will spend most of the first two years in classes studying hard-core science, medical ethics, pharmacology and other subjects. During the last two years, students will complete rotations in many different fields of medicine. These rotations give students hands-on medical knowledge and generally take place in hospitals. It is during these rotations that students usually decide in what branch of medicine they wish to practice.

After medical school, students are now considered doctors and must complete a four- to six-year residency in psychiatry. This residency is recommended to be approved by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. The first year of residency is considered an internship in which new doctors provide care to many patients with many different medical problems. The subsequent years provide the new doctor with training in psychiatry. Exams are given at different stages of the residency to determine how much the resident has learned. Psychiatrists can also opt to take the voluntary board certification exam for psychiatry. This exam is given by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, but is not required to practice psychiatry.

After completing a residency, psychiatrists can choose to specialize further. Some specialties include neuropsychiatry, forensic psychiatry, child psychiatry and many others. Depending on the specialty chosen, new psychiatrists can expect to spend anywhere from two to four years studying a specialty.