How long does it take to become a psychiatrist?
Becoming a psychiatrist, like other educational journeys in medicine, is a long and challenging process. Many who are new to receiving psychiatric services may be curious what that journey looks like, and what credentials their psychiatrist has when it’s all over. In this blog I want to share what that journey looks like, and also talk about my own training, which includes advanced study that allows me to bring a more comprehensive approach to my patients.
In this article, we’ll cover:
The standard path to becoming a psychiatrist
What each stage of training involves
My own training (and why I pursued advanced study)
Why the length and breadth of training matters for your care
Snapshot of the office in Lexington, MA
What is the standard path to becoming a psychiatrist?
For most psychiatrists, the educational journey begins with four years of undergraduate studies, followed by four years of medical school, and then another four years in psychiatric residency. Undergraduate studies and medical school both lay the scientific foundation and initiate clinical contact with patients, while residency provides the specialized training that turns one into a psychiatrist. When the end of residency is on the horizon, licensing and board certification need to be completed in order for the newly minted psychiatrist to be able to practice independently.
What does each stage of psychiatric training involve?
Understanding what happens at each stage can help make sense of why the training takes as long as it does — and what a psychiatrist has actually learned by the time they sit across from a patient.
Undergraduate studies (4 years) tend to focus on the biological and behavioral sciences. While there is no single required major, most future psychiatrists pursue coursework in psychology, biology, chemistry, and neuroscience. It is the stage where curiosity about the mind and brain intensifies and helps one to decide if psychiatry feels like a good fit.
Medical school (4 years) is where the transition from student to clinician begins in earnest. The first two years are largely classroom and laboratory-based, covering everything from anatomy and pharmacology to pathology and neuroscience, and much more. The final two years shift to clinical rotations, which includes hands-on work across a wide range of specialties such as psychiatry, internal medicine, surgery ,pediatrics, and other disciplines in medicine. At graduation, the medical student is awarded their medical degree (M.D.)
Psychiatry residency (4 years) is where the recently graduated doctor receives the required training and education in the field of psychiatry. Under the guidance of experienced supervisors, residents work with patients in a variety of clinical settings such as psychiatric inpatient units in hospitals, outpatient clinics, emergency psychiatry, and consultation services. Inpatient work brings skills and knowledge in psychiatric medicines; outpatient work skills in therapy; emergency psychiatry skills in managing psychiatric crises; and consultation work skills in assisting other doctors whose patients have psychiatric problems. It is the experiences in these services that enable the budding psychiatrist to choose what area of psychiatry they want to specialize in.
My own training (and why I chose to go further)
After completing my undergraduate studies in psychology and biology, I went on to graduate study in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, after which I did ten years of research on brain cell signaling and drug development related to the treatment of the psychiatric disorders of schizophrenia and depression.
Because of my interest in working directly with patients in a clinical setting, I decided to pursue psychiatry as a career, which led to medical school and a psychiatric residency at the Temple University School of Medicine and the Medical College of Virginia/VCU School of Medicine. Soon after I was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Perhaps the most formative addition to my training was the five years I spent in psychoanalytic training at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (BPSI). Psychoanalytic training is rigorous and immersive – it includes supervised clinical work, extensive coursework in psychoanalytic theory, and perhaps most importantly, a personal analysis of one's own. It is training that fundamentally changes the way one listens to a patient, and the way one thinks about what lies beneath the surface of what they are saying.
Why does the length and breadth of training matter for your care?
When you are considering reaching out to a psychiatrist, the length and breadth of their training is worth understanding – not because more years automatically mean better care, but because the type and depth of training shapes what a psychiatrist is actually able to offer you.
For example, a psychiatrist whose training involved a greater emphasis on biological psychiatry at the expense of training in psychotherapy may have a practice that is more singularly focused on medication as a form of treatment, and might therefore lack the psychological skills to address your problems. In regard to therapy, some degrees in the field do not dedicate enough depth and time to the academic studies that are necessary to understand the complex functioning of mind and brain that are needed to address, once again, the problems at hand.
In my practice, I feel I am at an advantage to address the challenges my patients are facing because I am able to integrate the breadth of my training in the fields of medicine, psychiatry, psychology, biology, and neuroscience into a meaningful difference that enables me to offer my patients a form of comprehensive, personalized whole-person care that reflects the individual’s needs. In addition, as a psychoanalyst I bring a still deeper capacity to explore the unconscious patterns, relational dynamics, and psychological history that often sit at the root of a person’s suffering.
For me, over 20 years of study and training I spent to get to where I am now were about developing the range and depth to be genuinely useful to the people who come to see me.
Final thoughts
Becoming a psychiatrist is a long journey, and the training behind the title matters more than the title itself – for those of us who practice, and for the patients who place their trust in us.
If you've been wondering whether talking to someone might help, I'd welcome the chance to have a brief, no-fee conversation to see if my practice feels like a good fit for you.
You can schedule your free intro appointment with me here.
~ Dr. Wasik
Snapshot of the office in Lexington, MA
