Question: what advice would you give to a young person who aspires to have a career in psychiatry

Andrea Kusec answered on 2 Mar 2020:

Hi there! Psychiatry is a medical profession – so you would need to apply to medical school and receive general training as a doctor and then you can specialise as a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists go through medical training because they are able to prescribe medication but still work in mental health and treating mental health disorders. Clinical psychologists is another option if you’re not looking to go to medical school – clinical psychologists are trained to treat mental health disorders specifically. I think depending on which path you take you’ll need to consider what courses are important – medical school will value chemistry and biology more, and clinical psychology will value psychology and biology courses more.

I would really recommend trying to volunteer in health care settings – local hospitals are a great place to start, but charities such as Mind are also ways to learn about the “real world” of working in mental health. Some hospitals and charities have opportunities for you to shadow psychologists or other therapists as well. I would also try getting involved in research if you can – as a psychiatrist you’ll be trained to evaluate what good vs bad science is and how to use this in everyday work with people with mental health difficulties. And research is just a lot of fun! I hope this helps – happy to answer any other question 🙂