Prothrombin Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 If anyone here is doing residency in psychiatry, or wants to specialize in this field, please give me some feedback as to how it's like. I'm highly interested in pursuing psychiatry due to the fact that I absolutely love psychology, and having to be able to mix medicine and psychology is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 learn how to use this before psychiatry imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodog Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 haha too funny tooty. psych is cool, if you like hearing interesting stories and don't mind listening for a lot of the time. for me i like it. others not so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooty Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 haha too funny tooty. psych is cool, if you like hearing interesting stories and don't mind listening for a lot of the time. for me i like it. others not so much i tune out when people talk for longer than a minute. i guess psych is bad for me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodog Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 yes, very. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prothrombin Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 i tune out when people talk for longer than a minute. i guess psych is bad for me.. Attention Deficit Disorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White-Tiger Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 I actually know a psychiatrist who has an attention deficit disorder...she's still really good at what she does. Besides..you only need to fake listening, right??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodog Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 haha absolutely. just be able to say yes and nod a lot. listen for the first minute and then know in your head what you'll say to them 20-30mins later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beebee Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 This is coming from a future psychiatrist (he he) and a current RN working in psych... Never a dull moment, extremely interesting although be prepared to be verbally abused (once in a while, but still), you must be firm at times and act counter-intuitivelly (oh those borderlines!) and I personally find it very sad when a family is informed that their young 18 year old is schizophrenic and they will never be what you have dreamed of them being (unfortunately that's reality and not lack of empathy and enthusiasm). You also have to be careful as to where you live and work. Unfortunately I live a block away from the hospital where I work and I see patients around my house/mall/neighborhood/grocery stores all the time and it's #1.awkward, #2.may be unsafe as they can follow you or learn what your family members look like...Or maybe I am just paranoid myself. GOOD LUCK!!! GREAT CHOICE!!!!! NOTHING BETTER THAN PSYCH!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beebee Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Forgot to add... Mentally draining, especially with some extremely disorganized, manic/anxious patients...Even if all you do is listen. Also please forgive my spelling/run-on sentences, I am too 'mentally drained' from work to proof-read anything this instant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Beebee, Sounds like we have much in common; apart from I'm not a RN. Self-care is imperative in this field. Psychiatry and FM are the two fields I'm attracted to (as a pre-med). That could always change though, if I'm fortunate enough to get accepted one day. I do know I love the front-line, clinical stuff Best wishes! Haly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachy Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 i'd volunteer at the local mental hospital... i use to work in one, it was certainly an interesting experience.A similar idea is to volunteer for a distress line ... I never knew about that sort of thing as an undergrad and still think it sounds like a fantastic experience. No matter what area of medicine (or, really, of life!) you go into, it is useful to be skilled at working with individuals in distress. Mentally draining, especially with some extremely disorganized, manic/anxious patients...Even if all you do is listen. I totally agree with this as well. If while listening you need to be the one to put all the structure into place and make all the connections, and are constantly working to redirect the conversation, it can be exhausting. And, in general, even if "all you're doing is listening", and even if it's with a high-functioning, organized individual, you really need to be present and with the person the whole time you're in the room with the patient, and that by itself is a lot of work. Usually people tend to tune out at parts of conversations, or focus on their own lives and problems, etc, and you can't do that in psychiatry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 I totally agree with this as well. If while listening you need to be the one to put all the structure into place and make all the connections, and are constantly working to redirect the conversation, it can be exhausting. And, in general, even if "all you're doing is listening", and even if it's with a high-functioning, organized individual, you really need to be present and with the person the whole time you're in the room with the patient, and that by itself is a lot of work. Usually people tend to tune out at parts of conversations, or focus on their own lives and problems, etc, and you can't do that in psychiatry! Haha! Yes, it's so much more than "just listening"! To this day, I'm amazed by how much focus and energy this work takes. That being said, if you don't put in that amount of concentration and effort, you probably won't be very effective and could do more harm. Depending on the intensity of my day at work, it sometimes takes me an hour to unwind my brain. Plus, it's very important to have an excellent self-care regime. It's hard to help others if you are not healthy and happy yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachy Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 What kind of work do you do, Halycon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 What kind of work do you do, Halycon? Hehe! Send me a PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noncestvrai Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Maybe he/she breeds birds of a feather that don't flock together? noncestvrai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physiology Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Psychiatry is a GREAT profession. 1) Extremely low overhead (office, secretary, couch, computer; no expensive medical equipment needed!) 2) Very portable 3) Huge demand in BC for psychiatrists; You can write your own contract. Some jobs such as consult-liaison are hard to obtain (they make 2-3 x more than regular psychiatrists), but others, you can write your own contract, essentially. 4) Job satisfaction is high. Psychiatrists often apply the "biopsychosocial" model to themselves, more than their patients 5) Workload can be mentally exhausting - but that's what your free time is for (yoga, running, unloading on spouses / family members, etc) 6) Call schedule is great. If you don't do any hospital-affiliated work, then you're never on call. 7) God forbid you become disabled, you can still practice (obviously disability dependent). Compare this with a surgeon who develops Parkinson's and a bad tremor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 7) God forbid you become disabled, you can still practice (obviously disability dependent). Compare this with a surgeon who develops Parkinson's and a bad tremor. Note to self: pay my disability insurance invoice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 1) Extremely low overhead (office, secretary, couch, computer; no expensive medical equipment needed!) Excellent post, physiology. In fact, if you practice in the community, you can still manage quite nicely without a secretary... further reducing the already low overhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Note to self: pay my disability insurance invoice. I've unfortunately needed to claim disability insurance and warn you that the time involved in the claim is not worth money you receive back. If I have more time in the future I'll write a long post about my experience. Sorry for being OT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 I've unfortunately needed to claim disability insurance and warn you that the time involved in the claim is not worth money you receive back. If I have more time in the future I'll write a long post about my experience. Sorry for being OT... Do tell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara21 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Psychiatry is a GREAT profession. 1) Extremely low overhead (office, secretary, couch, computer; no expensive medical equipment needed!) 2) Very portable 3) Huge demand in BC for psychiatrists; You can write your own contract. Some jobs such as consult-liaison are hard to obtain (they make 2-3 x more than regular psychiatrists), but others, you can write your own contract, essentially. 4) Job satisfaction is high. Psychiatrists often apply the "biopsychosocial" model to themselves, more than their patients 5) Workload can be mentally exhausting - but that's what your free time is for (yoga, running, unloading on spouses / family members, etc) 6) Call schedule is great. If you don't do any hospital-affiliated work, then you're never on call. 7) God forbid you become disabled, you can still practice (obviously disability dependent). Compare this with a surgeon who develops Parkinson's and a bad tremor. Like I need more motivation to apply to med school - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Like I need more motivation to apply to med school - thanks! You can never have too much motivation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physiology Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 In medicine, I think we focus on our dreams and aspirations too much. Once you get into medical school, it's residency, then fellowship, then applying for a job, but you have to decide to go academic or community, and whether you want to be university-affiliated or not...then research, then committee after committee... Nothing goes according to plan; there are always blips and pleasant surprises along the way. I guess you can try to counter the future in some way by buying disability insurance, life insurance, insure your hands, eyes or whatever... Laika - how would you manage without a secretary? You'd have to answer phone calls for appointments / rescheduling while seeing patients, etc. On top of that, handling all the paperwork, correspondence, paying office bills etc...I think it would be worth it just to hire someone to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tara21 Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 In medicine, I think we focus on our dreams and aspirations too much. Once you get into medical school, it's residency, then fellowship, then applying for a job, but you have to decide to go academic or community, and whether you want to be university-affiliated or not...then research, then committee after committee... Nothing goes according to plan; there are always blips and pleasant surprises along the way. Awesome post! While I am still a 'lowly' pre-med (hehe!), I agree that life experiences (including careers) are 'journeys' over defined sets of events. Being too stuck on particular things happening at particular times can impede on amazing opportunities coming into our lives. I would hate to think how my life would have turned out otherwise if I had stuck to any plan and not been open to unexpected, but exciting, experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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