28+ Pros And Cons Of Being A Psychiatrist (Explained)

Well, psychiatrists are those medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of emotional, behavioral as well as mental disorders.

They are the ones who are trained to evaluate mental and physical health aspects.

If you are considering becoming a psychiatrist or already one, here are some of the pros and cons that you might have to consider.

Pros Of Being Psychiatrist	Cons Of Being Psychiatrist
Get a variety of career options	It’s costly
Be the lead role of mental health	It will take time to learn and have experience
Lucrative career	A Bachelor degree is needed
Offer flexibility	It can be dangerous
Never gets bored	Its highly stressful
Prestigious job	Hard to maintain a work and life balance
High job security	Prejudice against psychiatrist
Chances to grow	It’s demanding
You save people	Inflexible hours and days
Pleasant working environment
Its noble work
Career in demand
Chances of self-employment

Pros Of Being An Psychiatrist

You Get Variety Of Career Path

There are wide options that you get when it comes to mental illness as well as treatment that is available for them.

Not just that, no two patients are going to have one and the same psychiatrist presentation.

Psychiatry also has diverse displays and aspiring ones can choose on which they want to specialize in areas in which they have an interest.

You can help the kids, adults or specify the field in the legal system.

Some of the fields you get to include as :

Child and adolescent psychiatry
Substance abuse psychiatry
Emergency psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry
Biological psychiatry
Geriatric psychiatry

Opportunity To Be A Leading Role In Mental Health

People who are going through mental illness need medical attention and treatment on time.

This requires professionals such as social workers, GPs, Nurses. Or an occupational therapist.

Pgc Alters have an understanding of mental health and its different aspects such as physical, mental, behavioral as well as social aspects.

Also, they have to work hand in hand with others such as justice and prisons systems.

It’s A Lucrative Career

In the career of psychiatry, you have the opportunity to create an impressive salary.

As of July 2021, the average annual salary of a psychiatrist is $234,144.

Those who have the potential, and gained experience through years with additional certifications, additional education, and skills help in getting around $287,212.

This can help to make life easier, it gives you a job and financial security.

You have better afford the things in your life.

The Career Is In Demand

There are recent focuses that are bringing mental health and related issues into bright light.

Not only does it need more professionals in demand, but also you have more opportunities and cases to work on.

According to the study, by 2030, there will be a shortage of psychiatrists due to the decreasing entrance to the field.

Because of this, you can become an important part of mental health across the world.

This makes the job in high demand and the jobs needed to fill professionals to help the people.

It has High Job Security

As there will be a shortage of psychiatrists and that’s why it gives the high job security.

Because of the chances of having low numbers in the profession. You have more chances to work.

And there will be no shortage and you have a long career.

It’s Offer The Flexibility

Being in this profession means you will have crazy hours but that also offers flexibility.

Here you can set the schedules of your patient depending on what it fits for you.

This also allows you to have control over how you want to organize the day.

You Have The Opportunity Of Self Employment

One of the benefits that you have of being in this career is that you can also create private practice.

You can start private practice because it makes you the boss and you can have everything depending on how you want.

So you can schedule everything, set the working and it’s lucrative once you start with a good ground.

It Never Gets Bored

When you are a psychiatrist, this means you will deal with different people every day who are going through different things and disorders.

So you never get a boring day as there will be something different every day.

Also, you have no boredom and you can enjoy your daily work.

It’s A Prestigious Job

The job is not just a normal one, it’s actually well respected and has a prestigious job.

Not just that, becoming a psychiatrist is a tremendous accomplishment for people. You can get an edition requirement and it’s not something everyone can do.

You Are Saving People

Some patients have gone through some complications in their life due to the illness. Not just because it leads to self-harming and other problems.

Working with these ones can be something that saves their lives. Not just that it’s a good death but you are putting them on the healing path.

Huge Opportunities And Chances Of Growth

Working as a psychiatrist helps you in getting more options and opportunities to grow as you want.

You also get the opportunities to have personal growth, advancements, and professional recognition.

You don’t need to practice for a decent salary as you have all the teaching and mentoring options.

You can try new things and fields, and there are different ways to improve your growth.

Offers Pleasant Work Environment

When you attend to other people who are going through the illness, you will need to provide an environment that can be calm and private.

This is also friendly, so you also get a comfortable environment for working for yourself too.

It’s a Nobel Work

Helping people who are suffering out there, and have no one to help, it’s a noble work.

Also, mental illness is a serious thing that people need to pay attention to. Helping such people can bring happiness and make their life better.

You can save people and improve others’ lives, working as a physician helps you in doing good deeds.

Cons Of Being An Psychiatrist

Completing Bachelor Degree Is Mandatory

Well to become a psychiatrist, you need to earn your bachelor’s degree. You are going to need certification for your accredited institution.

Some of the majors that you are considering to pressure during the undergraduate might be pre-med, biology, and psychology.

You Need To Get The Licence To Practice medicine

When you are done with your medical school, you are required to get a pass to your medical boards in order to get the license for practicing medicine.

This exam is also state-based, and the process differs from state to state.

So you are required to complete one year of internship at least or get done with the first year of residency to apply for the medical license.

Well in different states, you complete more than a one-year residency.

You Need Additional Training To Specialized

Well if you want to specialize in some particular area of psychiatry, you are going to complete additional training. This is known as fellowship.

In the psychiatry field, the fellowship will be around one to two years. It needs quite the training in order to become the specialization.

The Education Is Going To Be Costly

Well, the training, as well as schooling, is not cheap, and this is going to be expensive.

You need to complete at least 12 to 14 years, and this is quite expensive.

The bachelor’s degree costs around $6,000 to $25,000 in a year. Not just that you need more than this in order to become a psychiatrist which is not really cheap.

So before you become one, make sure you have the financial backup or plans ready.

You Don’t Always Get The Cure

There will be the patients who might not get the cure, being a psychiatrist attempting to treat the illness based on the nature and issue.

However, there might be chances that the patient who is battling will end up with a semi-permanent solution.

But this won’t cure the actual problem, most patients tend to be lifelong treatments in order to make their condition better.

The Job Is Highly Stressful

A lot of professionals require to work 6 to 8 hours per day in their appointment, sometimes to work on the weekends and evening to do the paperwork.

This causes stress and you need to listen to what your patients are going through

Also no matter what you feel, you need to hide it and clear your head in order to listen to their disappointments, problems, and frustrations.

You must find a place where you can relax, also it’s crucial to form the way to separate the career from your personal life.

You Must Follow The Doctor-Patient Relationship

When you are a psychiatrist, you need to isolate everything from what you deal with.

According to federal law in the US profits from violating the boundaries that are between the doctor-patient relationship.

This means you are not allowed to talk about anything or discuss that within the boundaries.

This can lead to frustration, as you can talk about your work with anyone. Also, you can consult with someone with the permission of your patient in writing.

A lot Of Prejudice Against Psychiatrist

Well, there are a lot of redirects that are directed towards the job you do, especially the society that looks down on the condition that you treat.

Even though it’s an incorrect perspective, a lot of people believe that it’s a weakness, and some people don’t take psychiatry as a legitimate medical practice.

It Can Be Dangerous

Well working as a psychiatrist means you need to put yourself in front of people who are going through mental illness. This means you are exposed to the potential psych threats and the act of violence while doing your work.