Career - Psychiatrist or Psychologist?

I come across many people who tend to get confused between two terms – psychiatrist and psychologist. Many think that they are of the same profession. But, in reality it is not so.

The physician dealing with the mental problems are the psychologist.

Qualification -

• They have a PhD or Psy.D degree.
• A 6 years graduation degree in the treatment of the mental, emotional, behavioral, psychological problem.
• The one going through the clinical internship have to go through a number of training accompanied by the techniques and theories of the psychotherapy. They can only report the administration about the tests on the patients.

The main difference between the two is – of their qualification and their practice field.

Psychiatrists are the doctors. We found different divisions in this field. Clinical psychiatrist - Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Irvine, Addiction psychiatrist Irvine, Orange County, CA worth mentioning.

Qualification -

• They hold the degree – (M.D.s).
• They need to take an extra 4 years of the medical training.
• They have the capacity to understand the needs and the requirements of the patients.
• They possess a strong knowledge of the medication.
• They only have the right to prescribe the drug for the patient, evaluating the condition of the patients.

Many a time you will also come across the term Psychotherapist! They are the one associated with the psychotherapy. In this case no specific education is a need. However, they need to hold a degree in the mental health studies. They generally start their career in the medical schools only, after which they take residence training and get absorbed in the field.

Now if you are thinking for opting these, there are some suggestions that I can provide you with. First of all, if you are thinking of the Addiction psychiatrist, Irvine will be the ideal place for your practice. The Psychotherapist after completing their training gets the license and practices the psychiatry. But the psychologists need to go for a 5-7 year graduation study to get the rank similar to the doctor.. They at that time can get the Psy.D or the PhD degree. Now, if you are interested in the Clinical psychiatrist, Costa Mesa can be a good option for you. But you need to take the Psy.D degree. The fact of the licensing differs from one country to the other.

So, now hopefully you got the difference between the two?

As psychiatrists are the medical doctors, they can prescribe drugs and do many things, that psychologist can never do.

Now it is up to you which one will you choose for your career? The choice is yours!