Hi!
I really want to become a clinical psychiatrist, and will be going to med-school and all that good stuff. But what happens after med school... an internship that lasts...how long before I can be licensed and practice? Will an internship for clinical psychiatry be similiar to an internship for someone whose concentration is something else? For example : are there a few years of general stuff before it gets more focused into my particular field?
Thanks for your help in advance... you seem to know a good bit about this. =)
-Zremmas
After med school, you have 4 years of residency in psychiatry before you're finished. The first year of that is generally termed an internship and involves experience usually in internal medicine, neurology, sometimes peds, as well (depending on the program) some psychiatry. The last three years are generally all psychiatry. Internal medicine is a three year residency after med school, but not uncommonly people go to do fellowships afterward in specialty fields. So psychiatry is not significantly longer to completion. Surgical fields may take several years longer.
My feeling is that the training period is important, but even more important is what the experience and career will be like for you in the decades following your training.
Thanks for your answer. I also read another thread dealing with the same thing. I also looked up some residency programs for the places I'd like to work, so now I've got a pretty good idea of what im getting myself into. =)