Psychiatrist Career Analysis

Throughout my life, I have had many dreams and aspirations-like becoming a professional baseball player, or being a fighter pilot for the air force; and although, these dreams were never met, the compassion I felt for those dreams never faded. I now use these "dreams" as a type of inspiration in my everyday life. Grasping the complexity of this career evaluation has granted me to ability to rejuvenate my dreams; thus, it has allowed me to focus on what I believe I want to become, a Psychiatrist. In order to reach this goal, it will take a considerate amount of education, effort, and time. By taking this guidance class, it has taught me the importance behind a proper career path; as well as, allocate my time to insure I reach my goal.
One important factor of psychiatry besides helping others is the dedication to school. Schooling is required in order to meet the requirements to become a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have specialized in mental health issues; therefore, earning a degree from medical school, hopefully through UCLA, is a goal of mine in order become licensed and practice psychiatry. Medical school is required before a student can begin prescribed medication through therapy; thus, the road to medical school must include a bachelor’s degree. A passing score on the Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT is also mandatory. Students who enter the medical school's programs (which are very competitive) can expect to devote at least four to five years of their life to further education and supervised clinical training. During this time, people are able to specialize in various areas of psychiatry, such as dealing with certain populations (such as children or people addicted to drugs) or handling specific mental health issues, such as bi-polar disorder. After "med" school, completing a residency before becoming board-certified is vital. Education and dedication will be imperative for me to achieve my goal; for that reason, I am eager and determined to accomplish my ambition to become a psychiatrist Unfortunately technology (not like education) is limited in most everyday practices in psychiatry.
Psychiatrist have to be extra vigilant in cases that rely on devices like laptops, blood pressure cuffs, and stethoscopes. Although I may have to deal with the occasional app such as SoftPsych to help with diagnoses, much of my duties will consist of listening, decision making, and critical thinking, which at the moment is a task that computers are not capable of doing. But scientist and psychiatrist are making great strides by relying on "virtual reality" to alleviate physical and mental illness. Hunter G. Hoffman stated "virtual reality—the ability to give users the sense that they are “somewhere else”—can be of great value in a medical setting. Researchers are finding that some of the best applications of the software focus on therapy rather than entertainment. In essence, virtual reality can ease pain, both physical and psychological" (Virtual-reality therapy). Psychiatry is ever evolving, in time. inventions and technological may become so advanced that it may change the way we perceive psychology; therefore, aid with research and cure ailments that are otherwise deemed
incurable. Besides encountering the indifference’s on technology, currently psychiatry has a steady employment growth starting at 12% in California and rising internationally to 16% overall.
These numbers show exponential growth in my field throughout the next 7 years. Anything above 10-11% is generally a good choice for a career, so these numbers are definitely on the higher end. When doing my interview earlier this year with Dr. Peek (a psychologist), she assured me that psychiatry was in fact "a growing field". Having a profession perspective on psychiatry, aids with my dedication instead of relying only on statistic or graphs. Statistics and graphs do show an increase in salary for psychiatrists, let me touch on salary. Psychiatry can be a very lucrative career choice, when you obtain a doctrine in psychology you technically become a doctor of medicine; thus, salaries can range on an average of $190,000 a year. Depending on the credentials, psychiatry can be as low as $84,000 and the high topping off the charts well above $200,000 a
year. The most crucial influential attribute behind psychiatry (that swayed me to choose it) is helping others. Psychiatry allows mentally ill to seek help through therapy and counseling. I personally enjoy counseling my family and friends, listening to their personal problems or concerns while advising them of possible remedies, is a reward in itself. Combining this passion with a professional standpoint will help people with their mental health issues in the most efficient way possible. The satisfaction of helping others should be the main drive of all psychiatrists and medical professionals. Finding peace in the workplace is as crucial aspect to achieving happiness in life as social connections to family and friends. Regardless of the profession, happiness should be met in order to be the best that we can be. Whether it be working for a major corporation like Kaiser or opening up my own small practice, happiness can be obtained by helping others. A degree in psychology, and more importantly a doctoral degree in psychiatry, can provide me with the freedom and satisfaction to not only excel at my job, but also be happy. My journey has only begun and the road is long and arduous. Using the tools that I have learned throughout this semester, will prove to be vital, long after my educational goals are met. Gaining knowledge will not only aid with my career; but also, prepare me for proper business etiquette that can serve me in the future. Comprehending my skills and relying on my education, will help my future patients. Lastly, I have realized that being “perfect” can manifest its own problems in itself, and by pushing myself to be “perfect” I did not give myself any leeway for failure; without failure we can never truly appreciate how good we actually have it. Errors are a part of life and there is absolutely nothing we can do but embrace them, by drawing from past experiences I will continue to enhance my attributes and skills to be the very best psychiatrist I can be, even if it is not “perfect”