Medical Education US

Hi, I was wonderning... Does being a psychiatrist mean that you don't use talk therapy. Or are psychiatrists free to use any methods they like in diagnosing a patient. Are they acually obligated in some way to use medication.

Psychiatrists are trained in both medications and "talk therapy". Psychiatrists don't have to prescribe medications, although almost all will for specific types of disorders that clearly are best treated with medications.

Thank you so much for clearing that up. I really want to be a psychiatrist and I'm very interested in being able to provide talk therapy to my patients as well as medication.

Doc Admin, I have wondered about this...

You work in an inpatient facility, correct? I would imagine that this means you are dealing regularly with a number patients who are suffering from some pretty profound psychiatric problems.

How effective do you feel your one-on-one professional interactions (as opposed to the pharmaceutical treatments) are in this environment? Do patients in these places ever actually get "better?" Finally, and this might be a naive question, but do you feel safe at work?

Thanks for your insights on this site. I've been away for a while, and didn't realize that I really missed reading it!