Medical Education US

I want to be able to work with schizophrenics and people with severe mental illness. Can psychologists do this and work in the psych wards in the hospitals and whatnot? Or is that only for psychiatrists?

[ Edited by Admin on 2004/2/7 17:42 ]

There are few hospital wards left that serve purely schizophrenic patients. usually they are mixed wards. The coverage is mainly psychiatrists. Psychologisats do work regularly in outpatient clinics.

Most units these days are mixed wards, and patients are always followed by a psychiatrist in the hospital (I am not aware of any psychologists having admitting priviledges to hospitals, but it is possible I suppose). However, depending on the hospital, some units may have a high percentage of patients with schizophrenia, and psychologists may play a big role on those units.

However, in general, people with schizophrenia who may benefit from psychotherapy are most likely to be in the outpatient setting. When people with schizophrenia are hospitalized, they are not going to be too receptive to therapy. The main thing they need at that point is medication stabilization.