What does an adult psychiatrist do?
An adult psychiatrist is responsible for diagnosing adults with mental health illnesses and determine accurate treatment plans to provide quality care services for the patients according to their needs. Adult psychiatrists conduct regular counseling for the patients, administer medications, and record progress. They also handle laboratory tests, design therapy sessions, and coordinate with other medical professionals for other medical procedures. An adult psychiatrist must have excellent communication and knowledge of the medical industry to accurately determine the patients' conditions and verify their response to treatments.
Adult psychiatrist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real adult psychiatrist resumes:
- Research of medical management using motivational interviewing and psychotherapy with Hispanic patients treating depression and anxiety disorders.
- Conduct full neurological evaluation, including lab, MRI & /or EEG.
Adult psychiatrist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 82% of Adult Psychiatrists are proficient in Mental Health, EMR, and Mental Illness. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Adult Psychiatrists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Mental Health, 82%
Full time Adult Psychiatrist for this community mental health center.
- EMR, 8%
Document imagining in Patient Trac EMR.
- Mental Illness, 6%
Assess and treat mental illnesses through psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, hospitalization, and medication.
- Private Practice, 2%
Implemented faculty supervision in private practice for Emory psychiatry residents and for clinical rotations of medical students from other universities.
- Treatment Services, 1%
Provided psychiatric evaluations/consultations and treatment services to underserved patients
- Inpatient Care, 1%
Included inpatient care at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (501 Chipeta Way) and Outpatient Practice.
"mental health," "emr," and "mental illness" are among the most common skills that adult psychiatrists use at work. You can find even more adult psychiatrist responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an adult psychiatrist to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Additionally, an adult psychiatrist resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "used therapeutic communication techniques to establish rapport, and deliver care to mentally ill patients. "
Detail oriented. Many adult psychiatrist duties rely on detail oriented. "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications," so an adult psychiatrist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways adult psychiatrist responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "conduct behavior modification and supportive and insight oriented psychotherapy with patients. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of adult psychiatrists is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday adult psychiatrist duties, as "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "initial psychiatric evaluations, psychotropic medication management, crisis stabilization and leadership of the treatment team approach to patient care. "
Physical stamina. For certain adult psychiatrist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of an adult psychiatrist rely on this skill, as "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what adult psychiatrists do: "worked closely with behavioral therapist, psychiatrist, physical therapists and occupational therapists to provide best patient care. "
The three companies that hire the most adult psychiatrists are:
- Eating Recovery Center68 adult psychiatrists jobs
- Universal Health Services29 adult psychiatrists jobs
- SummitStone Health9 adult psychiatrists jobs
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Compare different adult psychiatrists
Adult psychiatrist vs. Child & adolescent psychiatrist
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists are mental health professionals who deal with children and adolescent individuals. Much like most psychiatrists, they are trained to handle individuals with mental health concerns. They are important in the diagnosis of mental health problems and the treatment of these problems. They specialize in diagnosing and treating children and adolescents. Child and adolescent psychiatrists are equipped with the skills to communicate with their clients effectively. This helps them identify the problems or mental health challenges that their clients are going through. Upon diagnosis of mental health problems, child and adolescent psychiatrists work with their clients to help ease their mental health problems and possibly treat them in the long run.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an adult psychiatrist are more likely to require skills like "mental health," "emr," "general hospital," and "outpatient practice." On the other hand, a job as a child & adolescent psychiatrist requires skills like "child psychiatry," "patient care," "c," and "board certification." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Child & adolescent psychiatrists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $220,281. In contrast, adult psychiatrists make the biggest average salary, $213,490, in the health care industry.On average, child & adolescent psychiatrists reach higher levels of education than adult psychiatrists. Child & adolescent psychiatrists are 7.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 6.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Adult psychiatrist vs. Clinical psychiatrist
Outpatient psychiatrists are medical professionals who are responsible for providing diagnosis, treatment, and prevention plans for outpatients with mental health problems as well as substance use disorders. These psychiatrists are required to supervise psychiatry residents with outpatient psychotherapy and medication management while working with patients at the psychiatry wards. They must coordinate with insurance providers so that they can provide all the required information that is necessary to process payments for patient care. Outpatient psychiatrists must also supervise clinical professionals who are involved in mental health such as social workers and behavioral health technicians.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real adult psychiatrist resumes. While adult psychiatrist responsibilities can utilize skills like "mental health," "emr," "general hospital," and "private practice," clinical psychiatrists use skills like "outpatient clinic," "practice nurses," "hiv," and "medical health."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Clinical psychiatrists tend to reach higher levels of education than adult psychiatrists. In fact, they're 28.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Adult psychiatrist vs. Outpatient psychiatrist
A Staff Psychiatrist provides psychiatric services for the treatment of patients with mental health problems in an outpatient and/or inpatient setting. They are also responsible for supervising and training advanced psychiatry residents.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, adult psychiatrists are more likely to have skills like "mental health," "mental illness," "general hospital," and "private practice." But a outpatient psychiatrist is more likely to have skills like "medication management," "child psychiatry," "outpatient clinic," and "epic."
Outpatient psychiatrists earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $210,992. Comparatively, adult psychiatrists have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $213,490.outpatient psychiatrists typically earn similar educational levels compared to adult psychiatrists. Specifically, they're 4.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Adult psychiatrist vs. Staff psychiatrist
Types of adult psychiatrist
Updated January 8, 2025
