What does a Clinical Psychiatrist do?
Clinical psychiatrist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical psychiatrist resumes:
- Implement individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments to stabilize patients during their hospitalization.
- Conduct full neurological evaluation, including lab, MRI & /or EEG.
Clinical psychiatrist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 56% of Clinical Psychiatrists are proficient in Outpatient Clinic, Mental Illness, and Practice Nurses. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Detail oriented, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Psychiatrists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Outpatient Clinic, 56%
Worked on the inpatient ward in the morning and outpatient clinic in the afternoon.
- Mental Illness, 40%
Provide care to adults with a wide range of severe mental illness.
- Practice Nurses, 4%
Established and implemented the peer review policy for 32 institutions with 30-40 psychiatrists and 15-20 advance practice nurses.
Most clinical psychiatrists use their skills in "outpatient clinic," "mental illness," and "practice nurses" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential clinical psychiatrist responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a clinical psychiatrist to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Clinical psychiatrists often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used therapeutic communication techniques to establish rapport, and deliver care to mentally ill patients. "
Detail oriented. Many clinical psychiatrist duties rely on detail oriented. "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications," so a clinical psychiatrist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways clinical psychiatrist responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "conduct behavior modification and supportive and insight oriented psychotherapy with patients. "
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for clinical psychiatrists to perform their duties. For an example of how clinical psychiatrist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a clinical psychiatrist: "initial psychiatric evaluations, psychotropic medication management, crisis stabilization and leadership of the treatment team approach to patient care. ".
Physical stamina. clinical psychiatrist responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." This resume example shows what clinical psychiatrists do with physical stamina on a typical day: "worked closely with behavioral therapist, psychiatrist, physical therapists and occupational therapists to provide best patient care. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical psychiatrists are:
- New York State Restaurant Association2 clinical psychiatrists jobs
- Legacy Community Health1 clinical psychiatrists jobs
- Johns Hopkins Medicine1 clinical psychiatrists jobs
Compare different clinical psychiatrists
Clinical 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 a clinical psychiatrist are more likely to require skills like "practice nurses," "hiv," "medical health," and "mental health system." 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 reach lower levels of education than clinical psychiatrists. In fact, child & adolescent psychiatrists are 20.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 7.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Clinical psychiatrist vs. Outpatient 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.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that clinical psychiatrist responsibilities requires skills like "mental illness," "practice nurses," "hiv," and "medical health." But an outpatient psychiatrist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "medication management," "child psychiatry," "emr," and "epic."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Outpatient psychiatrists tend to reach lower levels of education than clinical psychiatrists. In fact, they're 23.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 7.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical psychiatrist vs. Staff 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.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a clinical psychiatrist is likely to be skilled in "practice nurses," "hiv," "medical health," and "mental health system," while a typical staff psychiatrist is skilled in "patients," "rehabilitation," "dea," and "patient care."
Staff psychiatrists typically earn lower educational levels compared to clinical psychiatrists. Specifically, they're 23.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 15.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Clinical psychiatrist vs. Adult psychiatrist
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between clinical psychiatrists and adult psychiatrists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a clinical psychiatrist might have more use for skills like "outpatient clinic," "practice nurses," "hiv," and "medical health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of adult psychiatrists require skills like "mental health," "emr," "general hospital," and "private practice. "
In general, adult psychiatrists hold lower degree levels compared to clinical psychiatrists. Adult psychiatrists are 28.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 13.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of clinical psychiatrist
Updated January 8, 2025
