What does a psychiatrist do?
A Psychiatrist is a medical practitioner specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. They treat patients utilizing psychotherapeutic methods and medications.
Psychiatrist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real psychiatrist resumes:
- Provide psychiatric evaluations, diagnosis and treatment, including prescribing and administering psychotropic medications, conduct individual and group psychotherapy.
- Case load includes children, adolescents and adults.
- Provide accurate, timely and complete documentation in the EMR.
- Conduct full neurological evaluation, including lab, MRI & /or EEG.
- Work closely with Medicaid in areas of compliance needs and information of the clients.
- Create multidisciplinary team (psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, marriage family therapist) to spear head new veterans parenting class.
- Perform psychiatric evaluations and assessments for children and adolescents.
- Provide psychiatric rehabilitation to individuals with severe mental illness.
- Conduct psychopharmacology evaluations and assessments and prescribe, necessary medications.
- Well-Round in knowledge of psychopharmacology, from molecular to clinical levels.
- Assist with accurately entering procedure codes, diagnosis codes and patient information into billing software.
- Assist mentally impair or emotionally disturb patients, working under direction of nursing and medical staff.
- Provide psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, medication prescription and management for inpatients in multiple skil nursing and rehabilitation facilities
- Conduct full neurological evaluation, including lab, MRI & /or EEG.
Psychiatrist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 32% of Psychiatrists are proficient in Patients, Diagnosis, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Psychiatrists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 32%
Worked in Inpatient psychiatric unit: treatment with medication and conducting psycho-rehabilitate programs for patients and their relatives.
- Diagnosis, 11%
Assess, diagnosis and treatment to those clients suffering from major mental disorders, including Dual diagnosis.
- Patient Care, 5%
Attended weekly interdisciplinary meetings centered on individual patient care.
- Mental Illness, 5%
Diagnose and treat mental illnesses.
- Psychiatric Services, 5%
Render outpatient psychiatric services at a non-profit community clinic.
- EMR, 4%
Document imagining in Patient Trac EMR.
"patients," "diagnosis," and "patient care" are among the most common skills that psychiatrists use at work. You can find even more psychiatrist responsibilities below, including:
Physical stamina. One of the key soft skills for a psychiatrist to have is physical stamina. You can see how this relates to what psychiatrists do because "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Additionally, a psychiatrist resume shows how psychiatrists use physical stamina: "worked closely with behavioral therapist, psychiatrist, physical therapists and occupational therapists to provide best patient care. "
Communication skills. Many psychiatrist duties rely on communication skills. "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators," so a psychiatrist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways psychiatrist responsibilities rely on communication skills: "used therapeutic communication techniques to establish rapport, and deliver care to mentally ill patients. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of psychiatrists is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday psychiatrist duties, as "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "draw blood samples, room patients, prepare charts, and take detailed patient histories. "
Leadership skills. A big part of what psychiatrists do relies on "leadership skills." You can see how essential it is to psychiatrist responsibilities because "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical psychiatrist tasks: "initial psychiatric evaluations, psychotropic medication management, crisis stabilization and leadership of the treatment team approach to patient care. "
The three companies that hire the most psychiatrists are:
- Cerebral98 psychiatrists jobs
- Wellpath67 psychiatrists jobs
- Thriveworks56 psychiatrists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable psychiatrist resume templates
Build a professional psychiatrist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your psychiatrist resume.
Compare different psychiatrists
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 psychiatrist are more likely to require skills like "patients," "diagnosis," "adult psychiatry," and "psychiatric services." On the other hand, a job as a child & adolescent psychiatrist requires skills like "child psychiatry," "c," "board certification," and "treatment services." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Child & adolescent psychiatrists really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $220,281. Comparatively, psychiatrists tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $216,202.child & adolescent psychiatrists tend to reach similar levels of education than psychiatrists. In fact, child & adolescent psychiatrists are 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Psychiatrist vs. Consulting 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 psychiatrist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "psychiatric services," "emr," and "psychiatric evaluations." But a consulting psychiatrist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "board certification," "behavioral health," "academic appointments," and "cme."
On average, consulting psychiatrists earn a higher salary than psychiatrists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, consulting psychiatrists earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $224,314. Whereas psychiatrists have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $216,202.In general, consulting psychiatrists achieve lower levels of education than psychiatrists. They're 6.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 6.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Psychiatrist vs. Outpatient psychiatrist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a psychiatrist is likely to be skilled in "patients," "diagnosis," "adult psychiatry," and "patient care," while a typical outpatient psychiatrist is skilled in "child psychiatry," "epic," "leadership," and "mental illnesses."
Outpatient psychiatrists earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $210,992. Comparatively, psychiatrists have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $216,202.outpatient psychiatrists typically earn similar educational levels compared to psychiatrists. Specifically, they're 2.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Psychiatrist vs. Clinical psychiatrist
Types of psychiatrist
Updated January 8, 2025
