Psychiatrists are physicians who choose to specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders. Their training prepares them to provide medication managementand psychotherapy.
A general psychiatrist has completed medical school, and then a residency training program that prepares them to treat adults with mental health care needs. A board certified psychiatrist has opted to take an additional certification exam offered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). By passing the certification exam, the physician has demonstrated that they have sufficient knowledge in key specialty content.
However, there are also psychiatric subspecialties. A subspecialist is a physician who has completed their general training in psychiatry, and then chosen to undergo additional training to help treat specific populations of psychiatric patients.
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology only certifies particular subspecialities, but that list continues to grow as psychiatry continues to evolve and expand as a medical field.
Over the next several posts, I'll introduce common psychiatric subspecialities and their typical scopes of care.
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