Psychiatrists are physicians who chose to specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders that affect mood, thinking, and behaviors. Since psychotherapy is one type of treatment available to patients with mental health disorders, psychiatrists are required to have psychotherapy training.
Psychiatrists are unique among the doctoral psychotherapy providers in that we train first as physicians, and then are later introduced to mental health. Those of us who enjoy the work ultimately choose to specialize in mental health. Indeed, physicians are terminally trained doctorates in the sense that the professional degree, Doctorate of Medicine (MD), is the highest level of education one can seek to prepare for a career in medicine in the United States. After that, one must enter practice to gain more experience and knowledge.
So unlike the doctoral training of a PsyD or PhD, a psychiatrist's training in psychotherapy happens much later in our career development. This is reflected in our practice of including a medical workup in all mental health evaluations.
To become a psychiatrist in the United States, one must:
Complete a bachelor's degree that includes the required premedical curriculum
Complete medical school, which is typically 4 years on average
Pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Steps 1, 2 CS, and 2 CK
Gain entrance to and complete an accredited psychiatry residency, which is typically 4 years on average
Pass the USLME Step 3 after their first year of residency
In California, to be licensed to see patients for psychotherapy, a physician must obtain a California medical license. This requires that one:
Complete a Department of Justice and United States Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background check
Submit proof of completion of medical school
Submit proof of passing of the USMLE Steps 1, 2CS, 2CK and 3
Submit proof of completion of at least 36 months of continuous post graduate training, at least 2 years of which must be in an accredited psychiatry residency
You may see that some psychiatrists advertise that they are also "board certified." This means that after completing 4 years of psychiatry residency, they 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.
Those who choose to do further psychiatry training after residency are said to be "subspecialty trained". Similarly, they can show additional subspecialty board certification after the completion of an additional 1-2 years of subspeciality training.
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