Once a student graduates and receives his or her authorization to test, they are required to take their licensure examination as soon as possible as a license is required to practice psychiatry.
Schools or universities for psychiatry programs in California include the Stanford University and UCLA Medical Centre. The department of psychiatry in the University of California, San Diego, offers General psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry and community psychiatry training programs.
The UCSF Department of Psychiatry is nationally recognized for its many outstanding educational programs in medical school, residency programs and clinical fellowships, research fellowships and continuing medical education.
The Department of Psychiatry Medical Student Education Program coordinates required and elective medical school courses, elective courses for visiting students interested in the UCSF Psychiatry residency program and Medical student career advising.
Psychiatry is a medical specialty, so psychiatric training follows general medical training, the most common path is to complete a baccalaureate degree then apply to medical school for their MD degree.
During the four years of medical school, all students do clinical rotations in many different specialties e.g. family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, gynaecology, pediatrics, psychiatry. At the end of medical school, students choose a specialty career path and apply to residency programs in that specialty.
Psychiatry residency training is another four years after medical school to become a general psychiatric; a minimum of five years is usually required for completing sub-specialty psychiatry training such as child, forensic or geriatric psychiatry.
Psychiatry is an integral part of many courses; one of them includes the foundations of patient care, a course on the patient-doctor relationship, professionalism, physical exam skills and clinical reasoning.
Another course is the ‘Brain, Mind and Behavior’, an interdisciplinary course covering basic neurosciences, neuroanatomy, neurology and psychiatry topics including a four week core inpatient or consultation rotation, and half day rotation in an ambulatory setting over eight weeks.
After completing residency psychiatrist programs, psychiatrists may pursue additional training in specific areas by applying for a fellowship.
Hospitals, universities, and clinics offer fellowships in several specialties which include consultation psychiatry, psychiatric research, emergency psychiatry and forensic psychiatry offered in California Pacific Medical Center, Loma Linda University Medical Center and Naval Medical Center etc.