What Type of Psychiatrist Should I Be

How it works

In medical school or residency and drawn to psychiatry? Press the button for one of its subspecialties, from child and adolescent to forensic psychiatry, each with who it treats or where the work is done.

Read the full guide

Nine carry a US board certificate

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology certifies five subspecialties of its own for psychiatrists: addiction, child and adolescent, consultation-liaison, forensic and geriatric psychiatry. Psychiatrists can also certify in brain injury, pain and sleep medicine, which other boards administer, and since 2022 in hospice and palliative medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine.

The rest have no certificate from that board

Emergency, military, community and sports psychiatry are named by who is treated or where; biological and social psychiatry by how mental disorders are studied. Before you choose a fellowship, ask a resident what a week on that service looks like.

The board asks for two years of subspecialty training in child and adolescent psychiatry, and one year in addiction, forensic, geriatric or consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Questions and answers

What kind of psychiatrist should I be?

Start with who you want to treat: children and families, older adults, athletes, serving personnel, or patients on medical wards. Then look at where the work happens, such as a court, an emergency department or a community service, and ask for a rotation there.

What are the subspecialties of psychiatry?

This list holds 22. Nine carry a US board certificate, among them child and adolescent, forensic and geriatric psychiatry. The other thirteen include neuropsychiatry, telepsychiatry, psycho-oncology and cross-cultural psychiatry.

What is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist?

A psychiatrist who assesses and treats patients with medical, surgical or neurological conditions, usually in a general hospital. The board called the subspecialty psychosomatic medicine until 1 January 2018.

Is board certification in a subspecialty required?

Not always. For brain injury medicine and sleep medicine the board states that taking part in certification is voluntary and that certification is not required of practitioners in the field.

All 22 subspecialties

One group of patients 5

Addiction psychiatry Evaluates and treats people with alcohol, drug or other substance-related disorders.
Child and adolescent psychiatry Diagnoses and treats mental disorders in children, adolescents and their families.
Geriatric psychiatry Treats mental disorders and cognitive decline in people of old age.
Psycho-oncology Works on the psychological side of cancer, for patients and their caregivers.
Sports psychiatry Treats and prevents mental disorders in athletes.

Mind and body together 8

Biological psychiatry Studies mental disorders through the biology of the nervous system.
Brain injury medicine Works on the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of acquired brain injury.
Consultation-liaison psychiatry Sees patients with medical or surgical conditions, usually in a general hospital.
Hospice and palliative medicine Eases symptoms and distress for patients with a terminal illness.
Interventional psychiatry Uses procedures and devices where medication and psychotherapy have not worked.
Neuropsychiatry Deals with mental disorders that come from diseases of the nervous system.
Pain medicine Diagnoses and treats painful disorders, in a team drawn from several specialties.
Sleep medicine Cares for patients with sleep problems and sleep disorders.

Courts, crises and the forces 4

Disaster psychiatry Responds to disasters, large accidents and public health emergencies.
Emergency psychiatry Practices psychiatry in emergency settings, with people who arrive in a crisis.
Forensic psychiatry Applies psychiatry in legal settings: civil and criminal cases and correctional work.
Military psychiatry Keeps serving personnel fit for duty and treats those with psychiatric conditions.

Whole communities 5

Community psychiatry Treats people at home and in local services, not in a psychiatric hospital.
Cross-cultural psychiatry Looks at the cultural context of mental disorders and of psychiatric services.
Global mental health Works toward fair access to mental health care for people worldwide.
Social psychiatry Studies how the social environment affects mental health and mental illness.
Telepsychiatry Gives psychiatric care remotely, mostly by video call and phone.