To Become a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

In order to become a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist I have to go through rigorous amounts of training and schooling. Becoming a psychiatrist will not be easy, but I am willing to put in the hard work needed to accomplish my goal. My hopes in becoming a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist are to join the prestigious honor society in psychology called Psi Chi, get accepted into a post baccalaureate pre-medical program, and get accepted to medical school.

For instance, Psychiatrists must go through twelve years of post-secondary training to become a psychiatrist. I must first have a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited university or college. After acquiring a Bachelor’s Degree I can apply to a post baccalaureate pre-medical program. “Post baccalaureate premedical programs to assist individuals to pursue a medical career after they have already received a Bachelor's degree.” (AAMC, 1995-2013, para. 1) During my premedical program I will be able to take The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). While I am taking the premedical program I will get to shadow and volunteer in different clinical settings. After I take the MCAT I can apply to medical colleges across the United States and a few in Canada. During my years in medical school I will do class room work for the first two years. Some of the things I will learn in medical school are how to write case summaries, fill out prescriptions, fill out patient files or charts, and administer psychological tests. I In the last two years I will do my rotations that will be conducted in a hospital. When my four years of medical school are complete I will be able to start my residency program. A residency program is where I practice my medical school major under the supervision of licensed psychiatrist, possibly in a hospital or clinical setting. Residency is one year and after the year is up I will enter my fellowship, which is also a year. When my fellowship is done I will be able to apply for my medical license and...