Table of Contents
Every child has a dream job to venture into upon successful completion of education. Although it is a commendable thing for everyone to do, the unfortunate thing is that not all the children end up accomplishing their dreams. A combination of social-economic causes the failure to fulfill one’s goals, and environmental factors such as poverty, lack of motivation, determination, focus, and support from the parents, instructors, and the rest of the society. I am like any other child who has had a childhood dream. My dream job was to be a psychiatrist. Psychiatry is a healthcare professional who specializes in the treatment of mental illnesses. I have never thought of any other career rather than psychiatry because it is the only job I have grown to love. My passion for psychiatry has been strong because of the nature of the job, remunerations, social status, and the prestige associated with it.
Job Description
One of the reasons why I have chosen psychiatry as my dream job is because of the roles and responsibilities. I came to know about the duties and responsibilities of a psychiatrist because I had researched it. At first, I had to go to the mental health facility next to my neighborhood to engage in a one-on-one interview with a psychiatrist. That gave me an opportunity to ask all the questions I had and got to know about all that a psychiatrist does. Besides, I researched on the internet to study what exactly the psychiatrists do. My research was worthwhile because I got to learn everything that I wanted to know about this job. Here, is what I know about the job description of a psychiatrist.
First and foremost, a psychiatrist has to perform the role of assessment of the patients. Whenever any patient with mental illness comes to a healthcare facility to be attended to, the most basic thing that a psychiatrist offers is an assessment of the condition. The medical evaluation is crucial because it gives the psychiatrist an opportunity to know the health condition of the patient. A psychiatrist assesses the patient by asking questions through the use of a direct interview or questionnaires (Boyle, et al., 2016). At the same time, the psychiatrist can conduct a physical examination or a laboratory test to study the mental condition of the patient. The psychiatrist can also get further information on the patient’s mental status by interviewing the family members, colleagues or close friends. All the psychiatrists should conduct an objective assessment because it is the only way through which the health condition of the patient can be determined before implementing the most appropriate interventions.
127 our experts are availableright now
The second role of a psychiatrist is to come up with a treatment plan for the patient and ensure that the patient gets the right intervention. The main reason why a mentally-ill patient goes to the healthcare facility is to seek treatment. Treatment is necessary because it helps in alleviating the pains and inconveniences suffered as a result of the condition. Hence, upon successful completion of the assessment, the psychiatrist proceeds with the process by coming up with a treatment plan and implementing it as it ought to (Bauer, Bendels & Groneberg, 2016). Although the treatment depends on the type of mental illness, the psychiatrist mostly has to recommend a psychotherapy, medication, or lifestyle changes. Each of these interventions can be of great help in addressing the mental health problems faced by a patient. For instance, through psychotherapy, the psychiatrist can use counseling, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to address the issue of mental conditions like depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
The third role of a psychiatrist is to ensure that the patient complies with the directives on the treatment and management of the condition. When the patients come to the healthcare facility to seek for mental health services, they are examined and treated. However, treatment does not mark the end of the intervention because it continues even after the prescription of the medications. For the patient to recover, he or she must manage the condition in line with the medic’s directives. For example, if the practitioner recommends the use of drugs, a lifestyle or behavioral change, the patient has no choice, but to comply. However, to ensure that all these are done as recommended, the psychiatrist has a role of following up the patient. If the follow-up process is done well, the psychiatrist can succeed in empowering the patient to manage their mental condition and recover from it.
The fourth role and responsibility of a psychiatrist are to ensure that there is a delivery of safe and quality mental health care services to the satisfaction of the patients. The psychiatrist can guarantee quality and safe healthcare services for the mentally-ill patients if they engage in an effective communication. Effective communication can help in providing safe and therapeutic care to the patient. At the same time, that responsibility can be a success if the psychiatrist engages in the proper documentation process. If there is accuracy in the keeping of patients’ records, the quality of health care services can be guaranteed because there can be slim chances of medical errors. It is for this reason that the researchers agree that proper record-keeping is the most critical activity in the process of healthcare service delivery. Apart from this, the psychiatrist should also foster a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach whenever attending to the patients. It is also a viable approach that can enhance the quality of services.
Last, but not least, the psychiatrist has a role of contributing to the creation of a favorable working environment that can favor the healthcare providers and the patients as well. There are many ways through which a psychiatrist can do this. One, the psychiatrist should be actively involved in advocating for policy changes and implementations whenever necessary. Two, the psychiatrist can be helpful in ensuring that all the medics comply with the rules, procedures, and standards governing the delivery of mental health care services. Three, the psychiatrist can conduct research and disseminate information that can be useful in improving the quality of mental health care services in the country. Four, the psychiatrist can advance education, get promoted to the leadership positions where they can participate in the major decision-making processes. This is a clear indication that psychiatry is a profession in which one can advance and enjoy the career growth that comes with education and experiences.
Compensation and Benefits Package for the Psychiatrists
As already indicated, one of the reasons why I prefer this profession is that it pays well. According to my research, psychiatry is one of the topmost lucrative disciplines in the country today. It is lucrative because psychiatrists are entitled to high and attractive remuneration packages-salaries, benefits, and other incentives. Although the salaries of the psychiatrists are not constant and keep on changing from one employer or country to the other, the truth is that psychiatry is a well-paying job.
My research revealed to me that a psychiatrist earns an average salary of $200,000 per annum. That implies that a psychiatrist is entitled to a basic monthly salary of approximately $17,000. In the USA, for instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, currently, a psychiatrist earns an average of $216,000 per year. This figure translates into a cool $103.89 per hour. However, when it comes to sectoral employers, the statistics reveal that the rates are not constant. For example, the psychiatrists who work for the government earn an annual salary of approximately $205,000. On the other hand, those in the substance abuse facilities earn an average yearly salary of $205,200 while their counterparts in the home care services take home $223,690. All these statistics show that psychiatry is undoubtedly a lucrative career.
Apart from that, the psychiatrists, just like any other employers, are entitled to lots of benefits. These two are lucrative. The benefits that the psychiatrists enjoy include health insurance covers for disability, life, vision, dental, and medication. Regarding allowances, the psychiatrists are also lucky because they enjoy the house allowances, commuter allowances, book allowances, and travel reimbursement allowances. At the same time, the psychiatrists get holiday leaves, sick leaves, maternity leaves, and vacation leaves. Each of these is payable. As if these are not enough, the psychiatrists still entitled to attractive retirement plan benefits. Each of these benefits is quite attractive because it reflects the basic salaries that the psychiatrists earn.
There are different reasons why psychiatrists earn such kind of attractive packages. These are the length of education and type of skills that one has to acquire. At the same time, the remuneration may be determined by the kinds of duties and responsibilities that one discharges as a psychiatrist. For instance, when it comes to education, to qualify as a psychiatrist, one has to study a lot and endure through a lengthy training process (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). After completing a bachelor’s degree in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology, one proceeds to the medical school for another four years to undertake a medical degree called Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.).
After this, one, again, has to undergo a four-year residency program in a healthcare facility. During the residency program, the student acquires additional skills on chemical dependency, forensic psychology, and neurology. While receiving such skills, the student gets a chance to engage in the treatment of mental illness like depression, developmental disabilities, psychosis, substance abuse, sexual dysfunction, and anxiety, but strictly under the supervision of a mentor. It is only after completing all these that one gets the requisite licenses and certifications from the relevant regulatory bodies (Gleason, 2016). It is only then that one is deemed qualified as a psychiatrist who possesses essential competencies such as bedside manners, discretion, relationship building, patient care, culturally competent care, effective interpersonal communication, decision-making, analysis, documentation, and therapy.
Performance Appraisal Program for Psychiatrists
The performance appraisal program is a must in all the disciplines including psychiatry. For the psychiatrists, the performance is appraised after every twelve months because the management is concerned about the performance of its workforce. The rationale for conducting the performance appraisal is, therefore, to enable the administration to assess and determine the strengths of the psychiatrists. All psychiatrists are supposed to have certain competencies that must always be evaluated to determine if they are up to expected standards (Dusterhoff, Cunningham & MacGregor, 2014). The employer is only interested in hard-working staff who can use their skills to effectively discharge their duties in order to satisfy the diverse needs of the clients. That is why all the competencies must be periodically evaluated.
Apart from this, performance appraisal can be of great help in determining the weaknesses of a psychiatrist. As indicated in the program, the assessment is done in various areas including communication skills, patient care, professionalism, and Systems-Based Practice. The management does this because it is concerned about the employees. All employees should not display any sign of weaknesses (Dipboye, 2018). Anyone who shows such flaws can be encouraged to make the necessary adjustments that can help in improving the quality of the performance that they display. Such improvements can be desirable for the management because they can enhance patient satisfaction and enhance the reputation of the organization.
Lastly, performance appraisal is conducted to help in improving the performance of individual employees, department, and organization at large. The management and the employees have got some goals. Therefore, to determine if they are accomplished, there is no any other way apart from conducting objective periodical appraisals (Dusterhoff, et al., 2014). That is why the management should ensure that the appraisal is appropriately designed and made to align with the individual and organizational goals and objectives. It is for this reason why the feedback has to be given to each psychiatrist.
