Psychiatrists
Diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Therapy and Counseling
- Psychology
- Biology
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Chemistry
What the work involves
- Analyze and evaluate patient data or test findings to diagnose nature or extent of mental disorder.
- Prescribe, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
- Collaborate with physicians, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals to discuss treatment plans and progress.
- Gather and maintain patient information and records, including social or medical history obtained from patients, relatives, or other professionals.
- Counsel outpatients or other patients during office visits.
- Design individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments.
- Examine or conduct laboratory or diagnostic tests on patients to provide information on general physical condition or mental disorder.
- Advise or inform guardians, relatives, or significant others of patients' conditions or treatment.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Doctoral Training (58.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (58.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (29.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Psychiatrists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 73% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 82% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 54% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 89% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 94% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 96% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 3.94%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 23.22%
- Constant contact with others: 72.84%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 13.67%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 26.11%
- Very important: 5.61%
- Extremely important: 8.07%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 11.21%
- Extremely important: 88.79%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 10.08%
- Limited freedom: 3.59%
- Some freedom: 53.22%
- A lot of freedom: 33.11%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.79%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.59%
- Every day: 60.62%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 14.02%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.53%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.77%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.61%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.77%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 13.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.95%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 11.84%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 0%
- Very serious: 24.28%
- Extremely serious: 25.24%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Nurse Practitioners
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Clinical Neuropsychologists
Closeness 92/100
- Analyze
Neuropsychologists
Closeness 92/100
- Analyze
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary
Closeness 92/100
- Analyze
Epidemiologists
Closeness 91/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 29-1223.00 · SOC 29-1223 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8