Preparations to be admitted to a medical school start early. During your college years take courses in science, biology, math, chemistry and physics. Your grades must be excellent and your degree should be in one of the sciences. Volunteer work in a hospital setting helps you pursue the goal of practicing Orange County psychiatry.

There are four years of medical school before you are graduated. After that, you will be admitted into a residency program. For psychiatry, it is a four year program. While you are treating patients under supervision, you can decide which area of psychiatry you want to specialize in.

After finishing the four-year residency, you will take the state licensing exam. You can also take an exam to become board certified, thereby earning additional credentials that do not expire for ten years. Now you have fulfilled all the requirements needed to begin practicing medicine.

The diagnosing of the mental status of each patient starts with a thorough exam and mental assessment. There are psychological tests and a physical exam that are conducted. There are additional tests such as neuroimaging that are sometimes necessary. Each diagnosis must conform to the standards presented in the DSM, which is a manual giving the symptoms that identify each mental disorder.

Another widely used reference book is the International Classification of Diseases, known as the ICD. After a diagnosis is completed, treatment may include psychotherapy and prescription medication in conjunction with each other. A serious disorder will require inpatient treatment. Many are treated on an outpatient basis, possibly with weekly or monthly appointments.

It was in 1967 that the inappropriate treatments, lobotomy and electroshock therapy were found to be detrimental. The lobotomy was an operation that removed aggressive tendencies from problem patients. However, by removing a part of the frontal lobe of the brain, they removed the personality as well. The patient was left in an almost vegetative state as far as cognition was concerned.

Another treatment that seemed to originate from a Frankenstein movie was electroconvulsive therapy. It used electric shock to bring a patient out of deep depression when nothing else worked. It also had the ability to break teeth and sometimes bones as the patient tensed up in response to the current running through the body.

A psychiatrist straddles the two worlds of medical practice. On one hand he is a medical school graduate who is familiar with all body organs and their functions and physical maladies. On the other, he is focused on the workings of the mind. These two facets are diverse, yet intertwined in each human being.

There are numerous mental disorders. A personality disorder or severe learning disability are conditions that can be treated. Methods are different than they were years ago. At one time, psychiatrists used to spend an hour with each patient. Now, the patient is in his or her office for ten minutes and gets a new prescription. The hour long sessions are with a psychologist.

The psychologist will meet with the psychiatrist to discuss what they can do that will best help the patient. However, the inpatient may have those sessions with the psychiatrist. A plan is altered to suit the needs of each patient.

Orange County psychiatry may encompass a group of subspecialties in addition to general practice. Included are child and adolescent, addiction, cross-cultural, forensic, social and neuropsychiatry. These demographics may also be treated by the general practitioner.

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