Can any (future) psychiatrists relate?

During interviews at @harvardmed a surgeon asked me why I "don't just become a psychologist."

Elsewhere, a subspecialist said they'd "rather quit medicine than go into psychiatry."

1/

#MedEd #MedStudents #Psychiatry

As a @UWMedicine student, a mentor said, "oh so you're just going for the easiest speciality."

A classmate of mine stated, "only people with bad STEP scores go into psychiatry." That colleague, like many others, didn't attend our psychiatry weeks, opting to "study instead."

2/

I imagine that these are the same docs that will call my consult when their patients are acting "strange" or "uncooperative". The same doctors that will end up in my clinics for their own unchecked issues.

What needs to be done for Medicine to take mental illness seriously?

3/

It is damn difficult training as a psychiatrist in this environment.

But what I know is true: psychiatry can be more challenging than other fields. It demands training in medicine, psychology, psychiatry, and to be great: the social sciences, public health, and ethics too.

4/

I am fascinated by the brain & mind and the philosophical debates that concern the two.

I am energized by encounters with different mental states, & the unique skills their healing demands.

I cannot wait to practice & help push forward what is a difficult & rewarding field.

5/

I encourage medical students, mentors, & professors to check their biases against psychiatry, and consider where their internalized psychophobia comes from.

If we don't, we end up doing harm to ourselves, our patients, and our communities.

剧终 6/6

#StopPsychophobia #MedEd