Psychiatry: Third year rotations

Hey guys, I’m student Doctor Thompson and in this video I will be talking about my rotation in Psychiatry, 5 things I loved, some things I didn't like, and give you two must have resources for doing well on the shelf exam, so stay tuned.

First of all, what's the difference between psychiatry and psychology? In a nut shell, a psychiatrist goes to medical school and can prescribe medications, and a psychologist gets a PhD or PsyD and and can not, otherwise it is my understanding that their work can overlap to some degree. And for those of you wondering, Dr. Leo Marvin (from what about Bob) is a…. psychiatrist.

So I completed a 4 week rotation in INPATIENT psychiatry and I absolutely loved it. Having never given it a second thought until now, I was pleasantly surprised with the rotation.

In our hospital we had about 75 beds.
Services:
Adolescent: age 12-17
These were usually young kids who have fought with suicidal ideation, self harm, or psychosis of some form
Adults: Many suicidal, psychotic, substance abuse, non-compliant with medications.
Seniors: Delirium and Dementia patients from care facilities mainly

With adolescents we would do some counseling, but other than that, our role as physicians was to manage their medications.

5 things that I loved:
Each provider I worked with spent time trying to convince me it was the best
I literally saw patients go from CRAZY to normal in the space of a few days
Psych has the BEST hours of any rotation so far, thats why they call it the PSYCHATION
There was a specialized scope that it was manageable to learn all meds, diagnose’s, protocols, team (midlevels, nurses, counselors, case managers etc.)
I could see myself really enjoying a lifestyle with GREAT HOURS, GREAT PAY, and INTERESTING PATIENTS, HIGH DEMAND

Things I didn’t love:
Its hard not to get calloused
BUT on the flip side Its also hard not to get emotionally involved
Its hard not to catch a mental illness along the way
I didn’t get ANY exposure to outpatient

MUST HAVE RESOURCES:
Case Files for Psychiatry
uWorld questions 110
Other - I used another q bank (test weapon), DIT crash course vids x5, I’ve heard multiple people mention First aid for psychiatry clerkship but know very little

Conclusion: I hope you enjoy your psych rotation as much as I did, I know a lot of people do. Don’t forget the resources I mentioned and you will pass the shelf with honors,
and finally:
Neurotics build castles in the sky
Psychotics live in them
And Psychiatrists collect the rent

Thanks For watching!