How to Become a Psychiatrist in India
6 min readAre you the one who is dreaming How to become a Psychiatrist in India? If yes, then you must go through this article. It will give you a brief idea about the How to Become a Psychiatrist Doctor in India – roles and responsibilities, salary, courses to pursue as a Psychiatrist both offline and online, career opportunities, top institutions to enroll the same, best colleges to get admission, the entrance exam to crack the same, syllabus, eligibility criteria and age limit.
If you are choosing to become a Psychiatrist then this is the best option for you. Being a Psychiatrist is a very helpful task for the patients as they get someone to listen to their issues or problems. These help them to get them out of the depression and make them feel good and relaxed. All these help them to live their life.
About Psychiatrist
A Psychiatrist is one who deals with the mental issues of the patients. They look into the prevention, study the case, and diagnose the patients to heal them.
As a Psychiatrist, you have to prescribe medicines to the patient when required for the treatment. Along with that, they guide the patients to do mediation, yoga and maintain the diet to live fit and fine.
Role & Responsibilities of a Psychiatrist
As a Psychiatrist, you have some responsibilities to help the patients. Some of them are mentioned below.
- To provide the treatment to the patient suffering from mental illness.
- He/She has to guide the patients to change their lifestyles.
- He/She has to give advice when required.
- He/She needs to diagnosis patients and ask for any other test to go through.
- As a Psychiatrist, you need to have patience and listen to the patients calmly without judging them.
- Your responsibility is to solve the queries of the patients.
- You need to understand the behavior of the patients to diagnosis the patients.
- As a Psychiatrist, you have to prescribe medicines to the patients.
Courses for Psychiatrist
Courses | Duration | Eligibility | Fees in INR |
Certificate Programs | 6months to 1years | After the 12th you can easily get enrolled in the certified course. | 8000- 50,000 |
Bachelor Psychiatry Courses | 3-4 years | After the 12th you can enroll in this course. | 30,000- 25,00,000 |
Diploma & PG Diploma Courses | 2years | After the 12th you can enroll in this course. | 30,000-1,00,000 |
Master Psychiatry Courses | 2years | After graduation, you can enroll in this course. | 30,000-25,00,000 |
Doctorate Psychiatry Courses | 3years | After PG or master’s you can enroll in this course. | 50,000- 4,00,000 |
Psychiatrist Online Certificate Course
Here are the lists of the online courses to pursue and get certified.
lOnline Courses in Psychiatrist | Institutes | Duration | Fees Fees |
Certificate in Art Therapy Techniques | IHMH | 10 hours | INR 7,800 |
Certificate in Mental Health | Royal Institution | 3 months | INR 6,300 |
Certificate in Advance Mental Health Counseling | IHMH | 2 Months | INR 10,800 |
Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health | Coursera | 20 hours | INR 2,155 |
How to become a Psychiatrist in India
Eligibility Criteria
- The candidate must have taken biology in their 12th grade from any authorized university.
- You can also pursue Diploma in Psychiatric Medicine (DPM) from any authorized university.
Age Limit
There is no age barrier. Your qualification and experience are concerned to pursue the Psychiatric course and job.
Educational Qualification
Courses | Educational Qualification |
Diploma | After the 12th the candidate can enroll in this course. |
Graduation | After the 12th the candidate can enroll in this course. |
DNB | After Bachelor’s degree, you can enroll in this course. |
MD | After Bachelor’s degree, you can enroll in this course. |
Entrance Exam
Here is the list of Entrance Exams to crack and get enrolled in this course.
- Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP)
- Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE)
- Diploma of National Board
- All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS)
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science (NIMHANS)
- Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Science (IHBAS)
- All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AIIPMR)
- National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)
Syllabus
Syllabuses to study for being a Psychiatrist are mentioned below.
Semester 1 & 2
Pre- Clinicalincludes Anatomy, Biochemistry, Biomolecular, Enzymes, Food assimilation and nutrition, metabolic pathways, Immunology, cancer and cancer makers, Environmental Biochemistry, Physiology includes general physiology, Respiratory system, Gastrointestinal system, cardiovascular system, Neurophysiology, and Yoga.
Semester 3
Paraclinical and Clinical subjects include Forensic Medicine, Microbiology, Bacteriology, Common tests for Bacterial Identification, Virology, Mycology, Bacterial, and viral genetics, Pathology includes General and Systemic pathology, General Pharmacology and chemotherapy.
Semester 4
Continuation of Study of clinical subjects includes Anesthesiology, Health education, nutrition, environment, biostatistics, Rehabilitation, Counseling, Infective dermatomes, Melanin synthesis, Pathogenesis Syphills, Vesiculobullous diseases, Dermatological Emergencies, Clinical Pharmacology, Water electrolyte, and acid-base imbalance.
Required Skills
Some of the skills of Psychiatry are jotted below.
- They should have the empathy and compassion to handle the patients.
- As Psychiatry you need to have the potential to motivate the patients to heal.
- He/She should have a scientific approach or an analytical approach.
- He/She needs to have lateral thinking capability.
- As a Psychiatrist, you should have the potential to monitor the patient’s situation.
Books & Study Material
- A book Review of Psychiatrists by the author Dr. Praveen Tripathi.
- A book called Effective Treatment in Psychiatrists by the author Kenneth R. Silk and Peter Tyre.
- Clinical Psychiatrist and Synopsis of Psychiatrist by Kaplan and Sadock.
Also, Read
Job Roles of a Psychiatrist
There are different branches as a Psychiatrist and some of them are mentioned below.
Substance Abuse Therapy
As a Psychiatrist in this field and you have to handle the patients, who are indulged in drug addiction and alcohol. You have to guide them or look for them either individually or in groups to heal them. For this, you can work in any rehabilitation center.
Adult Psychiatry
As an Adult Psychiatry, you have to handle the people of age group 18 to heal their disorder or help them taking proper medication. This therapy may include anxiety disorder, general psychiatry, mental stress, and mood disorder.
Psychosomatic Medicine
They go for counseling of the patients to deal with emotional and psychiatric problems. They suggest good medicines to heal the patients and diagnosis them.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
They look into the matter of child and their issues. As Psychiatry they look into the problem by taking exams on basis of genetic, educational, cognitive, and physical issues or any of their family issues.
Emergency Psychiatry
Emergency Psychiatry deals with violence, psychosis, suicide, abuse, and depression. These are the matter that needs to be looked as soon as possible.
Geriatric Psychiatry
They help in treating mental and emotional disorders. These include anxiety, schizophrenia, dementia, and depression. They look into the matter of older adults and their diagnosis process.
Career Scope/ Employment Sector
As a Psychiatrist, you can get employment opportunities in the following sectors.
- Hospitals
- NGOs
- Clinics
- Rehabilitation centers
- Private practice
Top Recruiting Agencies in India
With the best courses come the top agencies to recruit the students.
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS)
- World Brain Center Hospital
- State Mental Health Institute, Dehradun
- PGIMER, Chandigarh
- Antara, Kolkata
- Institute of Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi
- Dr. Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar
Salary of a Psychiatrist
Experience | Salary in INR |
Initial stage | 9LPA |
Intermediary level | 10LPA |
Experienced level | 15LPA |
Best Colleges to pursue the Course
The best colleges in India to get admission in the Psychiatrist course are mentioned below.
- AIIMS Delhi, Delhi
- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
- CMC Vellore, Vellore
- Lady Hardinge Medical College
- Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Science (NIMHANS)
- D Y Patil University, Navi Mumbai
- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- B.M Institute of Mental Health, Ahmadabad
- Neigrihms, Shillong
- Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow
- Central Institute of Psychiatrist Ranchi, Jharkhand
- Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Armed Forces Medical College, Pune
Conclusion
To conclude, this was all about How to Become a Psychiatrist in India after 10th. Hope now the guiding steps to become a Psychiatrist in India are easy to follow and achieve your dream of becoming a Psychiatrist. You will be helping many people to change their lives. All the best!
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