Psychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with the treatment and prevention of mental illness. Mental disorders are characterised by a variety of symptoms such as abnormal moods or behaviour, excessive anxiety and hallucination. Most doctors would be working as consultants with hospitals or private clinics. Some may have their own set-ups, or have temporary arrangements with hospitals. The pay is usually based on the number of patients one examines. It may go up as one gains more experience. One can also work with international agencies such as the World Health Organisation, UNICEF etc, or with PSUs and government set-ups like jails, or large organisations that have their own medical facilities. Other avenues are research or becoming an adviser at pharmaceutical companies producing psychoactive drugs. In a government set-up, the pay bands are Rs. 50,000-Rs. 60,000 a month (entry level), Rs. 80,000-Rs. 90,000 a month (middle level) and R1 lakh-Rs. 1.5 lakh a month (senior level). In a private hospital, a doctor has similar pay. However, a senior doctor with a good practice and experience may earn more than Rs. 2.5 lakh per month.

An average day of a psychiatrist. A doctor who is an independent consultant would have a different work schedule depending on the timings of the clinics he attends

• 9am: Reach hospital
• 10am: Examine patients
• 12pm: Take stock of the administrative work of the hospital
• 1pm: Lunch
• 2pm: Visit specialty clinics such as child guidance and psychosexual centres
• 4.30pm: Case discussions and seminars
• 7pm: Call it a day

• Finely honed thinking and reasoning skills
• Good measurement skills: Should have knowledge of principles of psychometric measurement, etc critical for research
• Have a lot of patience
• Ability to strike a rapport with the patient
• Ability to empathise
• Ability to remain detached from the patient’s problems
• As a part of the extensive training that psychiatrists undergo during their residency, they are taught medical and psychological skills

• No emergencies in this line
• One can rise fast as India has fewer psychiatrists
• Satisfaction when a patient improves or is rehabilitated
• Stigma attached to mental illness could be frustrating
• Earning not proportionate with the time spent, compared to other branches of medicine

• NIMHANS, Bangalore
• Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi
• PGIMER, Chandigarh
• AIIMS, New Delhi
• King George's Medical College, Lucknow
• MAMC, LHMC, New Delhi