Psychiatrist

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society

Overview: Psychiatrists are physicians who diagnose and treat mental health issues. They differ from psychologists, who can diagnose and treat mental health illnesses through therapy, in that psychiatrists can prescribe medications to patients that might help in subsiding symptoms of their mental illness. They also conduct the same practices as psychologists such as talk therapy and counseling. Psychiatrists can work in hospital settings and work among a team of other physicians in creating a patient’s care plan, or operate private practices that patients can be referred to from their other primary care physicians. A psychiatrist’s main role is to analyze one’s behavior and how their environment, culture, and immediate surroundings may have impacted their behavior and how it may also impact their treatment plans as well. Because of this, taking very basic introduction courses in World Geography, Human Geography, and Cultural Geography, would greatly improve a psychologist’s ability to deduce reasons behind mental illness, and how to appropriately treat them based on the patient’s background and culture.

Geographers at work: Health Geographers, Human Geographers, Cultural Geographers

Recommended College Courses: Research Methods in Geography, Location Analysis, Geography of Health, American Ethnic Geography, Race, Class and the American City, Introduction to Cultural Geography, World Geography, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems

Skills: Communication Skills, Geospatial Technologies, Qualitative and Quantitative Research,

Occupation Group: Healthcare

Learn more about Psychiatrists from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm#tab-2