Geriatric Psychiatrists

High School

If you think medical school is in your future, you should focus on college preparatory classes in high school. Take plenty of science and math courses, including biology, chemistry, physics, algebra, and calculus. To prepare for your later psychology studies, take sociology, psychology, and history classes. English courses that teach you to research, write, and speak well are also important, as you will need to express yourself clearly not only to patients but also to the other professionals you'll work with.

Postsecondary Training

Since you will need to attend medical school to become a geriatric psychiatrist, you should plan your college curriculum to meet medical school admission requirements. You will benefit from consulting the Association of American Medical Colleges' online database Medical School Admission Requirements (https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/applying-medical-school-process/medical-school-admission-requirements), which has information on entrance requirements for schools in the United States and Canada, as well as information on other topics such as schools' curricula and financial aid. Typical majors for those planning on attending medical school include biology, chemistry, and biochemistry. You should also continue to take psychology and English classes. Some universities now offer undergraduate courses in gerontology that cover topics such as the sociology of aging and public policy issues affecting the elderly. Scores from the Medical College Admission Test are required for admission by most medical schools. Students usually take this test during their junior year of college.

In medical school, you will need to complete a four-year program of medical studies and supervised clinical work to earn your M.D. degree. Most instruction in the first two years is given through classroom lectures, laboratories, seminars, and the reading of textbook material. You will also learn to take medical histories, examine patients, and recognize symptoms.

During the last two years of medical school, you will become actively involved in the treatment process, spending a large proportion of your time in the hospital as part of a medical team headed by a teaching physician. You will be closely supervised as you learn techniques such as how to take a patient's medical history, how to make a physical examination, how to work in the laboratory, how to make a diagnosis, and how to keep all the necessary records. In addition to this hospital work, you will continue to take course work.

Psychiatrists can also attend an osteopathic medical program leading to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.). These programs are accredited by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, https://www.aacom.org.

Once you have completed four years of medical school, you will need to complete a residency. First-year residents work in several specialties, such as pediatrics or internal medicine. After that, residents wanting to become psychiatrists complete three years of work at a psychiatric hospital or a general hospital's psychiatric ward. In addition, residents may complete a geriatric psychiatry fellowship, a program typically lasting one year and providing specialized geriatric training. Completing such a fellowship is highly recommended. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education provides a list of geriatric psychiatry fellowships at https://apps.acgme.org/ads/public/reports/report/1.

Other Education or Training

Continuing education opportunities are provided by many national and state organizations, including the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association, American Psychiatric Association, and Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education. Contact these organizations for more information.