Geriatric Psychiatrists

You should take advantage of any available opportunities to learn more about the psychiatric field and about working with the elderly. Use your local library or search the Internet for resources on the field. You can learn about psychotherapy in general by reading books such as Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Gerald Corey. You can also take a look at articles from the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, which is the official publication of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Articles from the journal are available online at http://ajgponline.org. You can also ask your high school counselor for help in setting up an information interview with a local psychiatrist or other physician. Even if you are only able to talk to a family doctor, you can still ask him or her what medical school was like, what college courses were particularly helpful to take, and other general questions about the profession.