Psychiatrists

Certification or Licensing

All physicians must be licensed in order to practice medicine. After completing the M.D., graduates must pass a licensing test given by the board of medical examiners for the state in which they want to work. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) is the certifying board for all psychiatrists regardless of their specialty. To become an ABPN-certified psychiatrist you will need to pass a written and an oral test. Certification subspecialties include addiction psychiatry, brain injury medicine, child and adolescent psychiatry, clinical neurophysiology, forensic psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, hospice and palliative medicine, pain medicine, psychosomatic medicine, and sleep medicine.