The Daily Schedule Of A Psychiatrist

Psychiatrists consult with their hospital patients once a day. These patients can include those who are voluntarily admitted at psychiatric hospitals (major depression, generalized anxiety disorder), patients who are involuntarily admitted or sectioned by law (acute psychosis) and patients admitted long-term for chronic psychiatric conditions (catatonic schizophrenia).

Psychiatrists in private practice work in their own offices where they see their out-patients. The will travel to the hospital where they provide services for to consult with in-patients that have been admitted for them. 

Psychiatrists have to provide on call services after hours and on weekends for the acute and psychiatric hospitals. Primary healthcare workers may discuss patients with the specialists as they may need an opinion or may want to refer the patient for admission. Casualty doctors working at emergency centres may contact psychiatrists if they are faced with an aggressive patient showing signs or a psychiatric condition. These patients are usually administered with a sedative drug and further investigations are performed on them to exclude non-psychiatric causes for their behaviour if the psychiatric cause isn't obvious.

Monday

The week usually starts by the psychiatrist consulting with patients who are admitted the previous day at the psychiatric hospital they work at. These are patients who have been discussed with the psychiatrist by primary healthcare workers. These patients are usually those whose psychiatric condition has caused issues such as having suicidal thoughts or attempting suicide, no motivation to work, becoming hostile or withdrawn from friends and family, experiencing odd sensations and performing socially unacceptable behaviours.

In the afternoon, the psychiatrist will consult with patients at their offices who have made appointments or where referred by other physicians. These patients suffer from possible psychiatric issues such as major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, bipolar mood disorder and panic attacks.

The psychiatrist can manage these patients conservatively, by prescribing medication and referring them to a psychologist for psychotherapy, or they may be admitted to a psychiatric hospital so that they can be managed further. At a psychiatric hospital, patients can be managed in a safe environment where the psychiatrist will consult with them, they will be seen by a psychologist and they can also be referred to allied healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dieticians for their services. This approach encompasses the idea of treating a patient holistically.

Tuesday and Wednesday

The psychiatrist will continue to see their hospital patients in the morning and their out-patients at their office in the afternoon. One of these days will also be used to perform non-clinical administrative tasks such as having meetings with hospital staff and management as well as medical representatives.

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Thursday

Hospital patients will be seen in the morning. The afternoon will be used for either teaching undergraduate students and postgraduate clinical assistants, or the specialist will be filling out chronic prescriptions, performing further research for their own educational needs or filling out motivation letters and forms for medical insurance companies .

Friday

Once the hospital patients have been seen, the specialist will finalise the day by sorting out any unfinished administrative tasks.

The doctor that is on call for the weekend will be in charge of the medical care of their own patients and the patients who were discussed with them by their colleagues.