Specialty Description
Child and adolescent psychiatry is a medical specialty focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of thinking, feeling, and behavior affecting children, adolescents, and their families (1).
What does a child and adolescent psychiatrist do?
Child and adolescent psychiatry is a medical subspecialty that involves working with children, adolescents and their families with emotional and behavioral illnesses.
Child and adolescent psychiatry:
Uses a knowledge of neurological, biological, psychological and social factors to treat patients
Offers a stimulating and rapidly evolving field
Provides opportunities for prevention and early intervention to improve quality of life
Child and adolescent psychiatrists spend meaningful time with patients, have the ability to make a major difference in children’s lives and:
Combine art and science to treat their patients' emotional, behavioral and psychical illnesses
Establish long-term relationships with patients and their family members
Fulfill the tremendous need for more child and adolescent psychiatrists
The field offers diverse and flexible practice options with outstanding job opportunities and remuneration including:
Private practice in solo or group settings
Research and teaching
Consultation to schools, hospitals, courts or other agencies
Advocacy for child mental health and public policy
The field offers flexibility of work hours with a lifestyle that can be tailored to career as well as family, such as:
Opportunities for part-time work
Excellent job-family balance
Top number of job offers per resident on graduation
Highly competitive salaries
Worldwide geographic opportunities