Also called: Child Psychiatrist, Addiction Psychiatrist
A medical doctor who diagnoses and treats mental illness, including with medications.
Sees patients with depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, or schizophrenia, adjusts medications, and works with therapists. Some work in ERs evaluating people in crisis; many now see patients by video from home. There is a national shortage, especially for kids.
Estimate; BLS top-codes physician wages.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's, medical school, then a 4-year psychiatry residency (plus 2 more for child psychiatry).
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Psychology, Neuroscience, Biology, Pre-Medicine.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). Severe shortage keeps demand high.
Low risk for 10 years. AI drafts visit notes and flags drug interactions; diagnosing, prescribing and earning a struggling patient's trust stay with the doctor.
Classes: AP Biology, AP Psychology, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 29-1223.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.