Some are full-time medical scientists, many see clients in private medical practices

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medication devoted to the diagnosis, avoidance, study, and treatment of psychological conditions. Psychiatrists are physicians and assess clients to figure out whether their symptoms are the result of a physical health problem, a mix of physical and mental conditions or strictly psychological problems.

As part of the medical evaluation procedure, psychiatrists may utilize a mental status evaluation; a physical examination; brain imaging such as a computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (ANIMAL) scan; and blood screening. Psychiatrists use pharmacologic, psychotherapeutic, and/or interventional techniques to treat mental illness.

The United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties in the United States provides accreditation and fellowship program accreditation in the subspecialty 'Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry' (BNNP), which is open to both neurologists and psychiatrists.

Psychiatrists specializing in geriatric psychiatry work with the elderly and are called geriatric psychiatrists or geropsychiatrists. Psychiatrists working in the courtroom and reporting to the judge and jury, in both criminal and civil court cases, are called forensic psychiatrists, who likewise deal with mentally disordered transgressors and other clients whose condition is such that they have actually to be dealt with in protected systems.

Other psychiatrists may likewise concentrate on psychopharmacology, psychiatric therapy, psychiatric genetics, neuroimaging, dementia-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), sleep medication, pain medication, palliative medicine, consuming conditions, sexual conditions, women's health, global mental health, early psychosis intervention, state of mind disorders and anxiety disorders such as compulsive-- compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Psychiatrists operate in a wide range of settings. Some are full-time medical scientists, many see clients in private medical practices, seek advice from intermediary psychiatrists see clients in medical facility settings where psychiatric and other medical conditions engage.