Psychiatrists

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Diagnose, treat, and help prevent disorders of the mind.

tasks jobzones knowledge skills abilities work_activities work_context interests work_styles work_values

Tasks

  • Serve on committees to promote and maintain community mental health services and delivery systems.

  • Prepare and submit case reports and summaries to government and mental health agencies.

  • Teach, conduct research, and publish findings to increase understanding of mental, emotional, and behavioral states and disorders.

  • Review and evaluate treatment procedures and outcomes of other psychiatrists and medical professionals.

  • Advise and inform guardians, relatives, and significant others of patients' conditions and treatment.

  • Examine or conduct laboratory or diagnostic tests on patient to provide information on general physical condition and mental disorder.

  • Design individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments.

  • Gather and maintain patient information and records, including social and medical history obtained from patients, relatives, and other professionals.

  • Counsel outpatients and other patients during office visits.

  • Collaborate with physicians, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals to discuss treatment plans and progress.

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Job Zone

  • Name: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

  • Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

  • Education: A bachelor's degree is the minimum formal education required for these occupations. However, many also require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

  • Job training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

  • Examples: These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include librarians, lawyers, aerospace engineers, physicists, school psychologists, and surgeons.

  • Svp range: (8.0 and above)

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Knowledge

Browse Knowledge
  • Therapy and Counseling
    Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

  • Psychology
    Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

  • Medicine and Dentistry
    Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

  • Customer and Personal Service
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

  • Education and Training
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • English Language
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • Biology
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

  • Sociology and Anthropology
    Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • Philosophy and Theology
    Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

  • Chemistry
    Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

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Skills

Browse Skills
  • Social Perceptiveness
    Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

  • Active Listening
    Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

  • Active Learning
    Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

  • Critical Thinking
    Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

  • Persuasion
    Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

  • Reading Comprehension
    Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

  • Learning Strategies
    Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

  • Complex Problem Solving
    Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

  • Monitoring
    Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

  • Coordination
    Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

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Abilities

Browse Abilities
  • Inductive Reasoning
    The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

  • Problem Sensitivity
    The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

  • Written Expression
    The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

  • Oral Comprehension
    The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

  • Oral Expression
    The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

  • Deductive Reasoning
    The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

  • Written Comprehension
    The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

  • Speech Recognition
    The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • Information Ordering
    The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • Category Flexibility
    The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

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Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Face-to-Face Discussions
    How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job?

  • Freedom to Make Decisions
    How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer?

  • Frequency of Decision Making
    How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization?

  • Telephone
    How often do you have telephone conversations in this job?

  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results
    How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company?

  • Contact With Others
    How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it?

  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
    How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions?

  • Work With Work Group or Team
    How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job?

  • Consequence of Error
    How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable?

  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
    How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job?

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Interests

Browse Interests
  • Investigative
    Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

  • Artistic
    Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

  • Social
    Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

  • Enterprising
    Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • Realistic
    Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

  • Conventional
    Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

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Work Styles

  • Concern for Others
    Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

  • Integrity
    Job requires being honest and ethical.

  • Self Control
    Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

  • Attention to Detail
    Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

  • Dependability
    Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

  • Stress Tolerance
    Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.

  • Cooperation
    Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

  • Social Orientation
    Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.

  • Achievement/Effort
    Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

  • Independence
    Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

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Work Values

Browse Work Values
  • Achievement-Mean Extent
    Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

  • Ability Utilization
    Workers on this job make use of their individual abilities.

  • Achievement
    Workers on this job get a feeling of accomplishment.

  • Social Service
    Workers on this job have work where they do things for other people.

  • Responsibility
    Workers on this job make decisions on their own.

  • Autonomy
    Workers on this job plan their work with little supervision.

  • Security
    Workers on this job have steady employment.

  • Social Status
    Workers on this job are looked up to by others in their company and their community.

  • Independence-Mean Extent
    Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

  • Recognition
    Workers on this job receive recognition for the work they do.

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