Pros-Helping the mentally ill (a population in our society that is definitely looked down upon), job flexibility, time for family, decent pay (150k-180k typically) especially for hours worked, low malpractice, spending time with patients, unmatched day-to-day variety
Cons-decent but not outstanding pay, underappreciation by other physicians/lay public (until they need you, of course), lay public confusion with Psychologists (many people think they are the same), some people don't realize that you are a physician/M.D./D.O., dealing with disease processes that are largely intangible, safety issues with some patients, personality disorders
Most of the cons can be erased by Psychiatrists getting out and letting the public know what they do and that they graduated from medical school. If you remember a few years ago The Opthomologists were upset that people were confusing them with Optometrists so they took out a full page ad in USA TODAY explaining their profession and used the catch phrase "Eye MDs". Also Internists (Internal Medicine physicians) were getting confused with Interns (first year residents) and did the same thing as the Opthomologists and took out a full page ad in USA TODAY describing the difference and using the phrase "Doctors for Adults". Psychiatrists should do the same.
