diagnostic technology?

[priu]

Hello,

I'll be attending medical school next year, and am trying to learn as much as I can about different fields. I think I would really psych if there was some kind of diagnostic technology (read a couple of threads on the fMRI)... as in commonly used, not just for a few patients. Is this available in psychiatry?

Also... excuse my generalization but I have this perception of psychiatrists being "drug dispensers", "psychoanalysts," or some combo of the two... is there a field in psych that breaks away from those stereotypes? (my mother is a psychiatrist w/ a private practice, and it seems that fo private practice this is generally true). Is ECT interesting? Are there any other modalities distinct from psychoanalysis and psychopharmacology?

Thank you very much for your time.


EDIT:
I certainly don't know what it is like to be a psychiatrist... by 'drug dispenser' I meant a doc who diagnoses the patient and hands out a medication. Hope it didn't offend anyone!

 

[Poety]

research is what you're poking at I think - if you want full time use of the fMRI, have minimal psychotherapy and psychopharm going on - you've got be an academic. To utilize the fMRI's and CT's on a regular basis - those peopel are the researchers studying and mapping how the brain works

You could get your MDPhD or just a PhD

 

[priu]

Thanks for the response! I will have to look into that. I really like the personal aspects of psychiatry... but I think I would be head over heels for it if it involved more clinical hands on stuff or technology. Radiology's huge negative is the lack of patient contact.