Future of Psych

[Psychintern2006]

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What do you all think we are heading to?

There has been a reduction of In Patient beds progressively; even places like Johns Hopkins are working from a 500 sq ft ER with one resident by himself.
Is there a future for current residents say 10-15 years from now? Insurance is not paying the Hospital for regular stays/ visits. When patient stops saying he is a suicidal -Insurance stop paying right away, obviously we cannot discharge patient.

Graduates are complaining of decreasing Salaries. Is Psychiatry no more part of "Medicine" ?.

Not sure what's going on!

Wonder other specialties are also being 'shrunk' gradually. Don't blame me🙄. It is cloudy outside

 

[CapitalPsych]

I don't know where you are located but that is absolutely not the case in Texas, and we rank almost dead last in spending on mental health. I live in Austin and if you call any psychiatrist for an appointment you're looking at a 3 month wait to get an appointment for an initial psych eval. Most private psychiatrists don't even hassle with filing insurance claims for patients. You pay cash upfront, get a receipt, then you fight with your insurance company for reimbursement.

Even jobs at MHMR, which is the state funded mental health department, pay fairly good wages. If you are an American grad and are board eligible/certified the amount of money you make is linear to how much you want to work. If you only want to see patients M-Th, 8-5, you're only going to make $100-120K, but if you want to put in 50-60 hours per week, many psychiatrists that I know are making 300-400K.

I am a 3rd year and have already been courted by several groups that are willing to fill my schedule with patients calling for appointments after I graduate. I have specifically asked about salary and was told that I could easily make in a month of private practice what I make in a year as a resident.

 

[Faebinder]

I think Psych is moving to be more outpatient now. Good or bad is up to you really. There will always be the consultation service of psych.

 

[whopper]

I'm wondering how much TransMagnetic cranial Stimulation will affect the field. I had read several studies making it seem as if it were as good as ECT but minus the "fry the brain" connotations & memory loss.

If TMS is as good as some claim it to be, I can see it revolutionizing the field. I have however heard from sources that its results are overrated and actually some studies claim it is not more effective than placebo.

And if it were to actually work--and work well, would the pharm companies try to undermine it?

 

[Ffinnian]

Perhaps, but there is no way to limit its use to psychiatrists. For example 80% 0f psych meds get written in primary care, not by psych NPs, prescribing psychologists etc... These folks are only helping, not hurting our field because they REFER.