Neuro / Psych dual certified?

[MortellarPreMed]

I see alot of Psychiatrists certified in Neurology as well. What does their practice look like? Can they technically be considered Neurologists too or Neuro-Psychiatrists?

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[huskydock]

I recently shadowed a neurologist and asked this very question. Here's what I gathered:

- You can get double boarded in psych and neuro since they share the same American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
- I suppose you can "choose" what you want to be called. However, keep in mind that "neuropsychiatry" is an up and coming, albeit relatively unknown sub-specialty of psychiatry.
- In terms of practice, most double-boarded physicians end up practicing in one specialty. To do the job of both a neurologist and psychiatrist is exhausting. You would obviously have more training and knowledge of certain neurological disorders and interventions and perhaps psychotherapy. Maybe you would be the doctor of choice for a certain subset of patients who are suffering from both psychiatric and neurological disorders, usually manifesting from the other.
- In the end, it's probably not worth getting double boarded. If you really wanted to integrate more neuroscience or behavior science into your practice, you could subspecialize in behavioral neurology or neuropsychiatry. The primary residency you'd choose would obviously be based on your principal interests.

As a final point, I found this thread for you: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=947599&highlight=neuropsychiatry

Hope this helped!

 

[TriagePreMed]

I'm interested in both Psychiatry and Neurology, but from what I've gathered, it's sort of useless to do a dual residency (6 to 7 years) and get double board certified. Realistically, you'll have to practice one discipline or another. Even if you went private practice, it would be difficult to keep up with both patient populations and be effective.

If you want to be "in between" both specialties where you see patients that exhibit symptoms of both or you want to be a liaison between both specialties, you're much better served by doing a 1 year fellowship after your residency (4 years). As the previous person pointed out, this would make you either a Behavioral Neurologist or Neuropsychiatrist. They both do the exact same fellowship both mixed in similar groups, and as far as I understand, they call themselves "Behavioral Neurologists" if their residency was in Neurology and "Neuropsychiatrists" if the the original residency was in psychiatry.

 

[MortellarPreMed]

Thanks for the replies! They really were helpful