Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code ISC

Psychiatrists

Diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders.

Also called: Adult Psychiatrist, Attending Psychiatrist, Child Psychiatrist, Medical Doctor (MD), Adolescent Psychiatrist, Board Certified Psychiatrist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Consulting Psychiatrist.

O*NET 29-1223.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $281,870; Middle half earn $154,150 to $362,740. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Doctoral Training; 59% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Prescribe, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
Gather and maintain patient information and records, including social or medical history obtained from patients, relatives, or other professionals.
Collaborate with physicians, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals to discuss treatment plans and progress.
Counsel outpatients or other patients during office visits.
Analyze and evaluate patient data or test findings to diagnose nature or extent of mental disorder.
Examine or conduct laboratory or diagnostic tests on patients to provide information on general physical condition or mental disorder.
Design individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments.
Advise or inform guardians, relatives, or significant others of patients' conditions or treatment.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening5.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.4 / 5
Speaking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry5.0 / 5
Therapy and Counseling4.9 / 5
Psychology4.8 / 5
Biology4.6 / 5
English Language4.6 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic22
Investigative93
Artistic27
Social81
Enterprising16
Conventional43

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

specialised doctor · DE Facharzt/Fachärztin · FR médecin spécialiste

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Specialist medical practitioners and consultants (2212)154,900 employed
Generalist medical practitioners (2211)197,900 employed
Other health professionals n.e.c. (2259)111,700 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “医師”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥971,300; Middle half earn ¥666,600 to ¥1,338,000 a month.
Workers in the category: 145,170; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test