Expert Mental Health Help: What You Need to Know About Psychiatry.

Hello! Welcome to this blog and newsletter dedicated to nurturing your well-being through discussion and information of pertinent mental health topics. I’m Christine, a certified psychiatric Physician Assistant. Let me explain what that title means.

First, what is psychiatry?

Is it the same as psychology? Psychology is the study of the human mind and it’s function. Psychiatry is the specialized branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. So I’m a therapist?  Not quite. Some people call psychiatric providers “prescribers” because what sets up apart from other mental health clinicians (ex: therapists, psychologists, social workers), is that we are able to prescribe medications for mental health disorders. Psychotherapists do more “talk therapy” and go for a deep dive into who you are, what makes you tick, and helps you heal those deep down parts. I, and many other psychiatric providers, can provide some talk therapy but we likely aren’t going to take as deep a dive like a therapist would.  Both psychiatric and psychotherapeutic care are useful and often work best when used together.

(In May look out for a post on all of the different members of the mental healthcare team to help you understand the myriad of people available to help you and your community)

What is a Physician Assistant?

I’m so glad that you asked! Physician Assistants a.k.a. Physician Associates a.k.a. PAs are trained in medicine and can evaluate, diagnose, treat, and prescribe medications like doctors.  In brief, I like to say that I went to mini-medical school where I learned 80% of med school material in 75% of the time.  Generally, PAs do on the job training and learning in conjunction with a doctor.  As the field has grown, PAs have been entrusted with more and more independent practice. Click here for more information on this topic. 

A certified PA or PA-C means that the PA has taken the national certification exam and passed and deemed competent to practice medicine by the national board. Some PAs also get a certificate of additional qualification (CAQ). This means that they have worked in a particular specialty (ex: cardiology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, or, of course, psychiatry) for a minimum of 2,000 clinical hours (about 2 years) and taken and passed another nationally certified exam. My CAQ exam for psychiatry was a rigorous 4-hour exam that I was worn out after taking. After doing a post-graduate fellowship in psychiatry and working in a clinic for about 3 years, I was well prepared and was very happy when I passed the first time.  Though, it isn’t necessary for a PA to have a CAQ to work in a specialty, it’s can be a nice to know that a PA has passed the national exam for competency in the subject.

Why I am writing to now?

I’m guessing that you’ve noticed (either from how you feel, how friends and family feel, or what you hear is going on in your community) that there is a mental health crisis going on right now.  Something has shifted in our world and we need help.  With my experience and expertise, I can offer some of the help that we need.  These posts will begin with information on what mental health and mental illness look like, when and how to get help for you or a loved, and how to find a mental health care practitioner that fits what you need. It will only grow after that! 

I look forward to reading your comments on what YOU want and need to know about how to get and stay well!