So You Want to Be a Psychiatrist
“It might be said of psychoanalysis that if you give it your little finger it will soon have your whole hand.”
-Sigmund Freud
I spent the majority of my day today on my butt. Although it was physical torture for me (I really do hate sitting for long periods of time), I rather enjoyed the day. Most of the day was focused on the topic “So You Want to Be a Psychiatrist,” which is A) a great title for the session, in my opinion and B) a perfect mini-orientation into the field of psychiatry.
Most of the day was spent with the chair of our department, but we also had some special guest appearances by other faculty/directors. Two of the “speakers” were quite accomplished psychoanalysts, and one of them focuses predominantly on psychoanalysis for psychotic patients, which I didn’t even realize was possible.
The reason that I found today so great is because the sessions weren’t just boring lectures, but rather somewhat interactive. In fact, we spent one session deconstructing each of our own personal fears with regards to residency, and another session deconstructing/psychoanalyzing the concept of superstitions. It was absolutely fascinating to me, actually.
Every day that goes by in my psychiatry residency has been reaffirming my decision to pursue psychiatry. Although I do have interests in other fields, psychiatry is truly the most fascinating and mentally stimulating field that I’ve ever encountered. It’s such a pervasive field/genre/specialty/etc., that it’s really virtually impossible to avoid encountering psychiatry in one form or another at one point in your life. And as I learned today, ANY and I mean ANY topic can be psychoanalyzed (perhaps for better or for worse).
I’m as happy as a bean sprout right now! Looking forward to being back on the wards tomorrow, and trying out some of the great advice that I picked up in today’s sessions!