A guide for doctors considering psychiatry
Psychiatry
after NEET-PG.
The work you will do.
The life you want to build.
A clear look at income, training and personal fit, drawing on your questions and my experience in psychiatry.
Start with the money question
01 / Beyond the stereotype
What the story
tells the doctor.
Listening is where the clinical work begins. Training helps you recognise patterns and decide what to do with them.
“Why am I listening to family stories as a medical student?”
Those stories can reveal how symptoms began, what keeps them going and how life has changed. Psychiatry brings medical assessment, pharmacology and therapeutic work to that understanding.
- In a clinic
- Assessment, treatment and follow-up, independently or as part of a group.
- In a hospital
- Care alongside medical, surgical and cancer teams through consultation-liaison and psycho-oncology services.
- Beyond clinical care
- Teaching, research and mental health education in schools, colleges and workplaces.
Collaboration with psychologists and other specialists can strengthen care. Group education and individual clinical treatment have different responsibilities.
02 / Money and priorities
What does
“enough” mean
to you?
An income figure means little without the life it needs to support.
My starting point is simple: earnings are multifactorial. So is satisfaction. Your goals, family values, living costs and willingness to take risks all belong in the conversation.
Employed work
Compare actual pay, hours, benefits, on-call duties and contract terms.
Independent practice
Consider attendance, collected fees, rent, expenses and time to build a patient base.
What does a clinic budget need to include?
A consultation-focused clinic can start with relatively little equipment. It still needs privacy, secure records, basic clinical arrangements and a safe referral plan. Inpatient and procedural services are different.
Compare setup costs separately from monthly costs. A premium address can raise rent and consultation fees together, without necessarily improving take-home income.
Collected fees − operating costs − taxes = money available to you. A useful budget also allows for cancellations, time off and a slow start.
There is no universal starting-income promise here. Check current offers and local costs before making a financial commitment.
03 / The department and the degree
Knowledge travels.
Skills need practice.
Apps and lectures widen access to knowledge. Supervised cases help you turn it into clinical judgement.
Residency differs by centre and state. Look closely at case exposure, consultant supervision, therapy teaching, language, duty hours and departmental culture. The MD or DNB label alone cannot describe the experience.
What changes from MBBS to MD?
More of the initiative has to come from you. Bring difficult cases to supervision. Ask why a medicine was chosen. Seek feedback on interviews and formulations. Where therapy teaching is limited, actively seek credible supervised training.
Which DM options are available after psychiatry?
AIIMS New Delhi: DM Addiction Psychiatry and DM Psychosomatic Medicine, the programme relevant to the consultation-liaison field. AIIMS Psychiatry’s 2025 conference material describes its psychosomatic medicine DM as India’s first.
NIMHANS: its 2026–27 prospectus lists DMs in child and adolescent, addiction, geriatric and forensic psychiatry. The July 2026 INI-SS prospectus also lists psychosomatic medicine at AIIMS Bathinda.
These are examples, not a complete national list. Check the latest session’s eligibility and final seat matrix, including general versus sponsored seats. A programme’s existence does not mean every category has an opening.
What about NIMHANS fellowships?
NIMHANS offers postdoctoral fellowships in consultation-liaison psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and neuromodulation, among others. Further examples include obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, women’s mental health and community mental health.
A fellowship and a DM are different qualifications. Compare duration, eligibility, supervised clinical work and recognition in the roles you want. A general psychiatry career is also a valid choice.
Can I consider the UK and MRCPsych?
Yes. MRCPsych is the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ membership qualification. It involves Paper A, Paper B and the CASC clinical examination, with eligibility requirements at each stage.
MRCPsych is an acceptable postgraduate qualification for a GMC full-registration application, subject to the GMC’s other requirements. A licence to practise, specialist registration and a job each require further planning. MRCPsych alone does not make someone a UK consultant.
How is Australia different?
Overseas-trained psychiatrists should check the RANZCP specialist-assessment route and Medical Board of Australia / Ahpra registration requirements. Assessment considers your training and experience. Verification, English-language standards, supervision and further assessments depend on the applicable pathway.
The Medical Board also has an expedited route for specified accepted qualifications. An Indian MD/DNB or MRCPsych alone does not automatically confer Australian specialist registration.
How should I compare colleges?
Speak to current residents and recent graduates separately. Ask what they actually do, how quickly help arrives, how therapy is taught, and what happens when someone is struggling. Include fees, bonds, language and distance from your support system.
My experience makes me value my AIIMS Delhi training highly. That is a personal perspective, rather than a ranking of every department.
04 / Emotional load · My experience
“When someone was late,
the first question was:
Is everything all right?”
Dr. Shaurya Garg
Reflecting on his training environment
In my view, psychiatry’s emotional toll is often overstated. Every specialty has emotional demands. Having people who can name those demands and talk about them can make a real difference.
That was my experience. Supportive peers, supervision and boundaries matter. They cannot be assumed in every department, and difficult workloads still deserve attention.
05 / Before you choose
A decision grounded
in everyday work.
Flexibility can be a strength of some psychiatry roles. Your actual rota, responsibilities and boundaries shape the result.
Online care can support flexibility, but clinical work across borders requires checking the rules for the locations involved. Educational talks and clinical therapy are different activities.
Five conversations worth having
Use this checklist to plan what you still need to find out. Your choices stay on this page and are not submitted.
0 of 5 explored. This is a reflection checklist, not a career-fit score.
Sources and context
This guide combines Dr. Garg’s experience with programme and practice information. Opinions about income satisfaction, professional potential and training culture are personal perspectives. It is career education, not an individual health or financial assessment.
- AIIMS INI-SS prospectus, July 2026 — official DM titles, eligibility and session-specific seat categories.
- GeriPsych 2025, AIIMS host department profile — attribution for the first psychosomatic medicine DM in India.
- NIMHANS postgraduate prospectus, July 2026 — DM and fellowship routes. Check later admission notices for changes.
- MD Psychiatry curriculum, AMRU with NMC guidance — clinical training and competencies.
- Tata Memorial Hospital annual report 2021–22 — an example of psychiatry and psycho-oncology services.
- Indian Telemedicine Practice Guidelines — scope and limits of clinical teleconsultation.
Programme and overseas pathway information checked 27 September 2026. Use the official links for later changes.