Choosing a psychiatric specialty

With so many fascinating specialties within Psychiatry, it is important that you choose the right one.

You must have chosen your specialty by the time you apply to ST4, but it is useful to have a clear idea about what areas interest you before this so that you can make sure your portfolio is tailored to the subspecialty of your choice.

There are a number of tools available to help you with this decision:

• Read our information about the range of specialties, think about what interests you and what you have enjoyed so far in your training.
• Try to talk to colleagues and trainees in as many specialties as possible, this will help you to work out whether a particular one will match your view of it.
• It’s also worth thinking about other factors such as the kind of work/life balance you want and where you want to live.
• You might also find it useful to seek further information from our faculties, or from NHS Health Careers or from local careers advisors or associate deans who can direct you to any local resources.