A psychologist and a psychiatrist are often confused as having the same meaning. While both study the brain, emotions, feelings and thoughts, there is a distinct difference between the two fields of study.
Psychiatrists begin their careers in medical school and then go on to four years of residency training typically at a hospital’s psychiatric department.
Psychologists go through five to seven years of academic graduate study and hands-on clinical training, culminating in a doctorate degree.
As medical doctors, psychiatrists can prescribe drugs, whilst psychologists cannot.