The differences between psychiatry and psychology can seem as inscrutable to the average person as the mysteries of the mind. When someone is mentally ill, is in emotional distress or has trouble coping with life, who is in the better position to help?
Who are they?
The Oxford English dictionary defines the suffix '-iatry' as 'healing' whereas '-logy' means 'subject of study'. So while both fields deal with the mind, psychiatry focuses on the medical treatment, while psychology deals with the science. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe medication, and psychologists are not.
According to Peter W.H. Lee, honorary professor in the psychiatry department at University of Hong Kong, psychiatry is a medical speciality concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, similar to the way a cardiologist treats disorders of the heart. Psychologists are concerned with the human mind, behaviour and thought processes, such as how perception, memory, behaviour and habits are formed.
What is their training?
As medical doctors, psychiatrists must first obtain a medical degree or MBBS (bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery) before they undergo another six years of advanced training in the field of psychiatry. According to Dr Chan Kai-tai of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists, practising psychologists here must be a registered medical doctor as well as a registered specialist with the Medical Council, and must have obtained the Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists as well as the Fellowship of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine.
