Can someone give me a little insight as to what psychiatry consists of??

[JohnBoy2000]

Cause they're not pharmacologists, right?

Are they neuroscientists in some capacity?

They don't seem to understand the particulars of drug mechanics, interactions, or molecular transduction responsible for therapeutic yield.
Which appears to me to be largely the scientific basis for illness amelioration.

So - I gotta know - what is it they've been through in their education process?

What does becoming a psychiatrist consist of?

 

[sekio]

Wikipedia:

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are medical doctors, unlike psychologists, and must evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments, or strictly psychiatric.

As part of the clinical assessment process, psychiatrists may employ a mental status examination; a physical examination; brain imaging such as a computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET) scan; and blood testing. Psychiatrists prescribe medicine, and may also use psychotherapy, although the vast majority do medical management and refer to a psychologist or other specialized therapist for weekly to bi-monthly psychotherapy.

Good psychiatrists will have an understanding of pharmacology and the ability to diagnose mental disorders.

 

[Moxious]

As Sekio quoted from wiki, psychiatrists are medical doctors who have taken a specialization in mental health. So the bulk of their training is the same as any physician, with a (typically) 2-year program to specialize.

This is in contrast to a psychologist who generally have 6 years of clinical training (talk therapy) and research background, but since they have no medical training cannot prescribe anything, although there is a push among psychologists to allow some prescription as they generally have a better understanding of the mechanics of psychiatric medication than psychiatrists.

Neither are pharmacologists, which are research scientists who develop and assay drugs and have the best understanding of their action and mechanics.

Of course as above, individuals can cross-train, so a decent psychiatrist will study the other fields so they can be more effective. This isn't always the case however..

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

They know enough to be able to tell if a symptom is bodily or of mental nature. They know the basic MOA of the medications they prescribe. They know criteria of illnesses and algorithms on medication regimes based on the criteria. They should be relatively up to date on the research side of things (for example, that lamictal doesn't really work more on depression as they thought).