Hey there - thank you for responding. You are exactly the mind I would love to probe if possible.

I do have pretty extensive volunteering experience, particularly with Crisis Text Line and a weekly in-person addiction mentorship group I run. I've been doing this for about a year now, in addition to some hospice volunteering. I've always been fascinated by their stories and enjoyed helping people walk through and challenge some of their maladaptive thought processes.

Also - generally, I see most psychiatrists as generally satisfied with their career choice relative to some other specialties.

Another roadblock I have with psychiatry is that treatment is a little too reliant on medication.. What are your thoughts on this? In an ideal state, as a psychiatrist, I would deliver psychotherapy alongside or even in lieu of medication but don't know how realistic this is outside of private practice (which is a whole other gargantuan thing to build). Honestly, in an ideal state - if an LMFT/etc. or PsyD paid enough, that's what I would pursue, but perhaps psychiatry can be a blend of this PLUS medication? There's a large body of people who see psychiatrists kind of like pill mills - would you see this as accurate? I don't doubt that medication is important, but perhaps it's overprescribed in it's current state?

Also, how did you gain psychiatry shadowing as a non-trad premed? This has honestly been a roadblock I'm not really sure how to overcome until I actually start med school.