A
psychiatrist is a
physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of
mental disorders.
All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in
psychotherapy. As part of their evaluation of the patient, among the
mental health professionals only psychiatrists are authorized to prescribe
psychiatric medication, conduct physical examinations, order and interpret laboratory tests and
electroencephalograms, and may order brain imaging studies such as
computed tomography or computed axial tomography,
magnetic resonance imaging, and
positron emission tomography scanning.