Ball State University doesn't offer a degree in psychiatry — a field where workers are badly needed in Indiana — but it does teach psychiatric issues in nursing and psychology classes.
Sharon Bowman, chairwoman of the Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services, said it's a strongly needed profession, and it's hard to convince people to do it.
"Some of the other [medical] professions seem more glamorous or easier," she said. "It brings you some different kinds of patients."
The idea that psychiatrists get paid less than other doctors is relative, she said.
Psychiatrists earn a medical degree and can prescribe medicine while psychologists use more conversational methods of therapy, Bowman said.
She said she knew since high school that she wanted to be a psychologist, and medical school wasn't for her.
Bowman said once she understood the difference between psychiatry and psychology, she chose the latter.
"More students go to school to be psychologists because it's easier than medical school," she said.
However, there is a definite need for psychiatrists in the state. According to The Associated Press, there are about 7,000 working child psychiatrists, but the need is more than four times that.
Bowman said because there are so few psychiatrists, workers can choose what population they want to treat, including patients who are children, older adults, military personnel and university students.
In an e-mail, Robin Lett, associate director for Clinical Services, said there are 10 psychologists who provide mental health counseling services to students at Ball State. There is one consulting psychiatrist that comes to campus one day a week, and there is one nurse practitioner at the Counseling Center that can prescribe medication.
Lett said in the e-mail that about 6 percent of students go to the Counseling Center, and one-third of those are referred for a psychiatric evaluation.
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