The Psych Clerkship Code: Excelling in Your 4‑Week Psychiatry Clerkship

🧠 The Psych Clerkship Code

Excelling in Your 4‑Week Psychiatry Rotation — Even If You’ve Never Felt Comfortable Talking to Psych Patients Before

You’ve just been assigned to psychiatry — and you’re feeling unsure.

You’re not sure how to talk to a patient who's hearing voices.

You don’t know the difference between flat affect and blunt affect.

You’re not confident in your mental status exam.

You’re worried the rotation is too “vibe-based” to know how to actually excel.

And let’s be real — everyone says “psych is easy,” but the honors rate is lower than you thought.

Here’s the truth: psych isn’t hard — but it is different.

You don’t need to know how to intubate or retract, but you do need to master emotional intelligence, DSM criteria, medication side effects, and how to sound like a competent clinician when you present a patient with psychosis.

And no one actually teaches you that.

Most med students go into their psychiatry clerkship thinking they can wing it.

They show up late, zone out during consults, take 2 weeks to learn the meds, and scramble to study the weekend before the shelf.

Then they wonder why they didn’t get honors.

✅ They didn’t ask the right safety questions.

✅ Their MSEs were too vague.

✅ Their presentations lacked depth.

✅ They never followed up on collateral or contributed to the plan.

✅ And their attendings? They saw all of that.

If you want to stand out in psych, you need more than just knowledge — you need strategy.

Introducing:

💥 The Psych Clerkship Code

The most comprehensive, practical, and brutally honest guide to excelling in your psychiatry rotation as a 3rd-year med student.

Inside this game-changing guide, you’ll get:

🧠 Inpatient, outpatient, and consult-liaison workflows — so you always know what to expect

🗣️ Exact phrasing for high-yield psych interviews — no more awkward dead air

🧾 How to write and present a perfect MSE — with sample phrases that sound pro

📚 Shelf prep broken down by timeline + resource strategy — no fluff, just what works

💡 Insider tips to get honors — from pre-rounding to pimp questions to patient rapport

🚩 Common student mistakes and how to avoid them — this is what actually sinks grades

🤝 How to be useful to your team — and become the student they want to evaluate highly

If you’re tired of vague advice and just want a roadmap to shine on this rotation, this is it.

🎯 Who This Guide Is For:

• M3s starting their psychiatry rotation (core or elective)
• Anyone who wants to score honors without guesswork
• Students who value structure, insider tips, and real examples
• Future surgeons, pediatricians, internists — because every specialty needs psych skills

📈 What You’ll Walk Away With:

• A clear system to crush your psych shelf
• Confidence to connect with and present psych patients
• The exact habits that lead to glowing evaluations
• And a rotation where your attendings remember you for all the right reasons

🚨 Don’t wait until week 3 to figure it out.

Start your psych rotation strong from day 1 with The Psych Clerkship Code.

Because in psych, it’s not about working harder.

It’s about knowing how to work smarter — and that’s what this guide delivers.