Nurses often have to work with patients who are taking any number of extremely powerful drugs that affect their minds. Psychiatric nurses need to be familiar with these classes of drugs and their effects. As an example, Northeastern University has an online course for nursing students to study psychopharmacology in children and adolescents. The course covers topics like managing patients on drugs, side effects, interactions and an introduction to all of the major types of psychopharmaceuticals that may be used when treating younger patients.
Not all psychologists are able to prescribe drugs. Many work solely in the field of counseling and therapy. Others want to expand their practices to include the ability to prescribe chemical treatments for their patients, and they can do this by studying psychopharmacology. Post-doctoral courses are available for psychologists who want to qualify to prescribe drugs. The American Psychological Association requires that these college courses include at lest 300 hours of instruction in core areas of study, one of which is psychopharmacology. These must be accrued at an approved school. Then, upon completion of the program, the psychologist can apply to write the Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP). A psychologist applying for a license to prescribe medications in their state will usually need to have a passing grade on this test before a license is granted.
Psychiatrists attend medical school like all doctors and then proceed to a specialized residency in psychiatry. When medical students are in training, they have the opportunity to direct their electives based on the type of medicine that they want to pursue. At Harvard, the advanced psychiatry courses include a large component on psychopharmacology. At Johns Hopkins, there are electives on topics like sedatives and hallucinogens and pharmacology classes that provide an education on psychopharmacology topics.
Psychiatrists already have education in psychopharmacology by the time they are practicing in their field. Medicine of all kinds, however, requires ongoing education in the field. That is why colleges will occasionally offer master classes in topics like psychopharmacology that are aimed at providing ongoing education to practicing psychiatrists. Harvard, as an example, offered a two-day master class in 2010 that focused on psychopharmacology in a number of applications. Special attention was paid to the use of drugs in the treatment of difficult patients.