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Psychologists prescribing in US.

Psychologists are prescribing in this US. This might be part of the answer.

Quinn Signs Psychologist Prescription Bill
Chicago Tribune | Monique Garcia | June 25th 2014 i 
Here are some excerpts:

[begin excerpts]

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday signed into law a bill that will make Illinois the third state to allow psychologists to prescribe medications commonly used to treat mental illness.

Quinn's signature comes after a contentious 12-year battle on the issue.

Typically, a patient sees a psychologist, who is a Ph.D., for therapy, and a psychiatrist, who is an M.D., for medication, such as anti-depressants.

Advocates argued a change in law would improve access to mental health care, while opponents argued psychologists are not as qualified as psychiatrists to prescribe medications.

A compromise was reached this spring, and the resulting measure requires psychologists to undergo extensive training and work under the supervision of a physician.

They'll only be permitted to prescribe a limited class of drugs and will be prohibited from writing prescriptions for minors, seniors or any patient with a serious mental condition.

<snip>

Illinois joins New Mexico and Louisiana in granting the right to prescribe to psychologists.

Under the new law, psychologists could earn prescription rights after they have completed 2-1/2 years of additional, postdoctoral training, with course work requirements including graduate-level instruction in numerous areas such as neuroscience and psychopharmacology.

In addition, training would require that psychologists treat a minimum of 100 patients under the supervision of a qualified medical practitioner, according to the legislation.

Psychologists would be able to prescribe antidepressants, such as Prozac, but not stimulants, such as Ritalin, commonly used for attention deficit disorder.

[end excerpts]
 
via @JessPsyArenella.
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