Even if you are only sub-dividing based on age or stage of the life course you would need to include Aged psychiatry or Geriatric psychiatry, I would imagine...

There are so many physical health differences in aging populations, differences in mobility and ease of physical access to services, differences in income variables (retrenchment, retirement, pensions...) and financial access to services, and differences in interests and role variables.

I have been involved in Australasian sub-specialisation in relation to forensic psychiatry, and am now observing the same process occurring in Canada.

In my view, Child, Psycho-geriatric and Forensic contain sufficient specific knowledge and specialised skills that they clearly separate as legitimate sub-specialities, under the overall rubric of psychiatry. I am not convinced there are others. Consultation-liaison, psychotherapy and administrative psychiatry have each argued they may have a separate distinction, but I think these are interest groups or sections, not sub specialities.

Addictions and intellectual disability have a better argument and the Royal College [UK] argue they are [they are Faculties]; Australasian and Canadian psychiatry are weaker in these areas. In relation to Intellectual disability, this indeed may represent a failure of psychiatry as a discipline outside the UK.

In general my bias is not for divisions [as there is, as implied in your question, so much that is in common]. But some limited sub-specialisation can be justified if the case can be made on the basis of a sufficient degree of distinct knowledge and skills.

Interested in the thoughts of others.

Sandy

The Royal College (UK) has Intellectual Disability as a separate sub-speciality. I was trained in the UK in Intellectual Disability Psychiatry and now I have been working in Canada since May 2013. I belive that a subgroup of people with Intellectual Disability is better served by people who have specialist training.

If quality of patient care is a variable to consider then in my view there is a clear argument for Intellectual Disability to be a sub-speciality.

In Croatia from recently C&A psychiatry is distinct, 5 years specialization but we do not have none of colleguas finshed it yet. Till now we had 4 year specialzation in general psychiatry and after that two years subspecialization in diferent areas including child and adolescents.

Psychiatry has many subspecialties now. In the US they are:

Adult general psychiatry

Child psychiatry

Geriatric psychiatry

Forensic psychiatry

Addiction psychiatry

Consultation and laisaon psychiatry

Sleep Medicine is a multidisciplinary field and a number of psychiatrists are involved

I think the anyone who is in general psychiatry should consider doing a fellowship.

In addition, people can get training in psychoanalysis as well

Psychopharmacology research fellowships are also available