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SERO Mental Health
La Mesa, California

Psychiatrist (1099/Contractor)

PsychiatryContract

Listed compensation

$295-$300/hr

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 58m ago · Verified live

Job Description

BrightQuest Treatment Centers in La Mesa, CA is seeking a Licensed Psychiatrist.

  • This is a contractor/1099 position

BrightQuest is an organization dedicated to providing highly specialized treatment serving individuals and families suffering from complex mental illness and co-occurring disorders.

Our vision at BrightQuest is to provide best in class treatment founded on a therapeutic community model that provides a supportive environment for social skills development and reparative attachment experiences.

Our mission is to provide hope, strength and inspiration for individuals and families suffering from mental health, co-occurring, and substance use disorders so that they can heal, transform their lives, and realize all the possibilities of a life in recovery.

We value our employees and contractors, and our goal is to engage those who share our core values and our vision.

The Expectations of the Position Include the Following

  • Psychiatric assessment and treatment of a caseload of clients, as determined by the Medical Director in consultation with program leadership. Psychiatric assessment and treatment will include:
  • Conducting diagnostic assessments and developing treatment formulations.
  • Documenting all encounters within the program’s required timeframes, including clinical rationale for diagnoses, medication changes, and risk determinations. Completing all required regulatory, licensing, and administrative forms and other administrative tasks for clients in the caseload.
  • Completing risk assessments (suicidality, homicidality, self-harm risk, and aggression) and supporting safety planning and risk mitigation strategies.
  • Ordering, reviewing, and interpreting laboratory studies when clinically indicated. Prescribing and monitoring pharmacologic treatment, including documenting and monitoring side effects.
  • Supporting medical necessity and peer-review processes for insurance when available
  • Meeting with clients and/or families during the Assessment process for new patient exams.
  • Providing daytime and after-hours crisis management support for clinical and operations staff regarding clients in caseload.
  • Coordinating psychiatric care with outside facilities for clients in caseload.
  • Collaborating with multidisciplinary team, including primary therapist, to regularly review each client on the schedule to integrate what is happening in the therapeutic milieu into the psychiatric care conceptualization.
  • Performing peer review of other psychiatrist records once per quarter as dictated by the Program Director and required by The Joint Commission.
  • Practicing in accordance with the clinical policies, protocols, and order sets established or approved by the Medical Director.

Requirements

  • Experience working with a multidisciplinary team
  • Active CA medical license
  • ABPN Board Certification
  • Maintenance of your own malpractice insurance
  • EMR familiarity (KIPU)
  • Must be at least 18 years of age

The Professional agrees to bill the Company monthly with a description of services provided, hours and description of service(s) rendered. The contractor will be paid for services at a rate of $300 per hour for services rendered as a psychiatrist.

#Priority

Key Responsibilities

Assess and treat clients with complex mental illness and co-occurring disorders, including developing treatment formulations, prescribing and monitoring medication, evaluating risk, and documenting care. Coordinate psychiatric services with families, outside facilities, and multidisciplinary teams, provide crisis support, and complete required administrative and peer-review tasks.

Qualifications

Education
Professional certificate or licensure
Experience
5+ years of experience

Key Skills

Diagnostic AssessmentTreatment PlanningRisk AssessmentPsychopharmacologyMedication MonitoringLaboratory InterpretationMultidisciplinary CollaborationCare CoordinationClinical DocumentationInsurance Peer ReviewElectronic Medical Records

Psychiatry — Physician Career Context

Of the 40 active Psychiatry listings this role was benchmarked against, 68% are remote, 60% have no call, 65% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$619k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $559k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Psychiatry pay on WeekdayDoc is up 8.3% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

Top contract/1099 Psychiatrist Jobs

40 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution36 jobs · 14 employers

15
<$425k
8
$425k-450k
8
$450k-475k
1
$475k
4
$500k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks33 jobs · 14 employers

Sign-on bonus
82%
401k / retirement match
82%
CME allowance
33%
Visa sponsorship
6%
Loan repayment
3%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Collaborating Psychiatrist

Eleanor Health · Washington, District of Columbia

$200-$250/hr
#2

Child Psychiatrist | Independent ContractorContract

Stars Behavioral Health Group · San Jose, California

$200-$240/hr
#3

Psychiatrist

Salary Range: $180.00…
#4

Remote Psychiatrist (MD/DO) | Part Time - West Virginia License or IMLC Required

$175/hr
+ 38 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.4this job 3.0
Better work-life than 20% of Psychiatry listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,879 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in La Mesa

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$891k
Typical market rent
$2,645/mo
Residents’ average commute
24 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
111.9
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

City-level figures. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.