If you're lucky, you'll get an awesome psychiatrist like mine who also does therapy in addition to medication management. (A lot of them don't do therapy.) My appointments are always 50 minutes and sometimes I get a little extra if he doesn't have any other patients after me.

The intake appointment is usually pretty long. You talk about your current symptoms, go over your medical and personal history, meds you're taking/have taken, what your childhood was like, and etc. You may or may not get a diagnosis on your first visit. Don't be surprised or disappointed if this happens; it just mean the doctor is taking his/her time and being careful to get it right. S/he may also talk about starting therapy and/or medication, usually a mood stabilizer if bipolar is a possibillty. Then you make a follow up appointment if the pdoc feels s/he needs to see you again (if the appointment is only a psych consult, you'll go back to your regular doctor).

Hope that's helpful. If you need one, a good psychiatrist is worth his or her weight in gold, and I mean that. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for mine.