Typical questions during an interview

[whopper]

A medical student pm'd me and asked me what questions may one get during an interview.

I chose to respond here because I think this is a meaningful general question that is often asked during the interview season. I don't know how long SDN holds older posts because I know I've answered this question before.

Some typical questions I remember being asked during my interviews...


What made you choose psychiatry?

Can you present one of your most interesting cases?

What is your biggest weakness?

Tell me something about yourself that may let me get to know you better in the limited time we have.

Where do you see yourself practicing in 4-10 years?

Do you plan on staying in the area (of the residency)?

Can you name the DSM criteria on this disorder? (Don't worry, it'll be one of the more basic ones such as depression or schizophrenia. Don't expect something out of left field such as Ganser's syndrome).

Can you name any psychiatric books you've read?

What was the most interesting experience you've had in your medical or psychiatric training?

Explain to me the 5 axis system we use in the DSM.

Several questions may be derived from your personal statement, or issues in your application good or bad. This can be an opportunity to discuss a weakness in your application that may unfairly blemish your appearance. E.g. if you had a bad term in medical school because of a personal tragedy, you can discuss it in more detail during the interview.

Why did you choose this program?

Here were some of the tougher questions, or questions that I thought were somewhat out of line.

Are you mentally ill?

Hmm, given that you're (a female, male, white, asian, black, what have you), your parents must have been (disappointed, happy etc) with your choice in psychiatry. Tell me about that.

Any attempt to psychoanalyze a candidate. Psychoanalysis requires the interviewer to know the person for several sessions. I found it interesting, even a bit out of line for psychiatrists to attempt to psychoanalyze candidates except as a means to break the ice, and with full disclosure to the candidate that this is the only intent. I've seen some psychiatrists try to make candidates feel uncomfortable or try to make themselves appear to know more about the candidate than was actually the case.

I've seen and heard some cases where the interviewer made some very inappropriate comment such as "it appears you have a apparently have some type of insecurity" or something to that effect after only talking to the candidate for a few minutes, and with no real basis other than hypothetical analysis. That IMHO is out of line.

Loaded questions. Some people on occasion will get an interviewer who will try to box you in a corner as if you are a hostile witness in court. While this is apparently rare, it can happen. If I were you I wouldn't care. (In fact I recommend you try to use this as a means of self entertainment while you see the interviewer get in a histrionic display.) If you're like most candidates, you'll have several options and interviews. So what if one place you're not treated well? You'll likely have several choices. Remember if a place interviews you, they're interested in you. The relationship is not as much against you as if it during the medical school admission process. Just like if you had a bad experience in a restaurant, you have the choice of several others. If some guy treats you like a hostile witness, nix that program (unless there's just something about that program that makes you have to be there.....).

(Oh, and by the way, the one guy that did this to me, a friend of mine who did go to that program told me that attending assaulted a resident a few months later, and had a long list of residents complaining that this guy was over the top with blowing up in anger.)

In general, expect about 1 hostile/out of line interviewer for every 10-20. Believe me, if you get an interview the program is seriously considering you vs the hundreds of others where they did not offer an interview.

I only had one extremely out of line interview during my residency process. I did have 3 interviewers ask some out of line questions, but it wasn't to the extreme where I was thinking there was something really wrong with the interviewer. I had for example one guy say "you've made your parents mandate." only on the basis of my race which I thought was out of line. I had one interviewer comment that "Intermittent Explosive Disorder is a bull$hit diagnosis (in anger when I was asked about an interesting case I had. In that particular case the guy responded fairly quickly to a mood stabilizer even though he did not meet criteria for bipolar disorder. I didn't think the diagnosis was bull$****, and I thought her comment was somewhat out of line. However since those comments weren't part of a chorus of other out of line comments I figured maybe the interviewer didn't mean anything bad.

The point is you may get a tough interviewer, but in general most programs want you to have a friendly experience because they want you in their program.

For all of you that recently had a interview, please list some of the questions you had.

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[VMSmith]

Here are a few I got at almost all my interviews:

1. "Tell me about yourself." The first time I got this question, I started to answer with an explanation about my interest in psychiatry, but the interviewer interrupted me and rephrased the question to ask specifically about my life growing up. After the second time it happened, I got the message and from then on answered by telling my "whole" story from the start. I got this question from at least one (usually more than one) interviewer at every single one of my interviews, and they were all interested in hearing about my teenage years/early adulthood.

2. "What did your parents/friends/classmates/etc think about your decision to go into psychiatry?" I was surprised by how often I was asked this one.

3. "What have you been reading lately?"

4. "How did you decide on psychiatry? Did you consider any other specialties?"

5. "Why do you want to come to X program?" or "Can you see yourself living in X city?" or "Where else are you applying?" or "I see you're from Y city. Are you planning to move back there someday?" Basically some variation on the theme of "How interested are you in our program, really?"

6. "What are you looking for in a program?"

I was never pimped, and was only asked to present a case once.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Nice, Whopper--

Here's a few I call up frequently as well:

What type of practice do you envision for yourself after residency?

How do you think the practice of psychiatry here differs from where you've trained so far?

How have you helped your patients deal with the stigma associated with mental illness?

What do you find attractive about our community?
What do you like to do in your spare time? (Gives me an opportunity to "sell" the area and its cultural resources.)

What are you looking for in the program you will rank #1?

 

[cookymonster]

Wow, I didn't realize I'd be expected to have read psychiatric books. During medical school, aside from articles and texts related to my patients, I do not have time to read, period. If I were to have enough leisure time to read a book before interview season gets underway, what are some you guys would recommend?

ETA: Just remembered the sticky thread for books, so I'll start there. Other suggestions still welcome.

 

[masterofmonkeys]

Here are a few I got at almost all my interviews:

1. "Tell me about yourself." The first time I got this question, I started to answer with an explanation about my interest in psychiatry, but the interviewer interrupted me and rephrased the question to ask specifically about my life growing up. After the second time it happened, I got the message and from then on answered by telling my "whole" story from the start. I got this question from at least one (usually more than one) interviewer at every single one of my interviews, and they were all interested in hearing about my teenage years/early adulthood.

I got asked this one a couple of times. At one location that I will decline to name, the interviewer kept trying to get me to say that I didn't enjoy my college experience, despite the fact that I loved it. I have no idea why.

2. "What did your parents/friends/classmates/etc think about your decision to go into psychiatry?" I was surprised by how often I was asked this one.

4. "How did you decide on psychiatry? Did you consider any other specialties?"

These questions, as well as ones relating to stigma of going into psychiatry.

"I bet your parents were excited when you decided to become a doctor", but said in a way that made it pretty clear they were getting at a. my mom being a doctor and b. my indian ancestry.

Luckily for me I'm the only indian in history who can say 'no' to that question.

I was only asked to present a case once, but it was more 'tell me about a case that was interesting to you and why it was interesting.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

One memorable question I got on an interview was when the prof called me out regarding something I'd said in my PS about research and saving lives or some such claptrap--he said "80% of my patients are chronic schizophrenics whose condition is NOT going to improve in their lifetime. How do you propose to deal with that?"

I gave a good answer. I won't say what, because it might be something that would be good for you to work out for yourselves. However, it did not involve appealing to the proverbial "more research".

 

[whopper]

I didn't realize I'd be expected to have read psychiatric books.

I wouldn't worry about this too much, and I'm sorry if I implanted some anxiety by mentioning this.

I did get a question about any good psychiatry books I might have read. However the reality is very few medical students would have read anything psychiatry related other than what they were supposed to read in their medical education, or something blatant in the popular media such as Silence of the Lambs (the movie, not the book).

Nonetheless, I was asked this question more than once, and I was actually able to give a good answer-I read Young Man Luther in high school, which was one of the first experiences that made me consider going to psychology of psychiatry. In that book, Erik Erickson got as much collateral information as he could on the historical figure Martin Luther (not Jr.), and attempted to psychoanalyze him.

However I also read some psychiatry books that might've made me look bad (unfairly--if you only looked at the surface). I did mention Toxic Psychiatry by Breggin. If you're not aware, Breggin is a contrarian who has (at least IMHO, but also in the majority of psychiatrists) criticized the current form of psychiatry in some unfair and rather unscientific means. I still thought his book was good because there are issues in psychiatry that he brought out that we should address, but aren't actively debating in our field such as the over-medication of several patients, and the ever decreasing reliance on psychotherapy.

I think for any open minded psychiatrist, the criticisms Breggin brings up in Toxic Psychiatry should be addressed because it'll prevent some psychiatrists from falling into the problems he cites. However Breggin himself presented his argument in a manner too vitriolic, and he has engaged in several other controversial if not unprofessional endeavors.

I don't think the interviewers are specifically looking to see if you've read any books. I think they're just trying to see where your interest in psychiatry stems from.

Any autobiography can be improvised into this question because autobiographies can be a source of psychoanalysis and other forms of psychological analysis. E.g. if you've read Mien Kampf, it could help to you understand Hitler's mind on an analytical level.

 

[kev2180]

if you are asked about an interesting case, how far in depth would you go about it? I am just unsure how detailed the answer should be.

 

[animas]

if you are asked about an interesting case, how far in depth would you go about it? I am just unsure how detailed the answer should be.

Had the same question as well. Casual and conversational or just as you'd present to an attending?

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Had the same question as well. Casual and conversational or just as you'd present to an attending?

I'd gauge it by how much time you have in the interview and how formal the interviewer seems to be--but in this context it would be almost crazy to do more than the two-minute sketch. The key issue is probably more "what made this case interesting to you, and why?"

 

[NJWxMan]

My "favorite" interviews are always the ones in which the faculty member is completely unprepared, has read none of your statements, and wants you to do their job for them by asking "So, what questions do you have for me?" I found that especially common early in the interview process (October) and it became less and less as the months went on and as I interviewed at programs that were more interested in me (geograph. or specialty wise).

Worst interview scenario was when a faculty member gave me a case and asked me how I would treat the patient. She then went on to ask me the side effect profile of that said medication. I gave three SE's. Her response was "What else?" I would answer with another and she would simply respond with "What else?" It was stupid and out of hand. The PD would have been embarrassed if she knew what this attending was doing during her interviews.

 

[Sneezing]

-Do you have any questions for me?
-Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?
-Tell me about your 3rd year psych rotation.
-Why Psych?
-Why here?
-What are you looking for in a program? (I hate this one!)

 

[kugel]

-Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now?

Answer to the PES director interviewing me:
"After residency, I want to get 3-5 years experience as an attending, then I'll probably start going after your job."

Interpretation of myself: "Testicles-in-place-of-brains Syndrome"

Her answer:
"7-9 years from now...I'll be ready to leave this job by then, so that should be fine."

Conclusion: Better to be lucky than smart

I did go to residency there. That attending died during my residency. I ended up leaving that city after residency. And one of my best friends in residency took the PES director job.

 

[Psychelle]

Oh my gosh Kugel, you said that? Eeks. I would admire your ambition but...


I like interviews that start with some specific questions and turn into a nice conversation. The worst is an interview that starts with "what questions do you have?" I don't know the best questions to ask an interviewer until I've gotten to know them a bit, and it seems a bit lazy on their part.

One of my interviewers asked me questions in Spanish after I specifically said that I didn't put Spanish in "languages" because I'm not fluent anymore. That was... odd. And really awkward.

 

[Sophie]

So far I've had one interviewer ask me specifically about what I was like in high school (maybe because that's an awkward time for most people? ), and then pretty much wanted me to psychoanalyze my former self. It wasn't done in an intimidating way, though, and I thought it was kind of interesting.

Other than that, just the standard. When did you decide that you want to go into psychiatry? What do you like about psychiatry? Why this program? What are you looking for in a program? Present an interesting case. What do you see yourself doing in 5 or 10 years? Why medicine? What are your strengths and weaknesses? How have you liked medical school? What did you do before medical school? Tell me about yourself.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

One memorable question I got on an interview was when the prof called me out regarding something I'd said in my PS about research and saving lives or some such claptrap--he said "80% of my patients are chronic schizophrenics whose condition is NOT going to improve in their lifetime. How do you propose to deal with that?"

I gave a good answer. I won't say what, because it might be something that would be good for you to work out for yourselves. However, it did not involve appealing to the proverbial "more research".

Hmmm... Seeing the person behind the diagnosis and fostering empathy with them?