Interview Questions

[gardilimo]

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Does anyone know what kind of questions candidates are asked on Psychiatry residency interviews? Any curveballs you've heard of? Do you have to display your knowledge of psychotherapy/psychopharm in detail 🙄 ?

 

[Anasazi23]

From Creedmore: "Tell me a reason for which your mother is disappointed in you."

No joke...

 

[Doc Samson]

From Creedmore: "Tell me a reason for which your mother is diappointed in you."

No joke...

From Columbia: "Your personal statement isn't personal enough... What has been the greatest source of pain in your life?" 😕

Also from Columbia: "Coming from a medical school in the midwest, your psychiatric education has been like a diet of crackers and water... what do you think makes you ready for the gourmet banquet we have to offer?" 😕 😡

From MGH/McLean: "Did you ever consider becoming a Rabbi?" (As an opening question... nothing on my application to prompt this) 😕

 

[Psyclops]

Also from Columbia: "Coming from a medical school in the midwest, your psychiatric education has been like a diet of crackers and water... what do you think makes you ready for the gourmet banquet we have to offer?" 😕 😡

HAHAHAHA, seriously LOL, that was a great way to start the work day.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

...Also from Columbia: "Coming from a medical school in the midwest, your psychiatric education has been like a diet of crackers and water... what do you think makes you ready for the gourmet banquet we have to offer?" 😕 😡

Your answer: "I just felt the need to experience firsthand the narcissistic self-importance for which your institution is world-renowned".

Holy crap. I am SO glad I didn't interview east of the Alleghenies!

 

[Doc Samson]

HAHAHAHA, seriously LOL, that was a great way to start the work day.

Happy to help. Columbia was the one place where I found myself thinking "Holy ****, this just is NOT the place for me" after ~5 minutes. Confirmation of this came a couple of years later at the APA where some folks from Columbia were giving a presentation on new approaches in psychiatric education and one of them said "this approach might be difficult at first, but I think that most psychiatric residents, even the ones outside of New York, could handle it" without a trace of irony.

 

[Anasazi23]

Q. What population do you like working with the LEAST?

To which I retorted, "so-called MICA patients" and drug abusers.

To which the interviewer replied, "I'm a Substance abuse psychiatrist."

To which I replied. "Thank you for your time."

 

[MBK2003]

HAHAHAHA, seriously LOL, that was a great way to start the work day.

We actually come in every day and sing a song of praise to the ivory tower. Kind of like the pledge of allegiance in elementary school. Only, it has several jabs about psychiatry in the "rest" of the country, where pt's don't stay in the inpatient units for 3-4 months and where pt's don't stay in the psych ER 72 hours awaiting a TOTAL psychiatric evaluation of every single one of their social supports to ensure they are safe to discharge following their ER presentation for "wants a referral for a therapist."

MBK2003

 

[Psyclops]

MBK, you are a compatriate of Juan Valdez?

 

[MBK2003]

MBK, you are a compatriate of Juan Valdez?

Si, Si. I inhabit the upper reaches of northern Manhattan. I have to say, not having done the ivory tower for undergrad or medical school, it's been an interesting exposure to narcissism. Not one I'm planning on continuing past adult residency, but a learning experience nonetheless.

MBK2003

 

[Poety]

Si, Si. I inhabit the upper reaches of northern Manhattan. I have to say, not having done the ivory tower for undergrad or medical school, it's been an interesting exposure to narcissism. Not one I'm planning on continuing past adult residency, but a learning experience nonetheless.

MBK2003

Yes, I decided on this after undergrad, the whole Ivory thing was just too pretentious for me to keep going through my training like that.

 

[ginnywc]

Interviewed mostlyl at Cali programs, in general

Why you want to do Psychiatry

What do u know about our programs (which for one program, i didn't know much) 😡

You wrote a case report, tell me about it....

Only once was I questioned on, "tell me a patient that you treated."

Just relax, interviews usually are not bad for psy

 

[southerngirldo]

Does anyone believe that it is a disadvantage to interviewing early at the residency you're most interested? I'm interviewing at my #1 so far in mid-October. I do, however, have a 2 week elective scheduled with them later.

Oh, and does anyone else have any interview questions they were asked? Should I be prepared to be psycho-analyzed?? 😉

Thanks,
southerngirldo

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Does anyone believe that it is a disadvantage to interviewing early at the residency you're most interested? I'm interviewing at my #1 so far in mid-October. I do, however, have a 2 week elective scheduled with them later.

Oh, and does anyone else have any interview questions they were asked? Should I be prepared to be psycho-analyzed?? 😉

Thanks,
southerngirldo

I was asked whether I was "on a rescue mission" by becoming a psychiatrist. It was an addiction specialist, and I let slip that my father is a recovering alcoholic. I think I answered well--mainly she was looking to confirm that I had some insight into the occupational hazards, and would be a person who could establish professional boundaries appropriately.

 

[raspberry swirl]

"Tell me a reason for which your mother is disappointed in you."

dear lord i dont want that question.

 

[drwatson]

This link was posted on Family Medicine...just a list of general questions that might be asked during a residency interview.

http://www.residencyandfellowship.com/page7.html

 

[Hurricane]

I was asked to name my five favorite movies.

And from another interviewer: "ever tried LSD yourself?" followed by "oh wait, that's probably inappropriate - you don't have to answer that."

 

[Anasazi23]

dear lord i dont want that question.

Why, what did you do?
😉

 

[i61164]

I was asked to name my five favorite movies.

And from another interviewer: "ever tried LSD yourself?" followed by "oh wait, that's probably inappropriate - you don't have to answer that."

Is it a bad idea to admit that you tried it once (hypothetically speaking of course 😉 )?

 

[raspberry swirl]

so i had a really random interview today ... it wasn't for psych, it was for DO internship (back up plan), but it was still random. i didnt get asked a single question. the DME just told me a few things about the program, and didnt even ask if i had any questions. she told me to just ask the intern giving me the tour any questions i had. she said she didnt read personal statements or letters of recommendations, and she didnt care about board scores, as long as you passed everything the first time around. she said she was just looking for twelve interns who would get along and work well together- she only cared about vibe and personality ... it was all very strange! but she was pretty cool, and when i met all the interns later, they all seemed really relaxed and chill, so hey, maybe her theory works ... either way, the whole interview totally caught me off guard!

 

[Poety]

worse ever:

So, your mother have bipolar?

Me: No

Brothers, sisters, dad with bipolar or alcoholism?

ME; uhhh, no

him: proceeded to go on and on aout this previous wife who was an alcoholic which TOTALLY made me uncomfortable. At the end of it all he said "well anyone who went to <insert ivy league name here> is ok in my book.

I left and didn't rank that program at all.

 

[Hurricane]

Is it a bad idea to admit that you tried it once (hypothetically speaking of course 😉 )?

I dunno. I got one of those "we're ranking you highly" emails from the PD afterwards, so it couldn't have hurt too much 😉

 

[Poety]

I dunno. I got one of those "we're ranking you highly" emails from the PD afterwards, so it couldn't have hurt too much 😉

I'd say oh yeah, just the other weekend when i was eating shrooms - what a great trip! Interested? I have some right here