Interviewing tips from those who've been through it...

[lu2003]

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Okay, now that I see that the next application cycle is under way, I thought I'd start a thread where some of us who just went through the process gave some tips...

So here are a couple of mine, and I'll add more when I think of some...

1. Be prepared for many wacky and totally not p.c. questions during the interview. I got ?s about my family, about my religion, about my husband's religion, about my relationship with my mother (no kidding) and just about everything else you can think of... I don't think anyone cared how I answered, just how I responded to the questions? This is psych after all, and they made the interviews much more interesting, I suppose...

2. Don't be afraid to schedule an interview and then call back and have to change the date. I had to do this a couple of times, and those places were very understanding about rescheduling, as I tried to clump interviews together when I traveled to different cities.

3. Definitely go to the dinner/reception with the residents. I found that the best impressions (good or bad) I got about a specific program came from the residents. Most are very honest about their opinions about their program - I found the residents to be a major factor in how I ranked different programs.

4. After an interview jot down little details from the conversation so that you can add personal touches to your thank you notes. After a million interviews they start to jumble together and you'll thank those little notes you wrote down.

5. Definitely try to roam around the city to get an idea about the place. No matter what, the location/city will matter and you have to find out if you'll like the place you'll be spending the next several years at...

okay, I hope this helps, and hopefully others will join in. I found this website so helpful when I was going through the process...

Good luck to you all! 😛

 

[Solideliquid]

Thanks for posting those great points!

I wanted to ask what you (and others) think about cancelling an interview once you schedule.

 

[Anasazi23]

I started doing that toward the end of the interview season, when I was out of money, patience, time, interest, and motivation.

Life goes on.

 

[zaylov]

On this note, I'm afraid many programs will begin to look very similar once I begin interviewing. What sorts of questions should I ask programs to be able to best differentiate them? Suggestions?

 

[Anasazi23]

On this note, I'm afraid many programs will begin to look very similar once I begin interviewing. What sorts of questions should I ask programs to be able to best differentiate them? Suggestions?

• Average work hours

• Call responsibilities

• Paid call opportunities

• Moonlighting allowance

• Average caseload

• Average population type -- Inpatient vs. outpatient

• Diversity in pathology exposure

• Amount of elective rotation

• Elective rotation options

• Board passing rate

• Typical plans for graduates

• In-house Fellowship opportunities

• Biological vs. psychosocial approach (in truth - don't accept "well balanced" unless you think it truly is)

• Resident comraderie

• Salary increases by year

• Amount of supervision available

• Opportunities for research

• Presence of medical students

• Book/conference yearly stipends

• Personal office space during outpatient years

• For medicine months; ancillary support (phlebotomy, IV teams, amount of scut, etc

• Strength of neurology rotation

• Exposure and ability to become certified in ECT

• Autonomy during outpatient years

...many others
keep it going.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

• Average population type -- Inpatient vs. outpatient

• Diversity in pathology exposure

.

Also, diversity in psychosocial aspects of patient population, both inpt and outpt.

• Resident comraderie

.

Put this at the top of the list.

• Personal office space during outpatient years

• For medicine months; ancillary support (phlebotomy, IV teams, amount of scut, etc

For psychiatry months, administrative support--scheduling, dictations, etc.--and quality of teams with allied workers--social workers, case managers, nurses, PAs, etc...

 

[tangents]

i actually don't think all the programs will look the same once you are interviewing. the interviews made it much easier to rank because they all were different. the list i had in my head before i began the interview process was 180 degrees from what i ended up ranking. everywhere has a different feel to it, and the way i picked was where i felt like i fit in the best (once i had decided on quality of program that i was interested in ranking.)

 

[alina_s]

Get the nitty-gritty on how well the program takes care of its residents:
how often is the call? how bad? how many hours straight?
how big/busy is the service you are covering?
do you get help on your first few calls?
are the faculty who supervise you o.k about getting called or are you really
on your own?
how much do they supervise you during the days?
are there any bad relations among departments or faculty?
is there an advising system and is it any help?
do the nursing staff try to haze interns? Are they helpful?
how does the vacation system work (randomly assigned vs you get to pick,
real vacation or do you have to make up call days, do you have to find
someone to take your call days, are you limited to 1 week at a time?)
are the program's support staff helpful to the residents?
do the faculty seem interested in your professional development?
is the teaching really balanced or does it snub some parts of psychiatry?
does the program really follow the 30-hour straight/80 hour week rules?