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How likely are these? What kinds of questions might come up?
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Haha, "So...you feel deeply about your mother?"
I had a few psychoanalytic questions.
I also had a few interviewers seemingly try to tick me off during the interview (which I ranted about quite a bit after it happened, I don't want to spin that wheel again).
I thought both types of questions were wastes of time, & if anything may just upset the potential candidate against the program, which in turn just hurts that program because then they're going to be matched lower on the list.
Psychoanalysis, if its going to go anywhere will take a lot more than 1 session for the therapist to get a good feel for the person they are analyzing. Anyone trying to something like that isn't going to get very far.
If they're at least doing it in a comfortable manner where the candidate feels comfortable, then fine. It could be even enjoyable for the interviewer & the candidate.
However if its done in a manner where wierd and inappropriate questions are asked-like the question Anasazi mentioned-that's getting into what I'm criticizing, and just plain inappropriate & unprofessional.
A question I got.....
"You're an Asian American, so I know you're in medicine because your parents made you do this, you made your parents' mandate, tell me what you think about that"
As for the interviewers that intentionally tick candidates off.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trier_Social_Stress_Test
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=619&article_id=27681683&cat_id=3232
It happens. Trust me, I know dozens of people that have had that happen to them.
Unless you're in a position where you really have no where else you can go, or that program is that program you're just so determined to get into, if someone pulls a stress interview on them--I saw just be calm & shrug it off. Heck play around with them. As long as you got > 8 interviews, you're most likely going to get into a program & one where you got some choice in the matter. That program is just shooting their own feet. They're only going to interview you if they're interested in you. Don't think this is as bad as the medschool situation where you're a 1 in 1000 chance of getting in. Its more like 1 in 10 if you get the interview--and on top of that the other 6 of those other 9 candidates are probably not on par with you.
3) Test of character--I will admit that if you got an Axis II Cluster B candidate, you will most definitely see some sort of acting out if you intentionally try to tick that person off. However, you're also going to tick off a lot of good candidates that will be turned off to the program.
Of my 8 interviews, I got zero psychoanalytic questions. None of the programs were psychoanalytically-oriented, though.
I doubt you're going to get any "psychoanalytic" questions, as the main psychoanalytic "question" is a long uncomfortable silence...
You may get questions asking for introspection, or more personal questions than you'd get if you were interviewing in another field--questions about your own struggles (if they're on your application, or even if not), questions about your family life growing up, major relationships that are important to you.
Unless the interviewer is a total jackass (or the program's some cut-throat hellhole) it's just a way to see how well you relate personally in an encounter, how able you are to be introspective without being defensive, and how well you establish rapport. Unfortunately, a lot of good psychiatry residency interviews have to skirt what's "illegal" in the question realm--it helps if you know a bit about the program going in. For instance, a lot of programs asked me whether I had a significant other, or children, etc. Technically violations, but these programs are all family friendly (something I looked for going in) and were usually using the next breath to try to sell me on their family leave policy, while at the same time finding out more about me & more importantly how I thought about myself. Now if someone asks you about your family plans in a hostile manner, that's a totally different matter, of course...
As others have mentioned, they need to screen out people with obvious pathology that would interfere with their ability to function clinically, or would make the program run less smoothly. Like any job interview, denying any weaknesses (or "issues" here) when they ask you something personal is as almost as bad as listing off 20 weak spots in an unflattering manner. They want to see that you're aware of your good and bad qualities, so they know you're not a frickin' narcissist.
There's someone in our program that I wished had been interviewed in a way that would have uncovered their Axis II traits. Unfortunately, we all get the pleasure of dealing with them on a daily basis....
I'm feeling really discouraged right now. I have three interviews lined up and haven't got a thing to say about my early life, should it come up. You guys are all talking about how you don't want borderline/histrionic/antisocial people in your programs. Ok, I'm none of those things. But say someone in my family growing up was. Then I couldn't paint the idyllic picture of the Norman Rockwell upbringing that I KNOW the medical world deeply wants us have as our background. If I get asked about my relationship with my mom, I might have to say, well, it was rough, and no, I haven't figured it out. I can't say that though, or I won't get into any program because that will show a less than adequate level of insight and self-understanding, and also, it will be more Edvard Munch than Norman Rockwell.
Ugh. So what do I do? Medical school administrators always tell us not to lie.
(Note: above caricature of a mother was not based on my own. However, my family IS messed up.)
May I respectfully say that I think you are a little off-base here.
We all have s--t in our lives. Hopefully the relatively healthy among us are aware of what that stuff is and have majored in the more mature defenses.
There's a difference between having insight and having everything figured out.
But here's an example:
Interviewer: tell me about your relationship with your mother
Response 1: We had some rough patches growing up. Part of it was culture clash. Part of it was that I just plain had different interests and proclivities than my parents did. They love me and did what they think was best. We've all matured. They support me 100% in what I do and we have a very loving, very solid relationship now.
hippiedoc13, the whole "idyllic Norman Rockwell type family" thing is an interesting thing epistemologically. If you don't come from something even remotely resembling a Normal Rockwell type family, but you see it portrayed in the media, how do know if what you're seeing is real or just propaganda? People who live in reasonably happy families might realize that it's an idealized version of happiness, but people from unhappy families can't really tell at all, can they? When some medicine attending stands up in front of the class and talks about red flags in a student's past, someone like me gets nervous because I wonder if he really DOES want that "perfect" person from the Normal Rockwell painting. All these years later I still wonder if that kind of family was real! Ok, I'm exaggerating a LITTLE here, but do know you what I mean? (Or maybe you don't! Maybe ONLY people from unhappy homes can understand THIS quandry! hee hee! ;-) )
Thanks!
And the reason I asserted that Rockwellian families don't really exist is that I have seriously never met a single person who came from a family like that, once I started really talking to them.