Questions to ask during residency interview

[TexasPhysician]

While some questions are obvious (call, unique opportunities, research opportunities), would seasoned psychiatry residents/attendings recommend asking any certain questions during a residency interview day to help get a better feel of the program? Some programs do different things for medicine rotations during intern year. What else can really differentiate programs?

The presence of fellowships, location, etc. can all be found on-line so those are useless questions to ask during interview day.

I'm at a loss.

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[kugel]

I always assume that folks will tell openly tell you all the best things, but don't openly discuss the problems. I ask the attendings about what things they are working on, "Tell me about what issues you're working to improve for residents, and ones you're working to improve for patients."

I ask the students/residents, "Tell me about the things you DON'T like about this program. What are the worst things about being a resident here?" I tend to ask this when in groups, like at lunch, because they will often tell you stories about the problems, trying to one-up each other - forgetting they are supposed to be selling the program.

Every school and residency has problems. I don't expect otherwise. But I'd like to know about them up front. Also, if no one will tell me anything that's a problem, or that's being improved, then I assume the people are being less than honest with me. Either they are so deeply invested in the program that they can't see clearly or else the residency PD is so controlling that people are not permitted to be honest - both are red flags for me. When people are able/wiling to tell me about the problems, I guess they're being honest about other things. When they're clever enough to honestly tell me about the problems and spin them as, "but, if you think about it, it really works to your advantage because..." or "But that's already being addressed with the residents' feedback through..." then these are probably people I'll respect and enjoy being around.

I've always asked the same questions at job interviews. "What are the most common complaints from other employees? What's the most common reason for someone to leave this same position that I'm considering?"

Not everyone likes to have me ask these questions. I figure those are people I'm not likely to get along with for very long, so it's probably better that I don't get that job.

 

[Scorcher31]

Similar to what kugel said I like to ask what would you say is the greatest strength and greatest weakness of your program. I always have fun giving that back .

I like to ask about the diversity of the patient population and psychopathology as well. I wouldn't buy too much into this response though as i've had a few programs blatantly lie to me, but perhaps it will tell you a little about the person interviewing you.

Sometimes I like to ask if the attendings will ever have the residents up for a psych movie, lecture, dinner, bar, etc. It can give you an idea of the kind of relationship between the attendings and residents sometimes.

Hope those give you a little something different to work with. If I think of anything else I'll post.

 

[whopper]

I always thought the best source of information was from the residents themselves. They'll give you a representation of what the program is really like. A program that doesn't allow you to talk to the residents is a sign of a malignant program. Programs that know their residents aren't happy don't want applicants talking to the residents.

I'd try to get info from the residents themselves, in a manner where you know the resident is being honest--e.g. you can talk to them without an attending present.

Some questions I'd ask?

Research opportunities, board pass rates, call schedule, moonlighting opportunities, fellowship opportunities, where to residents typically end up career wise, psychotherapy, didactics, quality of grand rounds, clinical experiences (inpatient, outpatient, voluntary, involuntary, court, crisis center, consult liason, child, forensic, (P)ACT teams, long term units, short term units, complexity of C&L cases.....)

I'd ask about the camraderie of the program. Some programs are malignant, not because of the attendings but because of the residents. You want a place where people get along.