The Pressure Interview

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whopper

whopper

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Just wondering how many of you got it.

I got a majorly intense pressure interivew at Maimmonades in NYC when I was interviewing for residency. I used to keep mum on which program did it but since then, the guy who gave me the pressure interview has been removed from the admissions process.

If you don't know what it is, well its the interviewer basically doing everything they can to piss you off, intimidate you &/or make you crack under pressure.

I even got a few during fellowship interviews. I figure at this process it'd be over but its not.
 
Like I've said before (I'll make a sweeping OPD NCAA sports/quality comparison that also seemed to work.)

There appears to be a direct inverse relationship between the quality of program and malignancy of the interview process.
 
josehernandez94 said:
Uh oh, that statement's kind of cryptic. Should I be scared for my interview there next month????
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You should be ready to defend any weaknesses in your application. Nothing unfair, in my experience.
 
It was my experience while on the interview trail that the more competitive programs each had one designated "bad guy" who would grill you about weaknesses in your CV and/or personal matters. A couple of them even openly admitted to me afterwards that it was a test and then would turn all nice. The remainder of the interviewers would then be uneventfully pleasant. Very formulaic imho.
 
Funny you mentioned Columbia...Doc Samson.

Very very very very funny....

Like funny like I was there a few weeks ago on an interview and guess what happened......& yes I had to defend every single flaw you could've picked out.

One thing that bugged me was NOT 1 PROGRAM asked for my residency evaluations. Not 1. Almost all my evaluations are near perfect except the ones from my first 6 months. I was picked to be Chief in my program & was told that I was literally one of the best residents to go through the program in several years by several in it. So basically none of that provided me any benefit which I thought was real lame. They were the best indicator of my work & were constistently excellent for years.

The only things they asked were my medschool transcript (which were terrible the first year, but excellent the last 2 years), letters of reccomendation & a C.V.

Anyways, I don't mind it if its done within a specific limit. E.g Maimmonadies, the guy was yelling in my face, acting like a narcissistic, over controlling guy with intermittent explosive disorder. It was to the point where some of the guy's body language could've been interpreted as pre-assaultive/violent. Then my 2nd interviewer was telling me that they felt I was a top canddiate for them and they'd be very happy to let me into the program. I thought that was overboard.

Some of the interviews I had for fellowship I felt were pressure interviews but not as bad as the above.

The worst fellowship one I had, they made me wait in a room for a few hours. The problem there was my wife who used to live in NYC (which kinda gives away which program this was) was going to meet me after my interview because she wanted to see her old neighborhood was sitting outside the building and I saw her 3pm instead of the expected 12 noon (yep they had me sitting in a room with nothing to do for that long). Since I was anticipating it, I kept a book in my bag, and pulled it out & read it. I was even wondering if they had a secret camera & trying to see if I was getting ticked.

I was actually expecting the long room wait based on what I had heard about the program & what I had heard about the director. I can't prove it was a premeditated part of the interview--but heck if I expected it to happen before it happened and it happened and this was the only place (out of 8 interviews) where I was expecting it, that does say something.

Now there I was, and every half hour, my wife is calling my cell phone and isn't happy. I actually was somewhat amused being that I correctly predicted this would happen (but bugged about other things that happened that day). By the time I left the interview she was irate. I don't blame her. Maybe I shoudl've told her I expected this from that place.

Anyways, bottom line to all you applying for residency, you may get a pressure interview. Don't buckle under the pressure. Also most of you probably have several interviews and are in a situation where you have multiple options & other places you can go to. Don't let the pressure interview ruin your day.

I had the fortunance to have already been offerd a position for fellowship to a place I want to go to, so when I got the 2 pressure interviews it wasn't as bad.

afterwards that it was a test and then would turn all nice.
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Had this happened at Maimmonadies, I wouldn't have minded as much, but the guy did nothing to indicate that.
 
josehernandez94 said:
Uh oh, that statement's kind of cryptic. Should I be scared for my interview there next month????
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Bear in mind that my experience there was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it was the only negative experience I had on the interview trail. Imagine every stereotypical question you can imagine a group of analysts asking - they asked them all. Mother issues, father issues, etc. The crowning achievement was "Doc Samson, your personal statement really isn't personal enough. Tell me about a significant source of pain in your life." I knew there and then that this was NOT the program for me.
 
Doc Samson said:
Bear in mind that my experience there was back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it was the only negative experience I had on the interview trail. Imagine every stereotypical question you can imagine a group of analysts asking - they asked them all. Mother issues, father issues, etc. The crowning achievement was "Doc Samson, your personal statement really isn't personal enough. Tell me about a significant source of pain in your life." I knew there and then that this was NOT the program for me.
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See, this was how my Columbia experience was different, I am a MD/PhD, so I was interviewed by the research gurus (including one recently deceased icon in the field) who picked my brain about signalling pathways, research ideas, and whether I "really" wanted to practice clinical psychiatry. For me Stanford was where I got the mother/father issues analyst interview and never got to meet the program director - big turn off.
 
whopper said:
The worst fellowship one I had, they made me wait in a room for a few hours. The problem there was my wife who used to live in NYC (which kinda gives away which program this was) was going to meet me after my interview because she wanted to see her old neighborhood was sitting outside the building and I saw her 3pm instead of the expected 12 noon (yep they had me sitting in a room with nothing to do for that long). Since I was anticipating it, I kept a book in my bag, and pulled it out & read it. I was even wondering if they had a secret camera & trying to see if I was getting ticked.
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It wouldn't have been pretty if a place tried to make me sit and do nothing for 3 hours. Pretty impressive that you have that kind of patience. On the other hand, maybe they wanted you to get upset and stand up for yourself. In which case, I'd have been even more mad that it was contrived.
 
I've found surgery & Ob-Gyn to be "crazy" in the sense that they work you crazy hours and the attendings themselves work crazy hours--which creates a type of OCPD type atmosphere and very messed up lives outside of practice.

Of course--this is just a generality. There are of course exceptions.

I remember back in medschool, some guy -an air conditioner repairman- told me several times a week he'd be called by someone--often the wife of a surgeon, ob-gyn, high paid lawyer or corporate officer in NYC, and often times the trophy wife would be so lonely because the husband was never home that they'd either throw themselves at him or they'd be very open to an affair with the guy. He told me he had several trophy wives he'd see a week.

As macho-grandiose sounding as it was, and I had a feeling the guy was feeling a bit insecure because I was in medschool (trying to one up the braniac), I've seen this rich doctor with the cheating wife type of thing happen quite a bit --thankfully not to me.
 
Interestingly, Columbia was one of the places where I had one of those apologetic interviewers.
 
To defend Columbia--it is a top notch institution with some of the biggest names in psychiatry. It also will educate you very well. Some truly excellent doctors I know trained there. I'm not talking just good, I'm talking some of the best I think I'll ever meet.

But yeah, one of the guys I know who graduated from there also got an intense pressure interview.

I'd advise anyone who gets an interview there and wants to be in NYC to strongly consider it. I'm not trying to bash it or any program. Just warning to be prepared for a pressure interview, and try to not let it hurt your ego too much.

I also got a pressure interview at U-Mass, but was given it in a manner where I felt it was done solely for professional reasons. They wanted to separate the wheat from the chaff. I didn't feel it was indicative of narcissism or OCPD, or any other mind-game reason. They also stressed during the interviews that they truly wanted good candidates and that's why some of the interviewers gave some pressure.
 
If you think that programs are organized enough to schedule 3 hour gaps on purpose, to watch videotape of your time management during lulls, and to have a designated bad guy, then you have a mistaken idea of the process and of the amount of time that faculty have to spend on the process.

A couple of points. Aside from the PD, all of the interviewers are volunteers who spend many, many hours trying to get a good match. Aside from the occasional crazy person, they don't have time or inclination to screw with you. If they give you a hard time, it's often because your application has a hole or flaw that is going to doom you at the meeting. There have been times when I've liked someone but appeared to give them a hard time because I wanted them to explain a red flag. If I'd not liked them, I'd have simply smiled at the slightest resistance and moved on. And sometimes it's not an obvious hole, like a bad grade or board score. There are programs that may not truly be analytic but won't be comfy for people without at least a smattering of psychodynamic interest--for example Cambridge, Cornell, Columbia--and so an individual interviewer might ask about personal issues not out of prurient curiosity but to see if you have some insight and ability to discuss your own motivations; such questions may be easy for some applicants, and so the conversation might shift. If someone is otherwise acceptable but drops the ball in regards to psychological mindedness, then the interviewer might stick to such questions like white on rice and might even ask the next interviewer to pick up that thread.

In general, though, while there is probably some group process involved, it would be grossly inaccurate to say that Baylor does this or that Duke does that. There are often a dozen or more people involved in the process and, unless I'm mistaken, they don't much communicate with each other before an individual interview and that there is probably as much intraprogram variation as there is interprogram variation.
 
I received no pressure when I interviewed at Columbia, for what it's worth.
 
There are often a dozen or more people involved in the process and, unless I'm mistaken, they don't much communicate with each other before an individual interview and that there is probably as much intraprogram variation as there is interprogram variation.
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True--but also varies per program. I do think some programs just want you to clarify some points in your CV which may seem odd, some of it may also be an overly sensitive interviewee.

However, it may also be more of a pattern than accidental. I got one for example from Maimmonadies when I applied for residency, and a friend of mine was a resident from that program. She told me the guy did it to everyone he interviews and he only interviewed candidates he liked. I found that ironic since the guy actually turned me off to the program, and my friend was telling me he probably actually liked me.

Also don't kid yourself. Several people do it on purpose.
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/hastress.htm

It can be seen as a test of character--similar to the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek. It supposedly was often done with recruits in WWII during training to see how they handled stress.

There's a difference between a stress interview & an actual program. The stress interview may have simply been a test, and the program isn't malingnantly stressful.

However this is hard for the candidate to figure this out, especially if they don't tell you it was just a test. Likewise, a program may be very nice to you and when you get in, they treat you badly. I think the best indicator is to ask residents under the table (or in my case fellows) about what they think.
 
The topic is quite disturbing. I would not go anywhere I feel uncomfortable during the interview, even if it an IvyLeague, I rather be around humble and nice people than be around big shot, egoistic, cheap bastards. Psychiatry training should begin (RIGHT FROM THE INTERVIEW) with being a nice and emapthic human being.
 
Psychintern2006 said:
The topic is quite disturbing. I would not go anywhere I feel uncomfortable during the interview, even if it an IvyLeague, I rather be around humble and nice people than be around big shot, egoistic, cheap bastards. Psychiatry training should begin (RIGHT FROM THE INTERVIEW) with being a nice and emapthic human being.
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The bottom line: if you're uncomfortable with a program, walk away--don't rank them. If they're intentionally malignant in the interview, well who needs that?! If they're just incompetent and disorganized, can you trust them to get your call schedule and paycheck right?

(BTW--I agree with cleareyedguy--we're just struggling to get faculty schedules arranged to get you all interviewed. We're as anxious to make a good impression as you are. We do not have time to arrange elaborate 'Kobiashi Maru' scenarios to "test" you!)
 
The three hour video tape sounds quite 'Paranoid' :laugh:, Aliens in space ships might be involved! Seems like the coordinator probabaly forgot that the poor candidate is still waiting....😴
YAP.YAP..YAPPPPPPP

OldPsychDoc said:
The bottom line: if you're uncomfortable with a program, walk away--don't rank them. If they're intentionally malignant in the interview, well who needs that?! If they're just incompetent and disorganized, can you trust them to get your call schedule and paycheck right?

(BTW--I agree with cleareyedguy--we're just struggling to get faculty schedules arranged to get you all interviewed. We're as anxious to make a good impression as you are. We do not have time to arrange elaborate 'Kobiashi Maru' scenarios to "test" you!)
Click to expand...
 
Gosh I never experienced or heard of the pressure interview till this thread... now I want one. Call me massochist but it sounds like fun. 😀
 
Seems like the coordinator probabaly forgot that the poor candidate is still waiting..
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You know what? I understand that, but the guy who made me wait has a reputation for giving stress interviews. Pretty much everyone in my program interviewed with the guy when he was in a closer nearby program--and they all got a stress interview from him.

"You know what I think of your personal statement, I ought to line my bird cage with it"

"I don't like the way you pronounce the letter D. You should consider linguistic training"

These were some among several comments made my others in my program about the same interviewer. The guy criticized about how he pronounces "D" speaks without an accident & is a native born American. Nothing wrong with how he talks.

Most people in my program--interviewed at all of the programs in NJ-small state with 5 programs. (or is it 6? Maybe I'm forgetting one).
 
whopper said:
"You know what I think of your personal statement, I ought to line my bird cage with it"

"I don't like the way you pronounce the letter D. You should consider linguistic training"
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If someone said this to me during an interview, I'd probably start laughing so hard at the obsurdity of the comment that I'd end up blowing the interview!:laugh: And note that I'd be laughing at the interviewer....

If I had more prescence of mind after the shock, I'd simply get up and say "thank you for your time" and just walk out.
 
I think that's the idea I'd want a candidate to have (of course though don't blow the interview if you're considering the place).

heard of the pressure interview till this thread... now I want one. Call me massochist but it sounds like fun.
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Yep--don't let them get in your way. They're either testing your character, in which case keeping your cool is the best option, or they're a bunch of narcisstic a--holes getting their jollies, in which case they're not worth worrying about.
 
Actually I didn't get that one. It was someone else in my class who got that comment from the same interviewer.

During my own interview (when I was going for residency, not fellowship) he asked me what I did during my year off from medschool. I made a heck of a lot of money day trading. The guy told me he didn't believe me and thought I was full of it. He made some comment about how I wouldn't go into medicine if I made so much money in the stock market.

I was bugged. I asked the guy "you want me to open my ameritrade account in front of you?" Pretty much every interviewer had a computer hooked up the net in their office. The guy said he wasn't interested.
At that point I thought to myself, ("Ok this program just went down 3 notches, the guy accuses me of lying and won't give me the 2 minutes it'll take to show I was telling the truth")

Day trading: Well of course--it was stressful, I'd feel my stomach drop a few times--and there were several days straight where I was in the hole thousands of dollars---most of which was money on loan. I also knew that when I pulled out of the market (very much ahead) I could've very well lost everything a few months later. I was more lucky than smart.

Again--the program and the interview could be very different things, but at that time I felt him accusing me and not allowing me to prove myself was indicative of a potentially malignant atmosphere in the program.
 
whopper said:
During my own interview (when I was going for residency, not fellowship) he asked me what I did during my year off from medschool.
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I have my standard answer for this...and I actually say it to get a rise out of them and to see if they have the stones to ask the followup question:

"I was in jail."
 
"I was in jail."
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:laugh::laugh:

I had one unpleasant interviewer for a residency program who went on a long diatribe about how woman MD/PhD's who choose to have a family are "in essence throwing away their scientific careers," then asked me about my year off between MS2 and MS3.

"I had a baby."

He just went on like this had no bearing on his earlier 5 minutes of lecturing me on the perils of starting a family. I was so hoping for a blush, a gulp, anything, but unfortunately he was stone cold. Helped me decide not to rank the program, however.
 
I wouldn't call those "stress interviews" but "bad interviews."
 
I had the infamous pressure interview at Columbia a few weeks ago and it definitely made me uncomfortable (and bruised the ego a bit!). In spite of this, I really liked the program a lot (the residents, the facilities, etc.). I am wondering whether the pressure interview reflects how the program feels about you? What I mean is, at every other program I've been to, the faculty and PD's have been very warm and welcoming and have said such things as "You're a great candidate and we'd be lucky to have you" (or similar). Nobody at Columbia said anything like this and instead gave the impression "We're the best and you'd be really lucky to end up here." I don't want to go to a program that doesn't want me there. Is this vibe just a part of the pressure interview and how everyone is treated or does this reflect how the program feels about me (and thus I should consider whether I want to go to this place)?
 
While I did have my share of psychoanalytic guys asking stuff like "so, do you miss your parents?", the most weird was a program director showing me the skyline of Newark from his office and pointing out the bad state the city was in. I am not sure he was recruiting or trying to scare me away. I don't remember giving him any vibes about being scared of public psychiatry.
 
winchester1615 said:
I had the infamous pressure interview at Columbia a few weeks ago and it definitely made me uncomfortable (and bruised the ego a bit!). In spite of this, I really liked the program a lot (the residents, the facilities, etc.). I am wondering whether the pressure interview reflects how the program feels about you? What I mean is, at every other program I've been to, the faculty and PD's have been very warm and welcoming and have said such things as "You're a great candidate and we'd be lucky to have you" (or similar). Nobody at Columbia said anything like this and instead gave the impression "We're the best and you'd be really lucky to end up here." I don't want to go to a program that doesn't want me there. Is this vibe just a part of the pressure interview and how everyone is treated or does this reflect how the program feels about me (and thus I should consider whether I want to go to this place)?
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If you liked them and would want to go there (even if it's only if they also liked you), rank them highly. If they don't really want you, they won't rank you very highly, and you won't match there. If you do match there, it's because they liked you.

Even a place like Columbia doesn't have so much time and resources to waste that they are going to interview people they have no interest in just to mess with people! Rank them high if you want to be there, and don't worry about anything else.
 
Columbia is a top notch institution. I wouldn't knock the place based on a pressure interview. I don't respect that method of interviewing, but there's too many good things about that institution academically & research-wise.
I figure in an institution of any large size-there's going to be some a-holes & personalities that just don't get along.

Gosh I never experienced or heard of the pressure interview till this thread... now I want one. Call me massochist but it sounds like fun.
Click to expand...

I hope if anything that's the attitude this thread is giving. If a program interviews you, as mentioned above, they're considering you as a potential part of their institution. If they do a pressure interview--don't let it ruin your day. Take advantage of it and show that you're not fazed. I don't think anyone should be fazed by this type of interview unless that candidate had a poor application and the specific program was their only hope of getting in anywhere--and if that was the case, the applicant probably wouldn't have even been given an interview @ Columbia.

Most of the reason why a stress interview would work is simply the "Emporer's New Clothes" coming into play--with the interviewee not having the balls or insight to see that the interviewer is no better than that Emporer.
 
whopper said:
....
I figure in an institution of any large size-there's going to be some a-holes & personalities that just don't get along.

..
Most of the reason why a stress interview would work is simply the "Emporer's New Clothes" coming into play--with the interviewee not having the balls or insight to see that the interviewer is no better than that Emporer.
Click to expand...

I'd be careful about the anatomical imagery when discussing a psychoanalytically-oriented program if I were you...
:meanie:
 
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