What do program director look for in a candidate?

The personal statement and interview are critical in psych - more so than other fields. Not only do you have to demonstrate what makes you a good candidate, but also explain why you want to do psych over anything else.

Needless to say, it helps if you're hott.

 

I would wonder if they really even look at board scores that much, other than just to make sure you're not an idiot. I don't imagine getting a 220 vs a 250 matters that much in psychiatry. Some, but not as much as any other field.

 

Your letters are quite important, both the Dean's Letter and your letters of recommendation. One psych program director at a program in the Midwest personally places a phone call to each of the faculty members who wrote a letter on behalf of a candidate who s/he is thinking of ranking highly. Another program director on the West coast considers the Dean's Letter the most important piece.

Cheers
-AT.

 

Interview is key... my program schedules at least two interviews with residents to get our input about the candidate.
I've interviewed a few this past match process. What I personally look for is someone who is easy to work with, not lazy, and asks questions about the program, which to me portrays an actual desire to be a psychiatrist, and not, "I'm doing this because everything else has longer hours."
Ask about where intern psych rotations are (which hospital, how is it like, is it at a general hospital setting or a pure psych facility, etc).
Ask questions pertaining to the child and geriatrics rotations/fellowship options.
There is a need for those specialties, and sometimes a candidate just vocalizing a curiosity about those fields (without the "ooh, i wanna be a geriatric psychiatrist!" comments) looks impressive, as if a student has actually thought about a future career and the process of their training.
Other than that, relax, be yourself, and have a good time. A pleasant conversation with the interviewers in addition to the other points mentioned above goes a long way when we fill out the evaluations afterwards.