Psychiatry Residency Interview Questions and Answers 2023
When preparing for psychiatry residency interviews, understanding the common interview questions is very important. The psychiatry residency interview questions open up an ethical judgment, personal attributes and clinical skills ensuring the right candidate is chosen.
What is Psychiatry?
One of the unique things about interviewing for a psychiatry program is that you’re interviewing with people whose entire job is understanding people.
Psychiatry is the medical speciality devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. It includes the mood-related, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions of the person.
It’s a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioural disorders. It is a four-year bachelor’s degree in medical school.
That means that the more you can let them in to see your passions, your passion about your future career, your goals, what you liked about their program, and why you feel you’d be a good match, the better the interview will go.
Psychiatry Residency Interview Questions and Answers
When you have already covered your values for yourself, and the values you have identified and appreciate in the program you are interviewing for, it is much easier to stand out from the crowd because you’re already demonstrating interest and knowledge of the program, and of yourself.
They will ask you questions, and you should have well-rounded, empathic, and intelligent answers that are real and true.
Most often, they will ask you about the greatest thing you have overcome, what your weakness is, and how you have demonstrated resilience.
1. What are your Plans if you Don’t Meet Our Expectations?
Most people don’t like it when others seem to accuse them of failure, and many applicants are put off by this question.
It is nevertheless important to be prepared for an interviewer to challenge you; show the interviewer that you have considered all eventualities, and are prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed.
Think about this in advance, and be prepared to highlight what steps you think you would take in this situation.
2. Do you have Questions?
This is a key component of the interview you must prepare for. Asking a few well-thought-out and considered questions will show your interviewer that you care, you’re genuinely curious, and you have put some thought into the program and how you might be a good fit.
Provoke discussion and insight. Be careful with your questions. Do NOT ask questions you can easily obtain by conducting basic research on the program.
Most of all, do NOT raise any controversial topics, such as politics or religion.
3. What Do you Like to Do in your Free Time?
This is an extremely important question. They are trying to see if they can connect with you on a personal level. They are struggling to relate to you or, more simply, they want to know if you are a relatable person.
Know and assume that you will get the job only if you are relatable!!
4. Why Did you Choose this Specialty?
They want to know how you know that you will like working in the specialty (considering that you probably didn’t have all that much exposure to it), and that you won’t drop out of the program after your first year.
Build rapport. Try to connect with the interviewer by validating their own reasons for joining the speciality!
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5. Do you have any Interesting Cases to Discuss?
They want to know how you work with a team to solve problems and to advance your patients’ interests.
Not always asked, but you need to be comfortable with this question because it is asked sometimes, especially in the more academically minded programs.
You don’t want to get caught flat-footed simply because you failed to prepare a potentially straightforward but meaningful case.
6. Can you Introduce Yourself?
The key is to show a genuine and open personality right from the start. Because psychiatry is a tough field, and it is crucial to have colleagues you can trust.
Now, you do not need to be overly enthusiastic or energetic–such behaviour doesn’t fit the setting, anyway.
Just say who you are, where you are from, what interests you in life, and mention some hobbies you have. Mentioning the name of your med school goes without saying.
7. What are your Expectations for this Program?
I’ve heard some people saying that they had no expectations of their mentors–but high expectations of themselves.
While this answer works well in many job interviews, I am not sure whether it is the right choice when you try to get into a psychiatry residency program. You should have expectations of both mentors and the program.
8. Have you Ever Learned Something Important from a Patient?
Foremost, this is a question of respect and attitude. Because I’ve seen psychiatric wards where patients were treated like animals (or even worse), and it was exactly because the psychiatrists and therapists thought they have nothing to learn from their patients.
You should never ever try to do your residency at such a place, regardless of the recognition or reputation of the community of doctors. Because you won’t walk away from a better person.
CSN Team.
