Are you an empathetic person?
Many empathetic individuals enter professions where they can help and serve others, which is a common trait in Psychiatrists. If you are an empath, you absorb other people's emotions and physical symptoms because of your high sensitivities. Though being a Psychiatrist involves being empathetic, there are challenges to being a highly sensitive person, so you will want to assure the interviewer that you can adapt and overcome these feelings and not allow them to get in the way of treating your patients. The interviewer wants to hear that while you are empathetic and enjoy helping others, you have found a work/life balance that keeps you healthy and sane.
"Yes, I am an empathetic person, which is why I chose this career. However, I practice my time management skills and set limits and boundaries with draining patients. By being empathetic in these situations, I can effectively enforce any limits or boundaries that I set with them. Personally, I meditate to calm and center myself in order to not allow the stress to affect me."
"I have been empathetic since I was a young girl. Way back then, my grandmother always told me I was destined to become a nurse or a doctor. Going into the Psychiatry field, I know that I need to be empathetic with my patients to help build trust without letting personal emotions get in the way of any interactions with my patients. I plan to maintain a healthy work/life balance and care for my physical and mental health to continue being empathetic without my patient's issues becoming my own."
"I have learned through my years of practice that being a successful Psychiatrist involves a mix of empathy and clinical practice knowledge. To effectively treat patients with mental illness, the empathy piece is vital for me to build a relationship with each patient as an individual. Once that is built, my clinical knowledge and experience take over."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Having worked in other specialties prior to psychiatry and being a mother helps me understand other people's problems; however, my experience also helps me to understand the need for boundaries, prioritization and remaining level-headed, so I can effectively help people.
Rachelle's Feedback
Very well said! It seems you have many facets that would allow you to understand people, and it's terrific that you have put essential and healthy boundaries in place at the same time.
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